@bluebayou I’m in an urban planning program at the moment, and haven’t ever needed calculus. I do need strong quant skills, but almost all of it is in statistics, which is one of the most basic tools, alongside GIS software. I’ve taken stats classes, and my Geography minor is devoted to GIS classes. That’s where my quant and computer skills are.
I don’t know why Berkeley would require calc.
As an aside, I did leave high school unqualified to apply to state universities (I was missing one or two math classes, a science class, and two foreign language classes) and with a low C average. My Mom cared about me getting a diploma, not getting me into college. I have some pretty big educational gaps that it just isn’t feasible to close, and I’m betting a lot of other low income/poor school people are in the same boat. Not every teenager has supportive parents or a school that’s worth anything. Money is also an issue. Making calc a requirement would mean two and a half years of remedial math in community college instead of one (Needed a year of algebra. Would have to add a year of precalc, then half a year of calc.). A foreign language means the same, plus a lot of stress. I didn’t have to talk remedial english in community college, but a lot of my peers did. All of that adds up. That’s why I’m so against quant GE requirements. It seems rather brutal to the poorly educated adults trying to climb through CC and university.