Hey all,
I know that applying into EECS is really hard and I’m definitely not going to make it in (lol). But say I wanted to do the L&S Computer science instead (which actually seems very awesome for me because I am definitely EXTREMELY interested in humanities too)…how hard would this be? Is this major super ultra competitive to get? 
Thanks.
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/#petitioning says that the current requirement to enter the major is a 3.30 GPA in CS 61A, 61B, 70. Note that this is higher than in previous years, due to the increasing popularity of the CS major (used to need a 3.0 GPA in a larger set of prerequisites; some years before that, only a 2.0 GPA was needed).
@ucbalumnus They first changed it to a 3.0 GPA for prereqs back in about 1981, a looong time ago.
Oh okay. So right now I’m still in high school, and thinking about applying. Is it hard to get a 3.0 gpa in these courses? If you get the minimum requirements are you just guaranteed or are there further applications? Thanks u guys.
3.30*
@unicornforest In each the courses required to declare the major (CS 61A, CS 61B, and CS 70), about 50% of students get a 3.3 or higher - and many students in those courses are not planned CS majors, especially in 61A. If you get a 3.3, there are no further requirements - you are admitted to the major. So overall I would say that the majority of intended CS majors will be able to declare.
@unicornforsale FYI a 3.3 is a B+ at Berkeley if that helps put things in perspective. I don’t know how hard it is to get that average in those classes these days, but I’m pretty sure it won’t happen without a lot of hard work.
“They first changed it to a 3.0 GPA for prereqs back in about 1981, a looong time ago.”
In 1981, really?
I was at Berkeley after that, and I remember it was still 2.0 as I thought of doing L&S CS one point in time.
Am I getting old?
@StevenToCollege Maybe they changed it back for a while? I was told about the change when I declared and I just got in under the wire. I had no reason to follow up if it was ever implemented at that time, so maybe it was delayed.
Thanks all of u guys for ur replies!!! This has been really helpful
After the tech bubble crash of the early 2000s, interest in the L&S CS major declined so much that the GPA threshold was lowered to 2.0. There were fewer than 100 L&S CS majors graduating per year then. As interest returned, the GPA threshold was raised to 3.0 (around 2012?), then 3.3. For the graduating class of 2015, there were over 300 L&S CS majors.
“After the tech bubble crash of the early 2000s, interest in the L&S CS major declined so much that the GPA threshold was lowered to 2.0.”
That’s interesting. I was actually at Berkeley between late 1980 and early 1990.
Well, perhaps I am getting old. LOL