<p>I'm considering taking French 1 (5 units), Poli Sci 2 (4 units), Astronomy C10 (4 units), and Anthro 3AC (4 units) during the fall semester. As a freshman, I'm concerned about whether or not 17 units will be too overwhelming. I do have a bit of a background in French, but I don't know if this will change anything.</p>
<p>Any current students willing to offer up some advice?</p>
<p>Yes. 17 units for a first semester freshman is a BAD idea, in any case. You’re making a huge transition, and you want to have time for extracurriculars, making friends, adjusting to the new lifestyle, etc, which would be very difficult to do with that schedule–especially with language class. 13-14 units first semester is what I reccomend, 15 if you think you want to take on more.</p>
<p>As for the language course: I took an introductory Mandarin course (also 5 units) during my first semester and it was the bane of my existence. I came in with a strong desire to learn Mandarin, but there was just TOO much work. I had homework everyday that took 2 hours, two quizzes per week, once a week language/computer lab assignments, and an exam every week. It was just too much for me to handle first semester of my freshman year. And I was only taking 14 units at the time. Now I know French will likely not be as difficult as Mandarin (especially because you have some background), but all language courses at Berkeley require immense work and are kind of a pain in the ass(though they do teach you the language very well in a short amount of time). So yeah, unless you want a very stressful semester, please don’t take the language course with 17 units. I would suggest dropping French and taking a 1-2 freshman seminar or a decal instead.</p>
<p>However, if you really want to learn French, then drop another course and keep the French. A language course with 13 units should be more manageable.</p>
<p>Hard to Handle - Otis Redding would agree too</p>
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<p>While nominally 1 unit = 3 hours per week of work (including class time, homework, and studying for tests), amount of work per unit varies considerably (with the average probably being significantly less). However, courses with labs, language courses (yes, this would mean French 1 for the OP), courses with big term projects, and courses with lots of computer programming tend to be high work per unit.</p>
<p>It is likely possible to construct a 17-20 unit schedule that is actually a very light workload. But it is also possible to construct a 12-13 unit schedule that is a very heavy workload.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: I may have been speaking too generally when I said 17 units would be too diificult. I have friends whose courseload was as rigorous as mine even with fewer units because they were taking classes like OChem. BUT for a first semester freshman, I think it’s better to err on the side of caution. I would much rather my first semester have been on the easier side than the harder one in terms of academic pressure. And plus, as you said, with a language course, there’s much more work per unit, so having that in a 17 unit schedule would be challenging. And I find it hard to believe that someone could have an easy 20 unit courseload unless it was loaded with decals/easy classes classes or they devote all their time to academics.</p>
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<p>20 units can be done with five 4-unit courses. I’m sure you can think of five 4-unit courses that are not that much work (or search around for the “easy courses” threads that pop up during the TeleBears periods and at the beginning of each semester).</p>
<p>Of course, you can also construct a 12 unit schedule with three 4-unit courses that are very high workload.</p>
<p>I always took 5 classes and a seminar, and those were some tough engineering courses too. I had one semester that I took less than that and that’s when I had the lowest GPA. I feel a lot more comfortable with 17~18 units than 13~14 so I can stay busy all the time, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>Language at Berkeley is that hard? I knew I should have finished my third year of HS Japanese. 
I can’t believe it’s a requirement for L&S and I’m going to major in CS…</p>
<p>If you got a C- or better in the third year level of high school Japanese, you have fulfilled the [Berkeley</a> L&S foreign language requirement](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/fl.html]Berkeley”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/requirement/fl.html).</p>
<p>@BerkeleyHopeful: Berkeley language classes are not necessarily hard in terms of difficulty, but they generally do require that you put in a lot of work for studying/doing homework in order to get a good grade in the class. The difficulty also varies depending on what language you pick, of course. But keep in mind that I was taking Mandarin 1 with NO prior experience in the language. That was probably one of the reasons why it was so difficult for me. Since you have some background in Japanese, it probably would be easier for you to complete your foreign language requirement in Japanese at Berkeley. Foreign language reqs can also be satisfied with a proficiency exam, so check and see if the Japanese department offers one–if you pass that, it would save you time from having to take the courses at Berkeley. I’m not positive, but I’m also pretty sure that you can take language courses at a local community college and fulfill the language requirement, as I know people who also did not complete their third year of high school foreign language and are choosing to go that route. I’m assuming this is because foreign language courses would be easier at another college like Berkeley City College or something. Check with an L&S advisor and <a href=“http://www.assist.org%5B/url%5D”>www.assist.org</a> before doing that though.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: Yeah, there are “easy” 4 unit classes that you could take just to fill your schedule–I’ve taken a few of the so-called easy breadth courses myself. Not disagreeing with you, but I’m just saying that even a 20 unit schedule filled with “easy” courses would require a good amount of work to get all As (assuming none are taken P/NP). Then again, it all depends upon the individual–some people can handle such a courseload, others can’t, which is why it’s good to take it easier first semester at Berkeley in order to figure out what the person can handle, and if it’s that’s too easy, then they can up their courseload the following semester. No harm in doing that. Since the OP is already worried whether 17 units with the language course will be too much work, I suggested lightening the courseload.</p>