My school offered no AP courses - only honors. I’ll be attending Berkeley as a freshman this Fall majoring in Computer Science. I have the option of taking community college courses over the summer to fulfill some requirements.
Which courses at my community college should I take to avoid weeder/time-consuming courses? I heard there was an American Cultures requirement and a few classes that require a ton of reading (which I want to avoid at all costs).
Could any CS majors weigh in on this? Thanks!
p.s. How many hours of sleep do you guys usually get every night?
Admission to the CS major needs a 3.30 GPA in CS 61A, 61B, 70, using only grades earned at Berkeley.
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/#petitioning
More time consuming courses are typically those with labs, art studio, or music performance, or those with large term projects, or those with computer programming assignments (e.g. CS 61A, 61B).
I would not recommend skipping any base CS classes (61A/B/C, or 70). From what I have seen/heard, they are significantly more challenging than community college versions, and will better prepare you for upper-division classes than a CC course. Plus, I think they’re absolutely fantastic (though I might be biased as I’m a TA for 61A). Also, as far as I know, there are no CC courses that allow you to get out of 61A - even junior transfers have to take it.
The best courses to get out of are Math 1A and Math 1B (calc 1 and calc 2). If you’ve taken calculus before, I would recommend taking a Calc 2 course that gives credit for Math 1B. If not, take a Calc 1 course that gives credit for Math 1A. Make sure to check http://web2.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.do for transfer details - many CCs offer calc courses that don’t give 1A/1B credit.
I don’t think you can get out of R1A or R1B (reading-intensive general ed courses) with CC courses, so you’re probably better off doing an American Cultures course. Info on which courses at your CC apply for the AC requirement will be on ASSIST. A tip for avoiding tons of readings in R1A/R1B: choose your course/department wisely. I took Art History R1B and loved it - the readings were short and interesting. But English R1A/R1B is known for being reading-intensive.
I generally sleep 6 hours a night on weekdays, but on weekends, I’m in bed from 2 AM till noon 
Hope you enjoy 61A in Fall!
Rare, but one does exist in Laney College’s CIS 61:
http://web2.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&sia=LANEY&ria=UCB&ia=LANEY&oia=UCB&aay=15-16&ay=16-17&dora=CS-AB
However, CS 70 may not exist at CCs, and CS 61C is rare as well. Of course, since L&S CS only counts grades earned at Berkeley in prerequisites for admission, taking any prerequisites elsewhere means that each remaining course to take at Berkeley is higher stakes in terms of grades.
Equivalents to R&C A and B are commonly found at CCs, since junior transfers are expected to have taken them before transfer. Example:
http://web2.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=18&swap=1&dir=1&sia=LANEY&ria=UCB&ia=LANEY&oia=UCB&aay=15-16&ay=16-17&dora=ENGLISH
Although they do exist at CCs, they are not very common, based on ASSIST listings.