<p>I'm not entirely sure what or how quickly material will start to be covered those first 3-5 days, assuming the prof hasn't assigned the book or given the chance to get a reader yet? I mean, does he stand up the first day, intro the course, and out syllabi and the name of the reader and dive right in to lecture one the next time? Id imagine people would still be really confused about if/when they were taking the class etc. Just wondering what to expect.</p>
<p>Lecture one starts on Day 1 for most classes. Some classes have homework due the first Monday back…etc…</p>
<p>That said, if you haven’t had a book assigned, you’ll have time to get one.</p>
<p>Wow! That makes it so odd how the time for you to add/drop extends as far as it does into the term…you’d be missing so much material, almost an impossible amount it seems. So there’s typically no course overview/intro day?</p>
<p>depends on the prof, might spend the first day just giving an overview of the course or simply an overview and then straight into material</p>
<p>Different classes are very different in this respect. You can go on webcast.berkeley.edu and actually watch a bunch of first-classes and judge for yourself…</p>