<p>Hi, I'm an incoming freshman who is unsure of the workload of certain classes at Berkeley. As of now, I've literally heard nothing about Math 191. There's no data about the class, and the website (Math</a> 191) has very little information about the rigor and workload of the class. Does anyone have any information about the grading policy and average workload regarding this class? If so, would it be a reasonable fit in my schedule (I've already registered for it during Phase I)?</p>
<p>Here are the classes I am taking this fall (already signed up for half of them)</p>
<p>Math H54
Math 191
EPS 50
Psych 1
Math 53 or R&C Class
DeCal (photography or cooking or dance)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your input! The class that I've been worrying about is Math 191. I hope I can get some answers/relief via this thread.</p>
<p>EDIT: Ack, didn’t notice that you had already found that page. I looked on CourseRank. Here is a previous grade distribution:
A : 8 students
A- : 2 students
B+ : 1 student</p>
<p>definitely don’t take H54 with 53. while multivariable is extremely fun, and the workload between the two classes could be manageable, the concepts in both classes are very important so i would recommend taking 53 in the spring(spring also has H53 if you like the honors courses). I am excited to see a fellow freshmen taking H54…everyone(including the advisors) looked at me like i was crazy when i was told i was signing up for it(at least until they saw the syllabi of all the math courses i’ve taken).</p>
<p>also the schedule that you have is 19 units if you include a 2credit decal. that is excessive for your first semester…especially if you are thinking about taking 12 credits of math classes</p>
<p>Since there are upper division math courses that don’t have 53 as a prerequisite (110, 113), I don’t see any reason to rush and take 53 in the fall. Just the sheer number of units could potentially make the workload unnecessarily difficult for your first semester. You could just take 53 (or H53) alongside 110 (or H110) in the spring.</p>
<p>Edit: this is assuming that you’re an intended math major…if you’re not, then there’s even less reason for you to take 53 in the fall.</p>
<p>They’re probably used to seeing pre-Haas / pre-med students who are unsure of their math background or are looking for an “easy A” by retaking Math 1A or 16A after a 5 on the AP test (of course, the “easy A” may not be so easy when the curve is loaded up with similar sandbaggers).</p>
<p>191 is an umbrella for “experimental courses.” Different sections in different years will have different selections. One of the ones that have persisted is the putnam prep class.</p>
<p>Just FYI, you shouldnt be taking Putnam unless you are good with the material in upperdivs. That test is difficult! The median score is a 0. I also heard that there is a limit of how many times you can take the Putnam exam.</p>
<p>^i’ve never heard that. with how Cal actually finished 4th last year it will be tough to make it into the top 3 to actually compete in the Putnam competition</p>
<p>Oh you’re taking Math H54 too? I look forward to meeting you, unless you’re somebody I already know, which isn’t unlikely as there are only 14 people currently signed up and I know around 5 of them.</p>
<p>@singh2010</p>
<p>That sounds like a good plan. I actually don’t know if I’m going to major in math. I just feel like I should pursue it a bit more after about 7 years of competition math. </p>
<p>@ucbalumnus</p>
<p>I should’ve phrased my question a bit better. I’ve pretty much exhausted all the online resources. I should’ve asked for personal experience with the specific Putnam preparation course/if one knew a friend who took the course and how that person fared.</p>
<p>@mruncleramos</p>
<p>Yup, that’s my intention - preparing for the Putnam!</p>
<p>@GeneralWisdom</p>
<p>Well, I heard from many people that the Putnam is “easier” than the USAMO and is a speed-math competition (which it really is). I think you only can take the Putnam four times.</p>
<p>@mjmay7</p>
<p>Berkeley will probably not do that well for a while. Two of the three people on the Cal Putnam team (Evan O’Dorney and Jing-Jing (Shiyu) Li) are not going to be at Cal for much longer . Evan’s going to Harvard, and Jing-Jing is graduating from Berkeley after staying for 1.5-2 years. </p>
<p>FYI Evan was an IMO Gold Medalist and Jing-Jing was a gold medalist at CGMO. Evan was a Black MOPper and Jing-Jing was a Green MOPper. I really do highly doubt that Cal will get even a Red MOPper for a while, as most choose to go to MIT/Harvard/CalTech.</p>
<p>^there are many good people who never had access to AIME or other such competitions in High School (aka me lol). I lived in a small rural area and had never heard of it until halfway through my senior year…kinda a bummer because i feel like i would have done quite well but o well. Also, I highly doubt that you know me since i’m OOS and didn’t meet anyone that was taking it at CalSO. I thought i would give myself a year to get used to Cal before I gave my life over to the Putnam competition lol :)</p>
<p>^ Evan isn’t transferring. He’s just a high school student that’s now graduating. </p>
<p>As for 191, go ahead and try it out Freshman year. However, you’ll probably be somewhat lost in the course since a lot of the material expects a familiarity with at least 53 and 54. After all, the Putnam tests undergraduate-level math (albeit, moreso lower division math) and if you don’t have a strong background in calculus or proof-writing, you may do poorly.</p>
<p>As for your schedule, it may be too much for you to handle, and it’s great that you’re putting 53 off to Spring. 19 units is way too much for a first semester; most over-achieving freshman either take 17-18 units (taking care of 2-3 breadths) or take 4 technical courses at a total of 16 units. With 191, H54, 2 breadths, and a decal, you should have a pretty successful schedule. Adding a 4-unit class on top would be overkill, but you can always test things out and drop courses within the first two weeks.</p>
<p>I’d recommend the 2 technical courses (191, H54) as your main area of focus this semester while you try to finish off your breadths throughout your freshman and sophomore years.</p>
<p>well with the amount of credits that he has to have i would have assumed most schools would treat him as a transfer student…one of my friends had to apply as a transfer to the University of Michigan this year because he had so many credits.</p>
<p>^ I apologize for digressing, but that seems more of a particular case than a generality. I’d expect that most universities don’t consider a high school student with incoming credit (college, AP, IB, etc.) a transfer student. Take Berkeley for instance, or Harvard, where Evans is going.</p>
<p>And to put that label on actual non-transfer students is rather misleading. That would imply that the application process would have to be done through a transfer request rather than the common app, UC app, or typical high school procedure.</p>
<p>well most don’t until you hit a certain number of credits, then you have to go through the transfer application process if you are to be able to keep all of your credits. I just figured since Evans has taken so many classes at Cal and such that he has reached that number. Most schools that i have talked to state that once you reach 60 credits of actual college work you must apply as a transfer, even if you are technically still in high school, or you forfeit all of your work. Also, he applied through the common app transfer one.</p>
<p>^ I highly doubt that.
I’ve never seen a high school student be forced to apply as a transfer. I’m sure in almost all colleges, this is not the case, and if this is done at a college, it is more of an exception than a generality (as I’ve already stated). All colleges I have even the slightest familiarity with don’t consider any student with a high number of units a “transfer.” That term only applies if the student was actually enrolled in the college he or she was getting units from.</p>