<p>I'm a freshman pre-business major thinking about switching to ChemE. Here's my current planned schedule for this fall:</p>
<p>Chem 4A
Math 1A
UGBA 10
R & C</p>
<p>Is this manageable or too much?
Also, does anyone know how easy the South Asian Studies R5A class is? I'm Hindu and I know a little bit about Hindu texts and find them interesting. How is the workload for this class? Other than German and Scandinavian, which R & C classes do you recommend for an easy workload?</p>
<p>No AP credit?</p>
<p>For R&C courses, check the department web sites to see if instructors’ reading lists for each section are available, so that you can pick one which has a reading list that looks interesting to you.</p>
<p>If you want to go into Chemical Engineering, why not add Chemical Engineering C96 (1 unit freshman seminar)?</p>
<p>Have a backup list of courses in case your desired ones are full or too hard to get into. For example, alternate R&C courses / sections, Economics 1 if UGBA 10 is full, other humanities or social studies if you cannot get R&C, UGBA 10, and/or Economics 1, etc…</p>
<p>No I took IB so my scores will be released next week, but I can only skip out of English if my score’s high enough. Does anyone know if Haas requires you to take R&C or are they ok if you place out of it (assuming my score’s high enough)?</p>
<p>Also, ucbalumnus, I don’t think I can take Chemical Engineering C96 because I’m not yet part of the College of Chemistry and I believe that course is reserved for CoC students only.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice though.</p>
<p>^ Email Maura Daly at <a href=“mailto:mdaly@berkeley.edu”>mdaly@berkeley.edu</a> and ask her if she can give you a course entry code for C96. She did this for some of my friends last year. It’s nice to be in that class since you meet a lot of CoC kids.</p>
<p>Thanks singh. Do I also need the course entry code for Chem 4A or is that open to all berkeley students?</p>
<p>Haas exam credit: [Exam</a> Credit, Undergraduate Program - Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley](<a href=“Application Process - Undergraduate Program - Berkeley Haas”>Application Process - Undergraduate Program - Berkeley Haas)</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the oddities in Haas’ math requirements with respect to AP or IB credit; if you take Math 53 and 54 for Chemical Engineering, you will fulfill Haas’ math requirements.</p>
<p>If you have had calculus in high school and either AP or IB HL credit, you may want to look at the sample Math 1A and 1B final exams here to check your knowledge for appropriate placement:</p>
<p>[Choosing</a> an Appropriate First Math Course — UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html]Choosing”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html)</p>
<p>4A is open to all students.</p>
<p>I got IB credit for R&C, so I don’t need to take that now. But if Chem 4A lecture is still open but all labs are full, what should I do? Should I waitlist myself for the labs? Should I wait until spring semester to take both of them together? Also, how does this schedule look:</p>
<p>Chem 4A
Math 1A
Econ 1
ChemE 96</p>
<p>4A is only offered in the fall, so definitely waitlist yourself for a lab section to avoid losing a year.</p>
<p>All labs are full for 4A? WOWOWOWOWOW, I’m stunned by that. They really must have misjudged their yield this year. </p>
<p>You HAVE TO waitlist because ChemE is one of the most annoying majors at the university in terms of prerequisite chains. Losing a year would kill you. Here is the main killer prereq chain:</p>
<p>Chem 4A => Chem 4B => ChemE 140 => ChemE 141, 150A => ChemE 142, 150B => ChemE 154, 160, and 162, as well as most of the chemE electives</p>
<p>Because of this, you need a MINIMUM of 6 semesters to complete the chain, but it’s completely unrealistic to take 154, 160, 162, and all your electives in your last semester. Oh, and most of these classes are only offered in the fall or spring, so it’s hard to catch up. So the point is, you NEED to take the equivalent of 4A-4B in your first year, or you WILL NOT graduate on time. Keep in mind that you also need 4A-4B to take other classes like O-chem and P-chem as well. </p>
<p>One thing you can do, though, (since you’re not yet in teh CoC) is take Chem 1A instead of 4A. And then take 4B next semester. They have generally accepted this, but if transferring this year is as competitive as they say, they would never take someone in 1A over someone in 4A.</p>
<p>The lecture for Chem 4A is still open but yeah labs are full, singh. But I did get a high number on the waitlist. But Math 1A’s discussion sections were all full as well, although its lecture was also open! So I had to waitlist for Chem 4A and Math 1A. So the only two classes I signed up for for Phase I were waitlists, which is insane. Any advice regarding that?</p>
<p>I’m also really confused now what I should make my schedule. I’ve been seeing a ton of people on this forum recommend taking UGBA 10 second semester. And Econ 1 conflicts with Chem 4A. My R&C requirement has been fulfilled through my IB credits, and from what I’ve heard I am coming in with 20 credits from IB just because my total score on the IB Diploma was over a 30 (although I’ve only heard this info from another student). Anyways, my schedule right now is:</p>
<p>Chem 4A (Waitlist)
Math 1A (Waitlist)
ChemE 96 (will try adding on Phase II)</p>
<p>What other course would you guys recommend adding? I was thinking of taking Asian American Studies: Muslims in America or one of the Music courses for my AC requirement. Otherwise I can try taking Physics 7A if that fits my schedule. Any thoughts? And how hard is Physics 7A for someone who’s just decent with physics?</p>
<p>Also, I was thinking of joining a club or two and pledging for a frat. Would this be too much for my first semester?</p>
<p>Physics 7A (but not H7A) is an early drop deadline course, which means it is a high demand course (but also high attrition). Have backup courses to register for if you cannot get in.</p>
<p>[Early</a> Drop Deadline Courses - Office Of The Registrar](<a href=“http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Default.aspx?PageID=edd.html]Early”>http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Default.aspx?PageID=edd.html)</p>
<p>General UC policy on IB credits:</p>
<p>[University</a> of California - International Baccalaureate credits](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/ib-credits/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/ib-credits/index.html)</p>
<p>Ask the College of Chemistry to evaluate IB credit:</p>
<p>[UC</a> Berkeley – College of Chemistry – New Freshman](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/students/form_directions.php]UC”>Choosing your first semester courses | College of Chemistry)</p>
<p>There will be several dropouts for Chem 4A, believe me. Just sign up for the lab you want and you’ll be fine.
Same thing for Math 1A. Just enroll in the lecture and any available discussion session and you can send an e-mail to Babara Peavy to switch to the section you want once school starts.</p>
<p>If you can’t take Econ 1 b/c of time conflict, then just go ahead w/ UGBA 10. The competition is stiff, but the material itself is not difficult and you’ll be fine as long as you don’t overthink on those multiple choices.</p>
<p>Btw, since you’re not in College of Chemistry as ChemE major, you’ll be forced to sign up for Chem C96 instead of ChemE C96. Don’t worry, it’s the same class.</p>
<p>If you want to take another class, I recommend psychology or sociology classes, but that’s totally your personal preference.</p>
<p>A spot opened up for one of the Chem 4A labs so now I’m enrolled in Chem 4A! Only problem is that I got the 8AM lab. I’ve actually chosen generally earlier classes so I can have the afternoon free. Do most people keep their Friday’s free? I only have 2 morning classes and then I have the rest of the day to myself, but should I be loading it up with more classes?</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, I’m a little hesitant to take Physics 7A until second semester as I have only an average grasp of physics and didn’t have as exemplary a performance in high school as I had hoped. How hard is the class, and what is the curve/class average? The ChemE curriculum on the CoC pdf recommends taking it second semester so I was considering just doing that.</p>
<p>upmagic, why do you recommend psychology or sociology classes? They do fulfill the AC requirement, right? I was thinking about taking a Political Science course since I’m interested in that stuff a bit, but I’m not sure I should risk it since the ChemE curriculum is so strict and it wouldn’t really satisfy any requirements for me. What do you think?</p>
<p>Would you guys recommend rushing this semester or spring semester? If I’m taking Chem 4A, Math 1A, UGBA 10, Chem 96, and another course then that might be difficult to manage alongside rushing, right?</p>
<p>Actually, if you are not in Math 1B or a higher math course, you’ll have to wait until you complete Math 1A to take Physics 7A.</p>
<p>As far as humanities / social studies courses go, most of courses that fulfill American Cultures have the “AC” suffix, although a few do not (e.g. History 7A and 7B). Choose humanities / social studies courses with an eye to fulfilling requirements for CoC, L&S, and Haas, so that you won’t be “wasting” courses for whichever you eventually end up doing.</p>
<p>As far as rushing fraternity / sorority goes, it may be safer to do so in the spring, since the uncertainty of how you will handle the workload in your first semester will be past by then. Also, you’ll have more of a chance to “shop” the fraternities / sororities by observing them and their members over the fall semester.</p>
<p>Regarding time of day, morning classes are fine if you can wake up in time. Early afternoon is the time when many people feel sleepy (siesta time). If that is true for you, avoid scheduling classes during that time (choose morning or later afternoon class times).</p>
<p>guruofgreatness - if you have adequate AP Calc scores, you can satisfy the pre-req for Physics courses even if you intend to take Math 1A for credit simultaneously or later. Credit as a pre-req to taking a class is an independent decision from whether it ‘counts’ for satisfying the course list for the major or whether it ‘counts’ for applications to professional school e.g. pre-meds</p>
<p>As I said, psychology and sociology were just my personal preference. If you like poli sci, you should certainly try it.</p>
<p>awesome, thanks so much everyone. For all the ChemE’s here, can you recall what your first semester schedule was and how many credits you took?</p>
<p>I took Chem 4A, Math 53, Physics 7A, German R5A, and ChemE C96, for a total of 17 units.</p>