<p>Hey quick question.</p>
<p>Bioengineering major
I took Calc AB in my Junior year (AP Stats this year) and got a 5 on the exam. Now, I took AP Physics C this year, so I have a moderate remembrance of Calculus - though, not as well as I should hope!</p>
<p>Should I take 1A my first semester, or go ahead to 1B? I have 18 credits my first semester (Chem 1A, Math ?, Philo 6, BioE 24, BioE10, E98)....</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>1A is really easy. 1B is not so easy (50% flunk rate). I took AP Calc BC (includes AB and BC) and passed both sections with 4s (not 5s though) and still had to work in 1B. 18 units is quite a lot for your first semester. I'd recommend either doing 1A and the rest of those courses or take 1B and drop another course.</p>
<p>18 units is too much. It is a <em>huge</em> mistake to overload yourself like that your first semester as a freshman.</p>
<p>what about 17 units..?
It's either 13 or 17 for me..</p>
<p>It depends on how much of the material is new for you. 17 units of truly NEW material is too much for an incoming freshman, unless you need that much (you are EECS or something). The thing is, as an incoming freshman everything is new and scary and FUN. If you overload yourself with classes, you will find it terrifying and no time for fun, or you'll find the time for fun and grades will suffer tremendously.</p>
<p>My only "new" material is Philosophy and my 2 BioE classes - is that too much?
I just finished AP Chem, so Chem 1A should be decent. Maybe I should switch into Math 1A...</p>
<p>The only reason I have 18 instead of 17 is because of my extra 1 credit DeCal (engineering 98). The other 1 credit P/NP class is BioE 24, which is just a seminar. </p>
<p>Basically, I have 4 "classes" - Math, BioE 10, Chem, and Philosophy.
Is that too much? The first year BioE curriculum recommends 16 credits...</p>
<p>And, EECS basically = Bioengineering in terms of workload.</p>
<p>Dunno I've been getting a lot of mixed responses... like 13 units would make me a weak sauce.. and stuff..
I'm planning
chem 4a
math 1a
chem c96
english r1a
and possibly ethnic studies or sociology.
17 units total.</p>
<p>I took chem.. no ap.. junior year.. and dunno how much i remember..
and calc ab junior year too.. our school didn't have calc bc. </p>
<p>hmm.. ahh freak.. i dont wanna fall behind.. but dont wanna take an easy weak sauce schedule.</p>
<p>Indian: Your schedule is just a tad hefty for first semester, but it doesn't look too bad. I might recommend dropping philosophy and taking Math 1B instead of 1A. You won't fall behind. From what I can tell, 1B is not conceptually hard, but very doable as long as you keep up with hw. Skimming over Calc BC cliffnotes or something over the summer might help.</p>
<p>88888888: Considering that you haven't taken AP Chem, I really would not recommend more than 13 units (trust me, you won't fall behind--and I would know because I'm also in the College of Chem). When I took Chem 4A with Saykally (a fairly time-consuming class), the majority of the class had taken AP Chem in high school and yet people still did really poorly on the exams for the most part. Surprisingly, only 18% of the class received an A- or better in Saykally's 2007 class, and I would expect a curve of similar harshness for your semester given that he's teaching 4A again with Alex Pines. Based on your username, I assume that you have Chinese parents who would want you getting A's--that's not going to happen if you overload yourself.</p>
<p>Cupola:
Yea..I figure chem 4a is gonna be time consuming for me..especially that I wasn't able to chem ap. Would like taking 16-17 units after my first semester keep me from falling behind- graduate in time.</p>
<p>ignoring the issue of required classes and GE stuff, the math is easy</p>
<p>120 units to graduate
subtract the AP courses for which you get credit (and any xferable college courses)</p>
<p>subtract the 13-15 units that represents 'taking it easy ' in your Frosh 1st semester</p>
<p>Net result, divided by 7 remaining semesters, is the average units needed to not 'fall behind'.</p>
<p>This is not very hard to achieve.</p>
<p>120 units, even with zero AP credits, minus the 13 credit minimum (for L&S)means that 107 have to be accumulated in 7 semesters, or an average of under 15.3 units each semester. Take 15 every semester except for any one when you 'stretch' to 17, you clear the bar for graduation. </p>
<p>For many, with AP credits giving a head start, it is even easier.</p>
<p>The problem is not falling behind on unit count. It is getting into the courses needed for your major, its prereqs, the GE stuff and any prereqs for any of those. </p>
<p>Now, if you discover a new passion and switch majors, particularly later in your time at Cal, then you may have a tougher time. Since there is a hard limit of total units you can take at Cal, if you switch majors in your UD years you may be straining to fit everything necessary while staying UNDER the limit.</p>
<p>See, cupola - I really wanted to take Philosophy with Dreyfus...heard he's amazing.
I think I'll just take 1A instead. It should be pretty easy - I already have calc experience...</p>
<p>888888, since you are taking chem 4a, you should take a light load. I don't know what weak sauce is. I know what overloaded freshman ending up on academic probation means, though. ;-) I'm exaggerating the severity of the situation, but without AP Chem background, you're going to be working very very very hard in Chem 4A.</p>
<p>Can anyone else offer an insight into my schedule/question?</p>
<p>I can only say that 1B is MUCH harder than 1A. The only weeder class with as high of a dropout rate it Chem 3b and even that doesnt totally compare to the rigour and theoreticalness of 1B.</p>
<p>Oh, one more thing - which ones should I sign up for during CalSO? Like, which of the 10.5 credit limit should I do first, for space, etc, etc.</p>
<p>888888: it really depends on whom you talk to. personally, if i had to do it again, i would not have taken that many classes first semester of freshman year. however, four classes of three techs and one non-tech is usually the standard for technical majors - engineering, chem, and the like. since your schedule includes two techs and two humanities, this may be slightly more manageable than the other case with three techs. while i did say that i would not have taken 4 classes my first semester again, i must say this: i do not regret it. it has helped me stay on track with my plan and stay very far ahead of schedule with planning classes in the next 3 years. ask around, get input from various people. use calso and your calso counselor / fellow counselees as resources. utilize your fellow berkeley go-getters! also, most importantly, remember that you can (and should) always sign up for ALL of these classes. if you do get into them all, you can just shop them for the first week and check re-evaluate from there. i usually don't have my schedule fully set until the 2nd week of classes - just because there are so many different classes i'd like to take.</p>
<p>indian: your schedule looks doable. for calso, sign up for math + chem, as they will fill up quickest. the math1a or 1b dilemma - i'd go with math1b. you're going to have to take it eventually, and the curve will always be there.</p>