<p>I want to major in Polisci and debating whther I should take Phsyics C next year (I am currently a junior). If i don't take it, will i need to in college? Eventhough Im majoring in polisci and nothing science related?</p>
<p>Look up the required prerequisites of your major and the actual major requirements. Are there any general ed requirements you’ll need to fulfill with a science course?</p>
<p>For Berkeley specifically:</p>
<p>Physics C does not fulfill any general College of Letters and Science requirements:
[Office</a> of Undergraduate Advising: Summary of Degree Requirements](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/summary.html]Office”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/summary.html)</p>
<p>Nor does it fulfill any political science major requirements:
[Undergraduate</a> Program - Requirements for the Major](<a href=“http://polisci.berkeley.edu/undergrad/requirements/post/]Undergraduate”>Requirements for the Major | UC Berkeley Political Science)</p>
<p>However, each part gives you 2.7 semester units (4 quarter units) which may give you higher class standing for registration, or help you reach the 120 units needed to graduate:
[University</a> of California - AP credits](<a href=“University of California Counselors”>University of California Counselors)</p>
<p>Don’t bother unless you like physics. You won’t be able to use the credit to pass out of any classes.</p>
<p>What do you mean by higher class standing?
Also, is GPA affected by the rigor of your classes? Or is every class worth the same 4.0?</p>
<p>Class standing is determined by credit units completed, including AP credit.
0-29.9 = freshman
30-59.9 = sophomore
60-89.9 = junior
90+ = senior</p>
<p>Note that this is different from class level, which is determined by semesters enrolled since entry as a freshman or transfer. A student with lots of AP credit may have sophomore class standing but freshman class level.</p>
<p>To expound on that, there are two calculated class standings that Berkeley uses for registration purposes.</p>
<p>One is the “Non-AP” class standing. This is the total number of units you have earned from non-AP/IB sources. This includes college (in most cases, community college) credits. Taking more AP exams will not change this, but taking college courses will. This determines the initial registration grouping. Non-AP seniors are all grouped together in the first week or so, non-AP juniors are grouped in the second week, and so on.</p>
<p>The other is the “Tele-BEARS” class standing. This includes all units, including both college courses and AP/IB exam credits. The more of these you have, the earlier your appointment will be within your non-AP group. In addition, this determines whether or not you can register for some classes, or whether or not you will be taken off the waitlist for some classes. (Another factor is your major.)</p>
<p>Both of these are calculated using the cutoffs that ucbalumnus shared in the post directly above this one. Using myself as an example, I have approximately:
[ul]
[<em>] 28 units from community college classes
[</em>] 44 units from AP exams
[li] 19 units from Berkeley classes[/li][/ul]
So my current non-AP units total to 28+19 = 47 units, which is between 30 and 60, so this makes me a sophomore in terms of non-AP class standing. Adding in my AP units gives me 28+44+19 = 91 units, which is above 90 and hence makes me a senior in terms of Tele-BEARS class standing.</p>
<p>Hence, having more units usually helps you out. I got off the waitlist for CS 170 – a class with extremely high demand this semester, and much drama surrounding the large waitlist – fairly early since I was both a) a declared EECS major and b) a Tele-BEARS senior, despite me being a freshman. (Declared CS/EECS majors and Tele-BEARS seniors get first priority off the waitlists for upper division CS classes.)</p>
<p>The only downside that I’ve seen so far is that I can’t register for freshman seminars now without complaining at the registrar’s office, since I have too many units to qualify as a freshman. (I can enroll in sophomore seminars, however.)</p>