<p>I'll be a Freshman at Berkeley this fall, and I was worried that my workload might be too heavy, keeping in mind that I have to get a work study job and I was hoping to join a club/student org or two.</p>
<p>Anthropology 3AC, 4 units
Bioengineering Seminar, 1 unit
Chemistry 1A and 1AL, 4 units
Comparative Lit R1B, 4 units
Math 1A, 4 units</p>
<p>I applied as a bio major, and I'm sure I'm going to switch but I don't know to what (maybe bioengineering). Please feel free to give any comments/advice about the difficulty of these classes.</p>
<p>I’d suggest taking another seminar instead of anthro. That looks like it’ll be pretty heavy for a freshman who intends to work in addition to taking classes.</p>
<p>sounds kinda heavy. idk</p>
<p>You’ll have an easier time getting a higher GPA if you exchange either anthro 3ac or comlit r1b for another 2 unit class. This schedule isn’t impossible, but it will stress the eff out of you since you’re working AND actively participating in clubs.</p>
<p>I agree with AureatEagle. You’re taking Chem 1A + 1AL +Math 1A (two fairly difficult courses) in addition to workstudy job+club activities. I also think you should drop the Anthro 3AC course and take another seminar/decal. Or if you want to, drop the Anthro and leave your schedule as it is. Minus the Anthro, you’d have 13 units, which meets the minimum unit requirement. There’s nothing wrong with taking only 13 units. I had a lot of friends taking a similar schedule (Math 1A+Chem 1A+R1A/B+seminar) their first semester. Even with 13 units, they still had plenty of work to do.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for all the great advice! I think I’ll drop anthro and take a decal.</p>
<p>Oh I have a question about Chem 1A. Why do people say it’s easier in the spring? Would it be worth it to wait and take it in the spring if I really want to get an A?</p>
<p>Planning on going into medical school?</p>
<p>I haven’t taken Chem 1A, so I can’t speak from personal experience, but my friend said something along the lines of “it’s generally less competitve in the spring b/c the more competive students (pre-med, etc) all sign up for it in the fall” and I think there also happened to be a better professor that spring than in the fall. I don’t know if this is true though.</p>
<p>Honestly though, I would just take the class in the fall and see if you can handle it. If not, drop it before the deadline and take it in the spring.</p>
<p>nillawafer is correct. Chem1a in fall is more conceptual, spring is more less conceptual and a bit more calculations-focused. Most students take it in the fall, and that group includes competitive pre-meds who would balk at the idea of doing chem1a “later.” In the spring you’d be taking it with spring admits, and there are overall less students and it feels more chill. At the end of the day, the difference will be minimal, cause there are more premeds in the fall, but there are also more non-premed students to balance it out.</p>
<p>I agree with nillawafer’s advice. I think you’ll be fine in the fall (most people are).</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, Chem 1A itself is much easier in the spring. </p>
<p>Ex. In the fall, you’ll get deducted points if you don’t show up to enough lectures. In the spring, you get extra credit (~60 points worth) for coming. The exams in the fall have a bunch of free response questions, whereas in the spring it’s all multiple choice (even the final). Also, this only applies to previous years, bu lab scores during the fall are only a small part of the grade (so you can’t really save yourself much if you do horribly on exams), but in the spring it’s a lot more. I know someone that went to only about half the lectures and knew literally next to nothing about chem, but still ended up getting a B- in the spring. In the fall, he definitely would have failed.</p>