Is 16 units too much for first semester EECS (as a transfer)?

<p>My plan at the moment is to take</p>

<p>CS 61A
EE 40
CS 70
an upper div AC course</p>

<p>Do you think this is too much to manage in my first semester? I don't want to overwork and overstress myself, but at the same time I'd like to graduate within 5 semesters, which may not be all that easy. I have yet to take the above listed courses in addition to 20N, another upper-div humanities, and all the upper-div EECS courses.</p>

<p>Another option might be to take this schedule:</p>

<p>CS 61A
EE40
upper div AC
(+ maybe an easy 1 or 2 unit transition class?)</p>

<p>This has the advantage of being easier but may delay progress toward my degree because CS70 is a pre-req for a lot of classes I want to take. But at CalSO they said not to take above 13 units...</p>

<p>Any advice is much appreciated.</p>

<p>Your 16 unit schedule should be doable if your UD H/SS AC course does not require huge amounts of reading or a huge term project. Indeed, you will need to take similar course loads your remaining semesters.</p>

<p>How heavy a course load have you typically taken at your previous college, and will you be working or commuting from relatively far from campus during your first semester?</p>

<p>Which lower division EE and CS courses have you covered already (if any), and do you plan to emphasize EE or CS?</p>

<p>You can preview the EE and CS courses here:
[EECS</a> Course WEB Sites](<a href=“http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/classes-eecs.html]EECS”>CAS - Central Authentication Service)</p>

<p>What you could do is sign up for your first schedule and something like CS 195 for 17 units. If you find the workload to be too high before the drop deadline, you can drop one of the courses and still have 13 units. (CS 195 fulfills the ethics and social implications requirement.)</p>

<p>If you have not already done so, you may want to read the following:
<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/Notes/12-13ugradhandbook.pdf[/url]”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/Notes/12-13ugradhandbook.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I had a similar schedule after I transferred in… CS70, 61C, 20N, and an upper div AC. It was a bit busy, but definitely doable. Assuming you’ve had discrete math before, I’d say go for it. EECS transfers usually have a lot of catch up to do, so taking 12-13 credits’ll probably put you behind.</p>

<p>Also, pre-reqs aren’t enforced, so if you have classes you know the material for which didn’t articulate, you could sign up for it anyways.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I took 17 units of all technical classes my last semester at CC including working 15 hours/wk. That was really the limit of what I could reasonably do. I’ll be living on campus and not working at all for my first semester.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I took a data structures course at CC that, along with CS 47B, will allow me to satisfy CS 61B, but I think I’d rather just take 61B. I doubt the level of instruction I received for data structures at CC is up to Cal’s standards. Besides that, I haven’t fulfilled any lower div EECS courses. I plan to emphasize in CS.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Why not start with my first schedule, then if it’s too much drop one course and add in CS195? I dunno about 17 units…</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I have had discrete math. And that second bit is really good to know, thanks.</p>

<p>If you have had discrete math at your CC, then CS 70 should be at least partially a review.</p>

<p>CS 195 has just lectures (1.5 hours per week), readings, and three small papers, according to [CS</a> 195 Social Implications of Computing](<a href=“http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs195/fa12/]CS”>CS 195 Social Implications of Computing) . If you want to emphasize CS, it may be interesting enough that it won’t feel like work.</p>

<p>If you were able to handle 17 units + 15 hours of working per week before, then you can give a 17 unit schedule a try from the start; it is easier to drop one than to add something later and have to catch up.</p>

<p>Another option to consider if you want to emphasize CS, in order to clear prerequisites as quickly as you can:</p>

<p>CS 61A
CS 61B
CS 70
UD H/SS AC course
optional CS 195</p>

<p>With the above, two of the courses will be partially review. What CS 61B assumes from CS 61A appears to be mainly mastery of recursion and the use of Unix computers like in the labs, so consider how well you know those before deciding to take CS 61B concurrently with CS 61A: [CS</a> 61B: Course overview](<a href=“http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~jrs/61b/overview.html]CS”>CS 61B: Course overview)</p>

<p>Another option is this:</p>

<p>CS 61A
CS 47B
CS 70
UD H/SS AC
CS 195</p>

<p>for a total of 14 units, although CS 47B may be more than 1 unit of work.</p>

<p>The CS 47B page indicates what you are assumed to know, and what the course includes: [url=&lt;a href=“http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~selfpace/studyguide/47B.sg/Output/intro.html]Introduction[/url”&gt;http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~selfpace/studyguide/47B.sg/Output/intro.html]Introduction[/url</a>]</p>