I was hoping to enroll in Sseasn R5A or German R5A but both classes were full by the time I was signing up for classes. I’m on the German R5A waitlist at position #5, but the class has only 20 people so it seems unlikely that I’ll get in.
The only open classes that fulfill this requirement are XComlit R1A and XEnglis R1A, both of which I have heard are much harder than the R5A classes and are more geared towards humanities majors. I’m not that great at English/Writing so I would like a class that won’t hurt my GPA… My other classes are Math 54, Chem 1A, Compsci C8, and Civ Eng 92 (these four are 12 units).
Should I wait until next semester and try to take one of the R5A classes then? I would like to minor in music so I’m considering taking Music 20A which is a 2 unit class. I’m not sure if I should wait longer to see if I get off the waitlist or just enroll in Music or something else now so I’m guaranteed something I want… Any help would be greatly appreciated!
You have a couple of years to fulfill the R&C requirement so no hurries. My kid was dreading finding a R&C B class until he got his Lit score and he could skip out of it. But to him, if it was a topic he was really interested in, it would be acceptable. The X classes, aren’t they for FPF students only?
@vallgall CLASSIC R44 still has open seats. http://classes.berkeley.edu/content/2018-fall-classic-r44-001-lec-001
It fulfills either part A or B of the Reading and Composition - your choice. It also fulfills a bunch of other requirements in 7-breadth. You can use this class in many ways. Check it out. It is 5 units though.
@ProfessorPlum168 shoot you’re right, the X classes are only for FPF students. Sadly I only got a 3 on lit so I can’t skip out of R&C haha. Thank you though!!
@ElenaParent darn, the Wednesday class conflicts with my Chem 1A discussion… 
Thank you for the suggestion though!
So should I just drop German R5A now and sign up for music 20A (& maybe another 1-2 unit class) since I’m unlikely to get off the waitlist?
Just now, http://classes.berkeley.edu/search/class/?f%5B0%5D=im_field_term_name%3A789&f%5B1%5D=ts_open_seats%3Aopen&f%5B2%5D=sm_general_requirement%3A1st%20Half%20of%20Reading%20%26%20Composition suggests that the following have seats:
Rhetoric R1A TuTh 5-629pm
South Asian R5A MWF 10-1059am
Theater R1A TuTh 11-1229pm (2 sections at this time)
The others are for FPF students (X prefix) or students who also need to fulfill the entry level writing requirement (College Writing R1A).
@vallgall See if you can swap your Chem 1A discussion with another discussion session. Many still have seats.
http://classes.berkeley.edu/content/2018-fall-chem-1a-004-lec-004
Scroll to the bottom. May be you still can get CLASSIC R44, after all.
Also, do check the ucbalumnus advice! He is always spot on, from my experience.
@ucbalumnus thank you. I checked before and just now and sadly none of those classes are open 
@ElenaParent it seems that the only open discussion time that I can take that goes along with my lecture section conflicts with Civ Eng… and all the classes that ucbalumnus suggested seem to be full too. Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!
I think I might just take music 20a and a 1-unit seminar class
Music 20A in first semester and R&A in second semester is something I did myself and it worked out well.
Make sure you go to each department website (i.e. English department https://english.berkeley.edu/course_semesters/41) and read all the course description for each R&A class. Some department might even post the full syllabus ahead of time listing the grade breakdown. If I recall correctly, all R&A classes have total 32 pages of paper to write over the course of the semester, but how it’s broken down is different for each class. Some sections may have a monster 20-page final paper with not much assignments before, while some other section may require weekly 2-page paper but light on final paper.
So it’s a balance of finding the lecture time that fits, finding the course description and the reading list that somewhat piques your interest, and if available, finding the paper/grade breakdown that fits your style.
I think certain department’s R&A classes being easier than other department is a myth as there are several R&A sections within each with different instructors, with constantly-changing graduate instructors teaching it. The amount of writing is the same for all R&A, and really, it’s about being proactive and write early and get early feedback to get the easy grade.
@UpMagic alright, thank you so much! I think I’ll take Music 20A and do R&A second semester. I’ll certainly take a look at the English department website when figuring out which class to take