<p>Hey, I'm currently an upcoming Cal Class of 2015 student with an intended major in BioEngineering. If I am interested in transferring into L&S for C.S. after first semester, how competitive do you guys think it will be? </p>
<ol>
<li><p>It is to my understanding that if I was enrolled in Engineering, I would have to take Physics 7A first semester. Since I will not be able to transfer to L&S first semester anyway, and would have to take Physics 7A in Engineering, do you guys foresee any reason for me to take the Physics B exam this May? Will I even get credit for it if I'm going from Eng --> L&S after first semester.</p></li>
<li><p>Are the course requirements stringent in L&S CS? How much room do you have to take courses of your choice -- maybe web design, networks, etc (still related to CS but outside the major requirements) or is that too much to handle considering the amount of work involved?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The AP Physics B exam is useless for subject credit in both Engineering and Letters and Science. You may get generic credit units for it, but the only use would be to count to the 120 units needed for graduation.</p>
<p>Regarding L&S CS requirements, look [here[/url</a>]. Note that of the 27 upper division technical units (usually about seven courses), only two CS courses are specified (170 and 162), two more CS courses must be chosen from a list of nine others, any two other CS courses must be taken, and the rest may be CS or other technical courses from a technical course list. So there is plenty of freedom to choose CS courses for your academic and professional interests.</p>
<p>If you want to go into industry software development, consider the following: 170, 162, EE 122, 169, 186, 160, 161, as the concepts in those courses are most commonly used.</p>
<p>With 32 units of lower division (unless you have AP Calculus credit to start ahead in math) and 27 units of upper division courses required, that takes only about half of the 120 units needed for graduation. [url=<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/summary.html]L&S”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/summary.html]L&S</a> breadth requirements](<a href=“CS Major Information | EECS at UC Berkeley”>CS Major Information | EECS at UC Berkeley) could take up 0-8 units for R&C (depending on AP English credit), and about 24 for six courses of the L&S seven course breadth requirement not satisfied by the CS major. Even then, that would leave about 28 to 36 units (seven to nine courses) of completely free electives, unless you did not fulfill the L&S foreign language requirement in high school.</p>
<p>@wow thanks ucbalumnus for the detailed response: </p>
<p>taking a look at the foreign language requirement –
Letter grade of C– or better at the end of the third year of a high school foreign language
SAT II: Subject Test, Foreign Language
Test date before May 1995: 550
Test date May 1995 or later: 590
Advanced Placement Exam in a foreign language – score of 3, 4, or 5
International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in a Second Language (other than English) A2, B or Standard Level credential examination – score of 5, 6 or 7
A-level or GCSE/O-level Foreign Language Exam – grade of A, B, or C</p>
<p>If I have a 790 on the Chinese SAT II and 3 years of Spanish does this satisfy my language requirement? It just seems a bit lenient haha</p>
<p>Yes, you have satisfied the L&S foreign language requirement.</p>
<p>CS is very free in what courses you can take for upper divs. They only require CS162 and CS170, but both you should take anyways if you’re on the software side.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In terms of the 7-course requirement for L&S, does AP Biology satisfy anything? The website concerning AP information is not very clear in regards to what receives credit and what does not. </p></li>
<li><p>Can some breadth course areas be naturally satisfied through courses in your major? Maybe Ex: Computer Science C182 is under the breadth for Biological Science</p></li>
</ol>
<p>1) AP/IB credit cannot be used to satisfy L&S 7 breadth requirements</p>
<p>2) Courses from your major can count towards L&S 7 breadth reqs if they are on the list. But no more than two courses from any one academic department may be used to satisfy breadth requirements (L&S Discovery Courses exempt).</p>
<p>See below for more info:
[Office</a> of Undergraduate Advising: 7 Course Breadth](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/7breadth.html]Office”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/7breadth.html)</p>
<p>@copperback: Thanks! Also, it appears that Math 54 is necessary to declare a CS major but not Math 53. If I am unsure whether or not I would want to switch from BioE –> EECS or L&S CS, would you recommend taking Math 53 first semester anyway even though it is not specifically in the L&S CS requirements (but in the EECS requirements)?</p>
<p>I’m in LSCS and I took math 53 first semester. However, I took it mostly because I like math, felt that I should complete the Calculus sequence, and because I don’t want to unnecessarily shut doors. For example, I’m going to be taking Econ 101A, which I couldn’t have done if I didn’t take math 53.</p>
<p>I recommend you take math 53. However, if you’re the type of person who wants to avoid math whenever possible, then obviously don’t. I will note, however, that if you hate math, you may not like CS.</p>
<p>Note that you can take Math 53 and 54 in either order (or concurrently), if you have the prerequisites (Math 1B or a 5 on AP Calculus BC – but the Math department suggests self-studying some introductory differential equations material before Math 54 if your AP Calculus BC course did not include it).</p>
<p>If you plan to take such courses as Physics 7B or Economics 101A, you will need Math 53.</p>
<p>Which CS classes prepare you better for a career in software engineering and product manager?</p>
<p>So I’m a bit worried. I’m in L&S so I have to wait until the end of sophomore year to declare my major as computer science. Is it difficult to gain entry into the major?</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: So in my case, I’m not sure if I wanna switch from BioE –> EECS or BioE –> L&S CS after the first semester: The requirements for each major is different since EECS suggests taking Math 53 + Physics 7A first semester, while declaring L&S CS requires Math 54 (not Math 53), but no word on whether or not to take Physics. Would you suggest anything in particular?</p>
<p>L&S CS does not require Physics 7A or 7B, unless you want to take EE 40 instead of EE 42.</p>
<p>L&S CS is subject to the [L&S</a> 7-course breadth requirement](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/7breadth.html]L&S”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/7breadth.html); one course in physical science is required, but the required CS 61C fulfills that (so could Physics 7A or 7B). Additionally, one course in biological science is required; the optional CS C182 course can fulfill that, although there are plenty of other (non-CS) choices. That’s it for L&S science requirements.</p>
<p>However, an L&S CS major has plenty of room for free electives in his/her schedule – about 15 courses for the major, about 5-6 for breadth not fulfilled by the major, 0-2 for R&C, totaling 20-23. Since you would typically take about 32 courses over 8 semesters (i.e. you would have 9-12 completely free electives), taking extra math and/or physics should not delay graduation, unless you wanted to double major with something that would not use the extra math and/or physics courses.</p>
<p>As long as you are in the College of Engineering, you might as well take physics, just in case you stay in engineering. If you do complete Physics 7A and 7B, you can choose EE 40 over 42 when you want to take that. With respect to math, you can take Math 53 and 54 in either order (e.g. you can take 54 first, then 53), as long as you take Math 53 concurrently or previously to Physics 7B (though it may be advantageous to have taken it previously versus concurrently). Physics 7A and 7B may be interesting anyway if you are good at and interested in math and science.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m a little confused about the L&S degree requirements for a B.A. in computer science. Apparently, at least 60 of the 120 required units must be “L&S units.” For a computer science major, would CS classes count as the aforementioned “L&S units,” or would the student in question be forced to take additional non-CS electives from the College of Letters and Science? </p>
<p>The reason I’m wondering is because I was under the impression that computer science courses were part of the EECS curriculum, and would actually be offered by the College of Engineering (rather than by L&S). From this perspective, I suppose that CS courses would not qualify as L&S units. Was this thinking correct, or would classes in CS – as a major offered by L&S – actually count toward the “60 L&S units” requirement?</p>
<p>To be honest, I’d tend to assume they really are L&S units, because I believe the alternative would mean a substantial difference in scheduling for L&S CS students. However, I can’t seem to find any definite clarification on this, and I figured it was best to make sure. Could anyone help fill me in? (Thanks in advance!)</p>