I think FPF is what UCB offers that is similar.
EDITED to say: this is for L&S students only though
Yeah, I saw that but it’s totally different because as I understand it the FPF students at Cal are kinda separate and just taking regular classes but in a smaller setting (and different location.) The UCLA Cluster is just part of your regular schedule and it’s taking classes throughout the year that fall under various interdisciplinary themes.
I think UCLA clusters are unique. I haven’t seen anything similar mentioned at the other UCs. Many have seminars but nothing like the clusters.
1 Like
Yes, my memory is of getting very little if anything from UCLA admissions, though some campuses did send some “yay, your kid is in” kinds of emails. Sounds like Cal has a similar approach in that they want to communicate pretty much directly and only with the student. Even with respect to paying the bills we didn’t get emails until our son granted us third party access via his own account. Just today I got an email about move out, and you can tell that I only got it because he expressly requested that we parents be copied on housing-related information. It’s the same with tuition, etc.
does the professors actually teach the lower division stem classes or does the TA’s teach? heard Many Professors, STEM in particular, are only there for the research and generally are not adept at teaching undergrads. does anybody know?
Lectures → Professors
Discussions → TAs, or GSIs in the Cal parlance
Office Hours → Combo of Professors + GSIs
Exams → Combo of Professors + GSIs
S22 has had two great professors so far - the CS 61 series has been amazing from his perspective. He has also had a couple of OKish ones - in one instance there was a last minute Professor switch (Math) and in another instance the professor was teaching course material far removed from his research interests (ML prof teaching an engineering econ class).
In general, at least with STEM students, most don’t go to the lectures at all. They watch the recorded sessions, review the notes and slides and then really dive into the material with the GSIs in a small group setting. That is where most of the real learning happens.
In other classes (like EECS 16A), the labs are absolutely critical. For one lab, S22 had to build a touch screen device from scratch using first principles of capacitance and linear algebra. Hands-on labs such as these and the difficulty level of the related problem sets have really elevated his quality of learning.
1 Like
Wait, why would most students not go to lectures? They prefer to watch recorded lectures rather than attending in person?
Yep. A lot of them don’t if the lectures are recorded. Helps them manage their time more flexibly. At least that’s been the case with the math and CS courses my son has taken so far.
I think this is because they can play the lectures at 2x speed
2 Likes
I received an email from CalParents. I thought UCs don’t consider legacy in the admission process? The email from CalParents makes me think twice, and maybe I should keep making donations so my 2nd kid will get accepted in a couple of years:
Dear [me],
Congratulations on [DD’s] acceptance and decision to attend the University of California, Berkeley!
Through the admission process, [DD] let us know that your family already has deep Cal roots.
We share in your excitement at having another generation of your family coming to Berkeley. Congratulations and Go Bears!
[DD] is now also a lifelong member of a vibrant, dynamic intellectual community – made up
of students, faculty, and alumni across the world. [DD] will be supported throughout
their registration and orientation process and the Cal Parents & Families Program is here to engage and support you and your family.
A few other things I would add to @ucscuuw’s excellent answer.
Pretty much everyone I’ve heard from recently (including those in STEM majors) says the vast majority of their professors were very invested in making sure the students were learning (clearly investing time in their lectures, encouraging students to come to office hours, etc.). I also certainly got that impression during Cal Day last weekend.
One anecdotal answer to do the professors teach lower division STEM classes: Jennifer Doudna – who won the Nobel prize for Chemistry in 2020 – is currently teaching Biology 1A (and has been teaching it for years). I looked up what she was (and has been) teaching in the course schedule. I think if she was just at Cal to do research, she wouldn’t still be teaching Bio 1A.
UCs do offer a tenure track for professors who want to focus primarily on teaching – their title is Teaching Professor. My general understanding is that many great teachers come from the regular (research) Professor track. And teaching professors still do some research. But they do provide a path to tenure for those that want to spend more time on teaching.
I can’t speak for STEM, but when I was a GSI in L&S I taught various courses, including beginning and intermediate (foreign) language courses, a large lecture course (that satisfied one of the L&S breadth requirements), and both semesters of R&C. I was the sole instructor for all of those courses (no professor, although as a GSI I had a departmental supervisor).
So this is interesting as our email is completely different. While we do have several grandparents to my student that went to Cal our letter does not mention it (but we did not write about it or list it anywhere in the application).
These are not template mass emails but handcrafted towards the individual.
I find that refreshing in this day and age.
1 Like
From a huge public university, agreed that this is a nice touch. This is another example, although small, of how Berkeley in some ways tries to not be a faceless/huge public university. Going through Berkeley as an L&S undergraduate in the 80’s, I don’t recall the same amount of attention that Berkeley seems to now offer.
1 Like
thanks for info! my daughter is Molecular Cellular Biology major. i would assume its the same formats?
what’s the benefits of clusters for freshmans?
2 Likes
On the topic of new building, here is another one that is being constructed for the Data Science Division (soon to be its own College) that is anticipated to open during the 2025-2026 academic year, Gateway groundbreaking brings new opportunity for computing, data science | Berkeley News
Interesting story out of Ireland where that country’s most famous university, Trinity College, will remove the name “Berkeley” from its main library due to George Berkeley’s ownership of slaves.
Closer to home, could we see a movement to rename the city of Berkeley and the flagship campus of the University of California?
It’s come up before…