<p>As a freshman first semester schedule is this too much?</p>
<p>CS61A
Math 53
Phys 7A
L&S R44
2 Unit DeCal</p>
<p>Comes to a total of 19 Units including the DeCal</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Intended major?</p>
<p>AP credit?</p>
<p>Previous background in CS, physics, and literature?</p>
<p>What DeCal?</p>
<p>It’s manageable if you have prior experience in Physics and CS.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar boat as woocollege1, first semester taking CS 61A, Math 54, Chem 1A + 1AL, English 31AC - though no additional DeCal.</p>
<p>^ Petrovich, I would argue that your workload is greater. Chem is generally more work than physics (because of lab), and because the 54 professors are generally atrocious, 54 is more work than 53. Physics, for someone who has taken AP Physics, is very little work. Decals are negligible work.</p>
<p>I’m an EECS major with a 5 on Calc BC/AB subscore, 5 on Physics C:M (but I don’t want to skip 7A), and 5s on both AP Lang and AP Lit. I have an okay knowledge of java, basic knowledge of Python (which i’m working on right now since i’ve heard this is what CS61A is being taught in now) and thorough knowledge of html/php/css</p>
<p>Not really sure of the DeCal yet, but i’ve seen some interesting ones popup, it’ll probably be related to comp sci/the internet.</p>
<p>Hey mines actually pretty similar to yours as well. I’m taking CS 61a, Physics 7A, Math 53, and Chem 4a (assuming I get in…). I’m also taking two seminars and maybe the Chem internship DeCal… if I’m not dying from all the work.</p>
<p>I’m afraid of the new material in both chem and math mainly, I’ve dealt with a lot of the concepts in CS and Physics, I just hope that I’ll be able to remember most of it.</p>
<p>Sigh, I wish I was more decisive for what I want to do. Unfortunately I have too many interests, or more like I have yet to lock one down. I’m a premed with ChemE as my major and I’m hoping to minor in CS since I’m very interested in CS as well.</p>
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<p>Sounds like you’ll be fine. Just make sure that the reading list of L&S R44 is something you will be interested in. (Also, it does not look like L&S R44 counts as any more than one breadth course for CoE, unlike the way it counts for an R&C course and a breadth course in L&S.)</p>
<p>You can check your math knowledge with the sample final exams here:</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>And preview CS 61A here:</p>
<p>[CS61A</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61a/archives.html]CS61A”>CS61A Home Page)</p>
<p>Note that the Dive into Python 3 and Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs books are free:</p>
<p>[Dive</a> Into Python 3](<a href=“http://diveintopython3.org/]Dive”>http://diveintopython3.org/)
[Structure</a> and Interpretation of Computer Programs](<a href=“http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html]Structure”>http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html)</p>
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<p>If CS is more interesting to you than chemical engineering, you may want to consider majoring in CS with pre-med courses alongside.</p>
<p>I am actually planning to do just that - which is why I’m taking Chem 1A alongside CS 61A. I have heard, though, that pairing CS with pre-med courses is a(n apparent) recipe for disaster since med schools look for a high GPA, and CS is not exactly conducive to that.</p>
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<p>Why would it be any worse than the typical pre-med major, biology? Seems like biology would have the same issues with being a lot of work (labs) and probably less grade inflation than humanities, while giving much worse job and career prospects than CS to graduates who do not go to medical school (most pre-meds do not get into any medical school).</p>
<p>TypicalAsian, your proposed course load is one of the hardest I’ve ever seen (MUCH more difficult than the ones proposed by woocollege1 and petrovich). Are you sure that you need to take 61A with 4A? If you’re only minoring in CS then you could always take 61A later…</p>
<p>Well, I wanted to keep my options open in what I could do. And I did consider taking 61a later, but I didn’t have any other classes to take. I couldn’t get into any of the R&C classes that I wanted to take first phase and I don’t need anymore GEs, except my upper-div and AC requirement which I’m planning on taking together. My problem is I enjoy both chem and cs, but since a double degree is pretty much impossible in four years, I want to learn more about cs and I might as well take what I can, I’ve only got four years in college, I think that I should take this opportunity and do with it what I can.</p>
<p>@TypicalAsian: a double degree is not impossible in four years ;)</p>
<p>TypicalAsian, just keep in mind that your schedule is going to be quite a lot of work. I found that to get roughly a 96% in 4A, I had to put in more work than I put in for my other three classes combined (Physics 7A, Math 53, and German R5A). And my roommate said that to get an A in 61A, he also had to put in more work than his other three classes combined (Physics 7A, Math 53, and R&C). Maybe you’re much better than we are, but just be careful if you want straight A’s taking 4A, 61A, 7A, and 53 together. </p>
<p>Maybe you should take E7 instead of 61A? Or Math 54 (you don’t need 53)? You’ll need to take that both of those later for ChemE anyways so they wouldn’t be a waste, but your workload would be pretty dramatically reduced. These are just a suggestion; you don’t need to listen to me. It’s very possible that you could get very good grades with your proposed schedule, but for many people (including me) those proposed classes would require a lot of sleepless nights.</p>
<p>Edit: You could also take EE100 or E45 if you don’t want to take E7 or 54.</p>
<p>Hm, well I did consider math 54 instead of doing cs 61a, Unfortunately I couldn’t fit it into my schedule comfortably. And I think I need to take 61a for the CS minor and that replaces my Engineering 7 requirement for ChemE. I never actually thought about taking EE100 or E45 but unfortunately I just checked and they both conflict with either my Chem4a class or my ChemE C96 seminar which are both mandatory for a ChemE major. =/ </p>
<p>I’ve had friends tell me, whom just took these classes (except chem4a), that most of them weren’t too bad. CS 61a did take time for them to finish but they told me that its a very rewarding experience. If it does get too harrowing of an experience, I can drop classes within the first few weeks of the semester right? I can always take the 12 units + seminar classes that I’m taking and save cs61a for later, like you said. </p>
<p>@meakame: You’re right, its definitely possible. I still have a naive notion though that I want to do a study abroad over one of the years as well. And I have absolutely no idea how that will affect my units for my majors or both majors if I end up doing it though, I guess I’ll have to go into the counselors and ask.</p>
<p>Hmm, well I just looked at the upper division courses that are also AC. I saw that psychology unfortunately conflicts with my math class, but I saw that Sociology 131AC and I was wondering since I took the AP Psych test, would that be close enough to a link between “lower div” and upper div for it to count as my connection for my GE credit and also fulfill my AC stuff. This way, I can hopefully alleviate some of the damage that I would be doing to myself by taking both CS and Chem.</p>
<p>Edit: I just looked again, there is a prerequisite of Sociology 1 or 3. Probably unlikely that my AP Psych test will fill that prerequisite now that I think about it.</p>
<p>If you’re going to replace E7 with 61A then you better learn Matlab on your own time. I’ve heard that the upper div classes rely heavily on it.</p>
<p>Do you by any chance have AP us government humanities credit? If so, you’re allowed to take the 1 unit political science seminar (Pol Sci 179) as your upper division link class. That class takes absolutely no effort to get a pass (it’s not even a class really), and it would allow you to take a lower division AC class instead. Just something to think about.</p>
<p>Oh I didn’t know that upper divs used Matlab a lot. So far I have been able to get myself to learn things in my own time… hopefully in college I’ll still have the free time and willpower to do that. Thanks for the heads up.</p>
<p>I actually do have AP US government credit. I am a little confused though, which tests should be able to count towards my lower div requirements? I have a good amount of AP tests for humanities, but the only ones listed as being “linkable” under the DARs are AP Macro and AP Psych. Everything else is listed only as a humanity satisfying my 19 unit breadth. I think that’s a very good alternative though. Unfortunately I don’t think I can save my schedule for this semester seeing as I’ve got my Phase 2 soon, and many of the classes conflict with the lectures/discussions I’ve already picked for physics and math.</p>
<p>For H/SS AP credit, you may want to check each department to see what tests and scores allow you to take upper level courses.</p>
<p>For example: AP Economics micro and macro with scores of 4 or 5 = Economics 1 for Economics majors. AP Psychology with score of 4 or 5 = Psychology 1 for Psychology majors. If you have those AP scores in those subjects, it is reasonable to bypass those courses and go directly to upper level courses in those subjects if you want to take them.</p>