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BERKELEY'S NEWS • MAY 25, 2023

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Your guide to shopping and dropping courses

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JESSICA DOOJPHIBULPOL | STAFF

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JANUARY 26, 2018

As spring semester sets in, you may have some doubts as to your current schedule. Don’t worry — all of us end up asking ourselves, “Is this class worth putting on pants everyday?” at some point or another. Once you decide how likely you are to get dressed, you may have some other questions regarding the actual course itself. The following guide will answer all of your burning questions about which courses will stick and which courses to quit.

First things first: You’ll want to see as many classes as possible, so load up your schedule as much as you can before the drop deadline (Feb. 16). Once you hit the maximum units, go ahead and start auditing to see even more classes. The fun will never end. You may even be able to manage spending the entire day in a classroom.

If you can’t decide between two really cool courses, just take them both! You’ll have such a good time taking nearly 20 units worth of classes that you might just have to withdraw from school, because your extreme intellectual growth won’t be fair to everyone else.

If that’s not really your style, fill up that schedule of yours with DeCals upon DeCals. These largely student-run courses will fill up that unit requirement faster than you can say, “I feel like I should be doing something more productive with my time and tuition money.”

All jokes aside, you may have enrolled in a class that was falsely marketed. Maybe the topic sounded cool, or maybe it seemed like a great way to fulfill that breadth requirement, but then you showed up and there was talk of pop quizzes, two midterms or, worst of all, mandatory attendance. In short, it became a small sector of collegiate hell.

Don’t think you have to tough it out because there is no other choice. There may be lots of choices! Cruise that drop-down menu in the search section of CalCentral and check out what other courses meet at the same time or fulfill the same requirement you need. Or, click on that P/NP button, and you can probably miss majority of lectures, even if there is a sign-in sheet.

As far as professors go, try to find a class with one you’ll want to listen to for three months and potentially even build a friendship with (letters of recommendation, am I right?). It might be hard at first, but once you find a professor you really enjoy listening to, the course will be 10 times as interesting — meaning the work will be that much easier to do. Finding an awesome professor might be as simple as signing up for a cool course, but you can also ask your friends in your major about their favorite professors at UC Berkeley.

Choosing classes can be tough, especially when there are so many of us at UC Berkeley. Luckily, there are also a lot of classes available, although they may not be staring you straight in the face. So do some searching on your own; don’t just take the classes you heard were interesting. And try not to overwhelm yourself, because sleep is cool too.

Contact Hailey Johnson at [email protected].
LAST UPDATED

JANUARY 26, 2018


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