I was admitted off the waitlist back in April, and I have a few questions about freshman courses that I want to know more about before emailing my FPF advisor.
Is there a way to take a more advanced math class than Math 1B such as Math 53 or Math 54 while in the FPF program?
What about CS 61A? Is it possible to enroll in that class to not fall behind on Comp Sci reqs?
How would I minimize the number of "non-technical" courses (e.g. English, History) that I take at Berkeley?
I'm heavily leaning towards taking a class over the summer to get ahead / lighten my workload? What course should I take if I plan on majoring in CS?
If I want to transfer into the college of engineering, what actions / courses should I take during my freshman year, specifically first semester?
I heard there was an option to petition or concurrently enroll on an open space basis. Is this true? The reason why I would like to take the classes in the fall instead of spring is as I find both mathematics and computer science as subjects I enjoy learning and would not like to postpone.
Thanks for the info – I’ll start drafting an email to my advisor tonight or tomorrow morning. Do you have any suggestions for summer or transferring into COE?
Changing from non-CoE to EECS is more difficult than getting into L&S CS. You need at least a 3.8 technical GPA to be considered, but admission is competitive and not guaranteed even then. In contrast, L&S CS needs a 3.3 GPA in CS 61A, 61B, and 70.
Note that EECS has more requirements, leaving fewer free electives than L&S CS. The CoE also requires students to take upper division humanities and social studies courses as part of the breadth requirement.
Is there a specific reason you would prefer to do EECS instead of L&S CS?
While I realize EECS is a reach, I think it would be better as CoE has less breadth requirements – I can actually use my non-math AP credits – and correspondingly more technical courses / education, which I would prefer. The main reason is that, since November, the idea of applying mathematics and computers to create practical solutions has grown on me, and it seems that CoE is the place with the information and people to help me achieve that goal. Nonetheless, I believe that the L&S CS route would not be a deterrent and an attempt to enter CoE would not be injurious.
In any case, the extra non-math non-CS requirements (e.g. Physics 7A, 7B, EE 16B, another science) for EECS versus L&S CS mean that there may be less free elective space even if you are able to take slightly fewer H/SS courses.
It also is not necessarily desirable to minimize H/SS courses, since understanding of various H/SS subjects can be helpful in later life. For example (not exhaustive):
Sociology and psychology helps you understand how people interact with each other (including in the workplace).
Political science helps you understand the political reactions to things like new technologies (such as encryption, social media, widespread information availability).
Economics helps you understand how people make economic decisions (including when buying what you are selling) and how the economy as a whole acts.
Art helps you understand the appeal of various products (like Apple and Tesla products).
5: AP European History, AP US History, AP Biology, AP Chemistry
4: AP English Language & Comp
Not released: AP Art History, AP Literature, AP U.S. Government
Though I understand the utility of H/SS subjects, I do not like the idea of taking the classes for a grade as I feel it would induce unneeded stress. The extra non-math classes, like Physics 7A and EE16B, on the other hand are subjects I would not mind putting strong effort and time towards.
Both L&S and CoE require R&C courses to be taken for letter grades. If you earn a 5 on AP English Literature, you will be exempt from R&C B for L&S, but not for CoE. Your 4 on AP English Language fulfills R&C A for both L&S and CoE.
Basically, the number of H/SS courses you would need is:
L&S: R&C B (if you do not earn a 5 on AP English Literature), one each in art/literature, historical studies, philosophy/values, and social/behavioral – total 4 or 5.
CoE: R&C B, 3 others including 2 upper division – total 4.
So being in L&S would mean 0 or 1 more H/SS courses required compared to being in CoE for you. Note: this assumes that you have fulfilled the L&S foreign language requirement (third year of high school foreign language, second semester of college foreign language, or sufficient scores on AP or SAT subject test in a foreign language).
So, it seems that attempting to transfer into the CoE would yield no negative consequences; the only thing to keep in mind is to maintain my GPA throughout the first two years, with L&S CS having a 3.3 minimum and EECS with a 3.8.
If you are in FPF for the fall, it looks like you can only take lower division breadth or R&C courses there, unless they let you take regular campus courses through Concurrent Enrollment and there is space available. But since CoE requires some of the H/SS courses to be upper division, you will not be able to make as much progress on CoE H/SS requirements as L&S breadth requirements.
