New Transfer Student. Please rate difficulty of classes / Registration tips

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I am a newly admitted transfer student and I will be starting at Cal in the Spring.</p>

<p>I was admitted under a different major but I plan to apply for Economics during my first semester.</p>

<p>My first semester should look as follows:</p>

<p>MATH 1B
ECON 100B
STAT 20</p>

<p>Any comments on how difficult this schedule would be grade-wise?</p>

<p>Also, is there a chance I may not be able to get one or more of these classes? (I need all 3 classes my first semester, in order to apply for the major)</p>

<p>Which classes should I Phase 1 / Phase 2?
(Not entirely sure what Phase 1 / 2 is all about, I know I'll be registering for classes at CalSO -- does Phase 1 simply refer to a registration period that happens earlier in the day compared to Phase 2 and is hence reserved for classes that are typically harder to get into?)</p>

<p>Lastly, an off-topic question, but is a room to sleep in provided for transfer students at CalSO? </p>

<p>Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>(Quick disclaimer, I’m not an Econ major.)</p>

<p>If you want to be econ, you must to apply in your first semester. Check the [pre-reqs</a> and details](<a href=“https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective/transfer-students"]pre-reqs”>Incoming Transfer Students | Department of Economics) to see if you can meet it. You’re expected to have all those pre-reqs done by the end of your first semester, and you need to meet the GPA requirement as well.</p>

<p>Your current schedule doesn’t look too bad. Make sure you’ll meet the minimum unit count, I think you need at least 13 for L&S. If you’re one or two units shy of the minimum you might want to look into decals or seminars, since those are fun, easy, and usually have low work levels. You should expect the schedule to be challenging just because it’s your first semester at Cal. Classes are going to move a lot faster than what you’re used to, and professors will expect a lot from you.</p>

<p>Also, for what it’s worth, I lived with a bunch of econ majors last year, all new transfers. They spent a lot of time studying (find a study group!), and they were worried about grades and declaring, but all of them met the requirements and got into econ at the end of the semester. So, you’ll probably be stressed out, but that’s okay. Work hard and you can do it. :)</p>

<hr>

<p>The phase stuff is just different times when you’re allowed to register for classes. Phase 1 happens first, everyone gets to add up to ~10 credits, usually 2 classes. Use it to get the classes you want/need the most, or the most popular ones. Your registration date within the phase is determined by class standing and some other stuff, the earlier your phase 1 date is the better your chances of getting into classes are. After everyone has gotten a couple classes in phase 1, phase 2 starts. Phase 2 is the same deal, registration dates, add up to ~16 (I think?) units, basically you get the rest of your schedule. After everyone has had their phase 2 it becomes the adjustment period, where it’s a free-for-all (no more dates) and you can get up to ~20 credits.</p>

<p>You can use schedule.berkeley.edu to keep tabs on how full the classes you want are. I think the econ pre-reqs might reserve a couple seats for new transfers, or if you’re really struggling to get into a class you need you can try talking to your advisor or the professor. I think they can help you figure out what to phase 1/2 during CalSO, if you’re registering during it.</p>

3

<p>You may want to check with the economics department to find out if a special advisor code or something is needed to register for Economics 100/101 A/B as a new transfer student.</p>

<p>You can use telebearsoracle.com to get an idea of how quickly classes filled last fall. For example:
<a href=“http://telebearsoracle.com/#22459,53526,53532,53571,87375,87396,87417,87438,semester:fa13”>http://telebearsoracle.com/#22459,53526,53532,53571,87375,87396,87417,87438,semester:fa13&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Helped me a lot. Thank you.</p>