Taking classes at Berkeley Community College while at Cal

<p>My son is starting at Cal in the Fall. It's been suggested that he take calculus and 0-chem at Berkeley community college instead of at Cal -- less competitive and difficult. Has anyone done this? Would love to hear your experiences! thanks!</p>

<p>I haven’t taken those classes in particular, but I’m currently a full-time student at UC Berkeley and I’m also taking a couple of classes at BCC. They are way easier than UC Berkeley classes, with less homework and I’m currently doing well in all of them. The downside is that you might not learn as much as if you took it at Cal. However, the chemistry class is probably going to be a lot of busy work and waste of time since you probably still have labs (well the ochem class at berkeley has labs too though), but it’s probably a LOT easier to get a A.</p>

<p>EDIT: What calculus classes is he required to take? If he has to take Math 1A/Math 1B then those are pretty hard, but Math 16A and Math 16B (also calculus, but less demanding) are both super easy and he should take those on campus</p>

<p>Thanks, @totalcaprice‌! That’s helpful. Do you think it’s reasonable for a freshman to take 3 science classes (all first level) and a freshman seminar, along with calculus as BCC? Not too much work? </p>

<p>It depends on the science classes. You should post his potential schedule so people on the forum can gauge the level of difficulty.</p>

<p>There are specific classes known as “weeder” classes and these are requirements that science majors have to take, so the curve and materials are both hard. For example, O-Chem would definitely be considered a hard class, but Nutritional Science 10 would be pretty easy and not as time consuming. 3 science classes should be okay, provided that they aren’t all weeder classes. What is his major, because instead of taking 3 science classes, he could take 2 science classes, and breadth requirement class instead and the schedule load would be a lot better. </p>

<p>Is he required to take Math 16 series or Math 1 series? If he has to do the Math 1 Series, I would say go for it at BCC (but I don’t know about how the credits will transfer. is this advice from the advisers)? </p>

<p>He’s going to be an Integrative Biology major with a paleo focus (not pre-med!). He is thinking of intro geology, intro chem, and intro bio (all should be fairly comfortable for him b/c he’s studied those subjects in HS). He plans to take whatever the easier calc series is (maybe that’s the 1 series?). A prof in his dept. suggested BCC for the math. It’s not very relevant to what he wants to do, just a requirement to get out of the way. I think o-chem will wait a year.</p>

<p>Well you’ve probably already looked at this site, but here just in case. It shows a recommended schedule track for IB majors:
<a href=“Freshman Admits to Cal | Integrative Biology”>https://ib.berkeley.edu/undergrad/major/freshman.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>also look at
<a href=“https://schedulebuilder.berkeley.edu/”>https://schedulebuilder.berkeley.edu/&lt;/a&gt; for class descriptions (including grade distribution, and prerequisites)</p>

<p>The intro to geology class is probably fine, but I don’t think it is a good idea to take intro chem and intro bio together at the same time (they’re both weeder classes, and you have to sign up for lab, the labs are 4 hours long). Your son is probably going to take Chem 1A/1AL first, since Bio1A’s prerequisite is Chem 1A/1AL.</p>

<p>Instead, He could take a non-science class and fulfill some graduation requirements (your son is under the College of Letters and Science right? If he is under L&S, he has to fulfill the 7-course breadth requirements to graduate and these are usually spread throughout freshman/sophomore year, link for more info:
<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/7breadth.html”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/7breadth.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, since it is his freshman year, it’s important for him to adjust to college life. It’s perfectly fine to have a more relaxed schedule the first semester of freshman year. The calculus class at BCC and the freshman seminar should be fine to add to his schedule though. </p>

<p>When you concurrently enroll at community college, you usually fill out a form
<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/fp/ConcurrentEnrollment.pdf”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/fp/ConcurrentEnrollment.pdf&lt;/a&gt; but this form says that you shouldn’t be in your first/last semester at Berkeley. If you want to though, the form says you “must contact L&S Undergraduate Advising to make an appointment to discuss your situation before registering for a community college course; retroactive permission is rarely granted”. However, I didn’t submit any forms because I don’t really see a point (it’s just bureaucracy at its best, but that is up to you). </p>

<p>Thanks so much! This is very helpful – just shared it with my son.</p>

<p>Three courses with labs can be quite time consuming, even if the courses are not that hard (which they may be, depending on the course).</p>

<p>If he is sure that he wants to major in biology, then Math 10A and 10B are likely more directly applicable to biology than Math 1A and 1B. The IB major no longer allows the Math 16A and 16B series, which is the easier one.</p>

<p>Note that it is not super-critical to start math in the first semester for the IB major. The sample schedule at <a href=“Freshman Admits to Cal | Integrative Biology”>https://ib.berkeley.edu/undergrad/major/freshman.php&lt;/a&gt; lists Physics 8A starting in the fourth semester, and upper division IB courses (only a few of which require calculus or physics) starting in the fifth semester; even delaying Math 10A or 1A until the third semester would not put him behind on prerequisite sequencing that depends on math. So if he is not sure which math sequence to take, he can skip it the first semester (perhaps take Chemistry 1A/1AL and maybe Biology 1B, along with two other breadth courses, or R&C course if needed).</p>