<p>Media Studies. I don’t feel like typing out all of my frustrations, but here is a shortened version: </p>
<ol>
<li>You can’t declare your major until Fall. </li>
<li>Most people still need MS 10 (a pre-req not offered by many CCs).</li>
<li>You can’t register for any MS classes or declare the major until you complete MS 10.</li>
<li>Tele-Bears isn’t allowing us to register for MS 10, so the chance of getting in seems slim. </li>
<li>There are only about 6 or 7 actual MS classes, the rest are from other majors (this is the least of my complaints since I knew this beforehand).</li>
<li>All of the above makes me feel like the major is kind of an afterthought and not really taken seriously by the school. Maybe I am just frustrated right now though; I need to sleep on it. </li>
</ol>
<p>In short, I have sent an e-mail to the Interdiciplinary Studies department to ask them to change majors. I want to design my own major, which Berkeley allows you to do. If they don’t allow me to do so, I may have to go to CSUF or apply to UCSD again in the Winter or Spring. I’m just upset with myself for getting overly excited about UCB and letting that cloud my vision.</p>
<p>kc, I’m really sorry you’re having such a bad experience. I have to say that I wasn’t super-wowed or even pleased with CalSO, but here’s the advice I can offer you:
-Cal is an amazing school and you didn’t make the wrong choice by choosing to attend. Remember that this is the ONLY semester where you will be one of the last people to register during Phase I.</p>
<p>-People are constantly getting shifted out of the waitlist and into classes, and I actually found out that much of this is done manually. If you are trying to get into a media studies class, it’ll show up in your records that this is your intended major, and you’ll be given priority admission over other students. At least put yourself on the waitlist because it’s better to over-book yourself with classes and drop them later than not sign up for what you need. In fact, I was really surprised with Cal’s lenient drop policy and the fact that you can switch from being graded to pass/no pass all the way until the 10TH WEEK. </p>
<p>-All the UCs are really giant schools with relatively confusing schedule systems. Just because it seems impossible now doesn’t mean it won’t get easier. Even for community college, it took me a while to figure out the ins and outs of class registration. Don’t lose hope just yet. Remember that you can always turn to your college, your major department, your advisers, any of the group leader people you met at CalSO (even if you didn’t get their info, seriously, just look them up on FaceBook and shoot them a message asking for pointers), and especially the teachers of the classes you’re trying to get into.</p>
<p>-Make absolutely sure that an equivalent of MS10 isn’t being offered by any nearby community colleges. It might be a stretch, but you could still take a class at a cc while also going to Cal.</p>
<p>Wait, KC, why can’t you enroll in MS10 right now? I mean it’s not upper division, and it is a requirement to declare, so logically as a transfer you should be just as eligible to enroll as a transfer as anyone else. Also, I didn’t believe you on the 6 to 7 classes offered, but god damn, Berkeley kinda seems to ignore media studies. I mean outside of seminars and self-study programs there aren’t a lot of upper division courses. I mean there were more than 6-7, but that might be about right per semester. </p>
<p>Still, a major that dips into other majors can be fun and diverse. I wish Poli Sci dipped into history or philosophy in any way.</p>
<p>Balletdancer-Please don’t be discouraged by my comments. Everyone is different and the major may be exactly what you are looking for. PLEASE order a catalog right away and read the descriptions of each class before you decide. </p>
<p>FeeFee-Thanks for the advice, but sadly, telebears won’t even let me waitlist myself. I don’t know why. I tried to call the major adviser and he’s on vacation until 7/7. GREAT! </p>
<p>DemBones-Thanks for that. I’m glad that you can see what I am talking about. It just makes me think, “Where’s the beef?” when it comes to the major. I do like the interdiciplinary aspect of the major, but if there are only a few MS classes offered every semester, am I really going to get the background that I need? </p>
<p>After I posted the other night, I slept on it, read through the catalog yesterday and decided to change my major. MS isn’t what I am looking for. I am going to try to design my own major though the Interdiciplinary Studies department. If they don’t allow me to, I am going to switch to Sociology. I’m still happy to be attending Cal, but I’m just a little sad that they don’t have a comprehensive Communication Studies department like the other UCs. </p>
<p>Thanks for your support ballet, feefee and dembones. I appreciate it! :-)</p>
<p>Okay, so just to make sure, Housing hasn’t been released yet? I haven’t heard any real news from the school in so long that I was getting kind of antsy. </p>
<p>I think I’m just going to be lazy and get all my info from CalSO |D</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be too antsy. You’re poli sci right? Lots of the classes are pretty open, and all the continuing students have enrolled by now. Just get in before the 16th of July when phase II starts and the courses open up to everyone. You’ll probably get into anything you want.</p>
<p>My CalSo experience. Ok, so I actually liked CalSo. I thought it was a great way to get introduced to the school and to the people that you will be dealing with while there (read: Major Advisors!!) plus make some friends. </p>
<p>I got there at around 7:30AM and there was already a line for your name. You stood in that line for perhaps about 15 or 20 minutes and then you were given a bunch of info, nametag and wristband which allowed you to eat at Cafe 3. This was a great time to mingle and meet people. I just asked a friendly-looking girl if I could sit with here and then another friend of mine sat down with us. All of CalSo was pretty rushed and the brief meal periods were a good time to actually talk with fellow students. </p>
<p>Anyhow, after that you went to one speech after another… they all kind of run together. Yeah, a lot of them were somewhat repetitive, but they also gave you a good introduction to some of the staff and departments on campus. And, there were some really good nuggets of information mixed in with all of the stuff you already knew.</p>
<p>The most valuable part of the whole day was, undoubtedly, the major advising. I’m in the Poli Sci dep’t and I was really interesting to hear the Poli Sci advisors talk about the department, the major and registration procedures.</p>
<p>At about 3 or 4 your meet up with your group and tour the campus, register for classes and get your CalSo ID. I had already seen the campus and gotten my CalSO ID, so I split from the group (my group was getting the ID first) and went to a library computer where I went to calso.berkeley.edu, got my login code and registered for my first classes. I then re-joined the group later on.</p>
<p>If you can be in Berkeley a day before orientation, I would advise that you get your ID card the day before and also meet your major advisor the day before. That way you can avoid standing in the long lines for the ID! If you meet with your major advisor early, you can already declare your major before CalSo.</p>
<p>Good luck everybody! Let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>So, did everyone get the classes they wanted during telebears phase 1? I am still having trouble adding my last pre-req (Media Studies 10). The adviser is on vacation until 7/7. I am going to be so furious if I can’t get into this class.</p>
<p>Kitkat-I guess it’s only open to sophomores and declared MS majors. Apparently, they want to control enrollment so that it doesn’t fill up quickly. It sucks for us transfers though.</p>
<p>Eh, I’m planning to take 15 units. If I absolutely can’t handle it, I’ll switch one of the classes to p/np. I don’t plan on working during the semester though, so I think that makes a big difference in terms of how many units you can take on.</p>