<p>How hard are labs...really?
i.e. Chem 1A, Bio 1B, Bio 1A...</p>
<p>Does having research experience in a real lab setting help in any way? I mean 2+ years worth? Is it related at all?</p>
<p>Im just hearing so much stuff about these infamous "labs" that I wanna get the real lowdown</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Though the only labs I've taken are Physics 7A, CS 3L, and CS 61A (though a lot of people on my floor did that Chem and Bio labs), I'd say research experience probably won't help you at all (unless it made you better understand the material covered in the labs). If you've never done a lab before in your life, you might struggle just a tad, but from my experience it's just been about being able to properly run an experiment, record data, and reach conclusions based on your knowledge of the subject matter (all of which, if you got into Cal, should not be too difficult).</p>
<p>Azure, how were the CS 3L labs? I'm signed up for the class this fall and I'm wondering what goes on during those 3 hour long labs. Also, how difficult is the class in general?</p>
<p>thanks Azure
any others on labs like bio1b, chem1a, etc (pre-med sciences)?</p>
<p>In my experience a real lab is way different from the chem labs I took so far (1a + 3a). In a real lab projects/experiments take weeks or months to finish. For Chem 1a and 3al you're given 4 hours max and most GSI's don't want to go over. Everything feels kinda rushed, especially when everyone wants to finish early.</p>
<p>Real labs aren't so crowded as Berkeley labs. For chem 1a/3al as soon as the GSI says to start chaos unleashes and everyone dashes all around the room for chemicals and supplies. Occasionally you'll also meet jerks that hoard chemicals and take lab materials from other ppl. There's not a good ratio of lab equipment to students... so sometimes you'll be waiting to use mass scales, etc.</p>
<p>RaNe - CS 3L is a joke. Have you seen the grading scale (it's incredibly lenient)? The midterms are moderately difficult (more difficult than the 61A midterms), but you'll get plenty of points from homework, quizzes, and projects to make up for that. The labs are also really easy. You'll basically be learning the material through an online tutorial/system called UCWISE. 3 hours are allotted for each lab, but I almost never stayed there for the full 3 hours (I usually finished after an hour or so). The only time I really spent the full 3 hours (or more) in lab was when I was debugging my final project. You can work from home, but you do have to show up in the lab to take the quizzes (there ARE a certain number of quizzes you can take from home, though).</p>
<p>I came in with no programming experience and found it incredibly easy to get an A in the class.</p>
<p>Azure...what was your schedule like the semester you took CS 61A?</p>
<p>Thanks Azure. I had no idea what the class is like, so what you said is quite a relief. </p>
<p>So your experience was with Mr. Garcia teaching CS 3L in the fall right?</p>
<p>N Y C - I took Math 53, Math 54, and CS 61A together (12 units total).</p>
<p>RaNe - Nope, Nate Titterton taught it last Fall, but I can still see the course being very easy.</p>
<p>you took 53 and 54 simultaneously? How was that?</p>
<p>I'm assuming ur in engineering...how did you get to not take physics?</p>
<p>53 isn't a prerequisite for 54, so it turned out just fine.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm EECS. I took Physics 7A last Fall. I chose to take Math 54 instead of Physics 7B due to scheduling reasons (it allowed me to have a schedule where all of my classes were after 1 p.m.). I plan on taking Physics 7B this upcoming Fall semester.</p>
<p>aren't you worried having such a long break from physics might hurt you in 7b?</p>
<p>i'm mostly concerned about cs 61A. also in eecs, no programming experience. i know u said 61a was easy for you but maybe that was because you took 3L first? what do you think?</p>
<p>Uh...no, I'm not worried at all, and I don't think there should be any reason to worry either.</p>
<p>I guess CS 3L helped for the first 3 weeks or so of 61A until the first midterm as 95% of the material was review. The vast majority of the course is brand new material, though, and I'm don't think CS 3L was too influential with regard to this new material.</p>