<p>since I'm a prospective EECS major, I will need to take the CS61ABC series. the problem is that I'm terrible at the CS part and intensely disliked the class last year because I had a teacher who simply did not want to teach. I got an A in the class and a 4 on the AP comp sci A test, but obviously I was no superstar in that department and limped through most of class.</p>
<p>so, how can I gear up for some intense CS this coming year? or should I just pack up my bags (and therefore save my sanity) and switch over to mechE and specialize in mechatronics?</p>
<p>You could take Computer Science 3 before taking Computer Science 61A. It’s a class that covers the first four weeks of 61A, so it would both ease you into Berkeley CS and give you useful knowledge for 61A.</p>
<p>You got an A in the class and a 4 on the test? Doesn’t sound to me like you’re already a CS failure. Maybe you just didn’t like that class. My suggestion (I got my CS major 25 years ago, for what it’s worth): relax and see how it goes next year. With the right teacher and class, you may decide you love it. Or…you may not, and decide to change your major.</p>
<p>The AP Comp Sci test is pretty easy I think, you just need a 60-70% to still get a 5, so the curve is pretty high.
But yea, definitely take some CC courses over the summer or take beginner CS classes (like CS 3) before taking 61A.</p>
<p>=/ I see that some people are suggesting I take a course over the summer…what programming language should I take? I already know some Java, so should C++ suffice?</p>
<p>and by the way, I know I didn’t exactly ‘fail’ at computer science. it was just that almost every friggin assignment took me 4+ hours to complete whereas some of my classmates needed at max 1 or 2 hours. I even recall crying over an assignment once (yes, it was that bad).</p>
<p>CS 3 and 61A are taught in a programming language called Scheme, which is a dialect of Lisp. You can find a copy [url=<a href=“CAS - Central Authentication Service”>CAS - Central Authentication Service]here[/url</a>] if you want to play around. By the way, you can find nearly every scrap of information about CS 61A on their course website, including the projects, every homework assignment, and even an online copy of the textbook. Take a look [url=<a href=“CAS - Central Authentication Service”>CAS - Central Authentication Service]here[/url</a>] if you want to get a good start.</p>
<p>First of all, programming speed is not a concrete measurement of one’s programming skills, since you can spend a lot hours on making the program faster and handling all the exceptions. Secondly, cs61abc are not curved so your grade will be based solely on your own performance, which should give you enough time to practice with programming.</p>