I won’t be able to take Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (an L&S CS prereq) this spring semester so I think my admission chances for L&S Computer Science will be low. Could I apply for another major in the College of Letters and Science and re-transfer to Computer Science once at Berkeley?
Alternatively, would listing Linear Algebra and Differential Equations as a planned course for the summer help my chances?
For example: applying under Comparative Literature and declaring Computer Science as my major once there.
You want to apply as a similar major and attempt to declare the CS major once at Cal?
So essentially…
Did I understand that correctly?
Since all Berkeley L&S transfers come in “officially” as undeclared students…you could, in theory, apply as a different major and then attempt to declare CS once at Berkeley. A lot of people try this “backdoor” method but find that it is incredibly hard to finish all the remaining technical courses before the start of your senior year where they (essentially) force you to declare a major.
Without the Math 54 equivalent, it will take you a minimum of two semesters to complete the required prerequisites and thus forces you to overload in your four semesters here to even have a chance to declare. Given that so many well prepared applicants don’t meet the GPA cutoff, asking to meet it with an overloaded schedule is tough. Also consider the fact that you will be expected to concurrently take courses towards your admitted major and you will have a schedule that is double to triple that of the average Cal student. That is GPA suicide.
See: https://eecs.berkeley.edu/resources/undergrads/cs/transfer-prereqs
Additionally, listing Linear and DiffEQs as planned courses in the summer will not help you. They will not take that into consideration for admissions purposes.
Oh, I see. Yes, that was what I meant. Are you required to take courses toward your admitted major?
Sort of. I would say indirectly at least.
A lot of campus policies (most notably financial aid) use “academic progress” as an eligibility qualifier. As a transfer, your “academic progress” will be based on your admitted major until you officially declare a major so not taking any courses toward your admitted major will jeopardize your eligibility for most aid and can affect your registration priority.
Berkeley also takes the [L&S unit ceiling](https://ls.berkeley.edu/advising/planning/enrolling/unit-ceiling) very seriously so exceeding the unit ceiling can be a costly mistake should you need to spend a fifth and/or sixth semester at Cal.
@ccckid I’m at Cal. No you don’t have to take courses for your admitted major first term unless there is a foundation course that is required and you missed it because it wasn’t offered at your CC. I will slightly disagree with above poster because the more you can get done at a CC the less you have to scramble to do at the UC. Taking linear in summer is a great plan. So if you applied to another L&S major, and had all the CS pre-reqs done by summer you can start your fall term by switching majors - assuming CS accepts you. It is a capped major. Re switching, you do need to do it by end of first semester, so if you are missing required pre-reqs those need to be done by then, and as you are not in the major, you might find it hard getting into them.
@Ohm888, I have to clarify:
For admissions purposes they cannot factor any courses planned in the summer, which is classified as part of the 2017-2018 academic year, toward the 2016-2017 admissions cycle. Taking them during summer will, of course, help, but the mere action of listing them as planned will not be considered.
Additionally, despite popular opinion, L&S CS is officially not capped and the department stance is that transfers are expected to declare by the end of their second semester here rather than the traditional first semester. There is no one semester deadline for declaration for L&S CS.
See: https://eecs.berkeley.edu/academics/undergraduate/cs-ba
“Students entering UC Berkeley in fall 2015 or later must complete CS 61A, CS 61B, and CS 70 with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 in those 3 courses in order to apply to the major.”
I’m taking the equivalent of CS 61B this spring. I’m actually not sure if any community colleges in my area offer Lin Alg/Diff EQ in the summer, but it seems that as long as I complete CS 61A and 70 by the end of my first year at Berkeley with a sufficient GPA I’ll be able to declare my major as Compsci.
@SDGoldenBear thanks for clarification. I thought it was end of first semester.
Although CS is considered capped. They actually have stopped using the word and now use high demand:
https://ls.berkeley.edu/advising/planning/schedule-planning/choosing-major/high-demand-majors
It’s definitely confusing but I am told that “capped” and “high-demand” are still separate labels with “capped” referring to the unit/semester cap usually associated with the first semester transfer / fifth semester freshman declaration deadline policy.
AFAIK, only Economics, Public Health and Psychology are currently considered “capped” with ORMS and Social Welfare flip-flopping on their stances every year.
See:
http://psychology.berkeley.edu/students/undergraduate-program/applying-major
https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective/transfer-students
http://sph.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-major/about-public-health-major (Notice that the declaration period is Fall only)
See: https://eecs.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/lscs_sample_transfer_program_plans_jul_2016.pdf
Assuming you are not able to take the Math 54 equivalents over summer and don’t have the AC requirement met, your academic advisor will probably recommend that you essentially would follow a variation of Plan B.
1st Semester: Math 54 - CS61A/AS - CS61C - Alternative Major course
2nd Semester: CS70 - CS47B - EE16A - Alternative Major course
3rd Semester: CS1xx - CS1xxx - Tech elective - AC requirement
4tth Semester: CS1xx - CS1xx - CS1xx - Tech elective
Definitely a heavier schedule without a lot of leeway toward the unit ceiling.
It’s all semantics but I gauge it for my own demented purposes by admit rate. I saw an article somewhere and there were tons of majors with like a 10% admit rate that were not designated “capped,” while media studies, for instance, is/was labeled “capped” with a 38% admit rate. I’m in media studies. 38’s a little high to be labeled capped/selective in my book no matter how they want to spin it. It’s all smoke and mirrors and maybe a bit misleading, IMHO. But thanks for showing more confusion as offered up by the UC : B-)
So there would be no advantage to applying under L&S CS as opposed to another major in LS except possibly higher enrollment priority for some CS classes right?
Yes, you might have trouble getting into some of the required classes. I’m confused, though. Have you already applied to CS?
No, the app is due at midnight.
Here is the [past enrollment data](https://www.berkeleytime.com/enrollment/?course1=4470-fall-2016-all&course2=2321-fall-2016-all&course3=2325-fall-2016-all&course4=2327-fall-2016-all). You can use it to gauge how affected you would be as a non-premajor. The waitlist numbers are a little scary and you might have to add other, less desired courses until other people drop / new sections are opened up to accommodate you.
Also here is a visual look at what you might be seeing in the Fall:
https://www.reddit[dot]com/r/berkeley/comments/4zfcnj/cs61a_in_zellerbach_hall/
Oh wow, that’s a lot of people. Have there been people admitted to CS missing Math 54?
Update: I ended up applying under CS because I didn’t want to overcomplicate things and I might get rejected for the other major too. I hope this thread will be useful to people in the future though.
That web page specifically lists the 3.30 GPA requirement in CS 61A, 61B, 70 to declare the L&S CS major.
Any L&S major where the requirement to declare includes a GPA > 2.0 or grades higher than C is capped (enrollment), where the higher GPA or grade minimum is used to limit enrollment to stay within the department’s capacity. Note that the L&S CS GPA minimum of 3.30 is higher than that of some other capped majors like economics (3.0), psychology (3.2), statistics (3.2 in math prerequisites, B- or higher in STAT 134 or 135), ORMS (3.2).