<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>