ASTRONOMY
solid background in Biology and etc. Good news is that
Astronomy C10 - Intro to General Astronomy
FILIPPENKO: Contrary to what many people say, this
class is NOT an easy A. You should take this class if
you truly have interest in Astronomy. The work load is
pretty, fair I'd say. There's homework due on Friday
about every week, which you have to deliver yourself to
Evans, quite a walk if you're not anywhere near that
area, and some reading. Although, I must say, Filipenko
is one enthusiastic professor, he was always able to
make me laugh if I went to lecture haha. But I never
really had any true interest in science or space for that
matter, so I didn't really enjoy this class too much. But
one thing I do have to say is, be sure to be there for the
Halloween lecture! haha
FILIPPENKO: Must take! Hands down the best class I
took my entire first year of college. GSIs are really cool,
you get to go to star parties and use UC Berkeley's
telescope to look at Jupiter, Uranus, and other cool stuff.
The work is doable, especially if you're taking it p/np, this
should be an enjoyable course.
ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Asian American Studies 20A - Intro to the History of
Asians in the U.S.
OMI: A very enjoyable survey course on the Asian
American experience from the mid-1800s to present. We
explored and compared immigration experiences of a
number of Asian American groups as well as the broader
social and political histories and experiences of specific
ethnicities as well as Asian Americans as a whole.
Interesting lectures and equally interesting readings. We
had two midterms, quizzes in section (depending on
your GSI), a final exam, and a final narrative research
paper. The final paper, which is a research paper
grounded in an interview, seemed a daunting task at
first. In retrospect, the writing process for this paper and
my final product turned out to be quite rewarding. I
definitely recommend this class.
BIOENGINEERING
Bioeng 10 - Intro to Biomedicine for Engineers
VARIOUS: You learn a bunch of random topics that
surveys the entire field of BioE. Some of it is pretty
interesting, and most of it can be confusing without a
everyone else in the class is probably going to be as
confused as you are. Good curve.
BIOLOGY
Bio 1A - General Biology
VARIOUS: The lecture portion is okay. A lot of people
fall behind and rely on webcasts instead of actually
going to lecture, so it CAN be hard. The lab portion
takes more time and effort than lecture unfortunately
because there’s a ton to memorize and understand!
Dissections were fun!
Bio 1B - General Biology
VARIOUS: Easy to get a B. Harder to get an A. The
lab portion is curved weird, but make sure you’re in a
great group so that you do well in lab at least. There’s a
lot to learn from the plant and ecology sections but not
so much from evolution. Still, this is a class that you
HAVE to study pretty diligently for because midterms
can be tricky.
SHABEL: Professor Shabel really knows his stuffs. His
lectures are all in PowerPoint (but won’t let use
download b/c he said he wants us to be in lectures and
take notes). Tests are relatively easy. He’s a pretty laid
back teacher, won’t ask a lot from his students. He’s kind
of boring sometimes b/c of his monotone voice, which
makes me want to fall asleep.
BUSINESS
UGBA 10 - Principles of Business
Interesting class, but horrible grading curve. It's based
off a rank so missing one point on the midterms can
bump you a letter grade! It's a fairly easy class, 6 2 page
essays and 5 midterms,
there's no final. Make sure you're serious about business
otherwise take it p/np.
ROBINSON: VERY COMPETITIVE. If this class is not
one of your pre-reqs, do NOT take this class. This class
is one of the determinants of whether or not students will
make it into Haas or not and this class is considered a
weeder class, so be sure that you want to go into
Business. Only a certain percentage of students will get
As, Bs, Cs and so on. But I found this class very
interesting, especially the Advertising/Marketing section.
As for the professor himself, don't get in his way,
because he is not
afraid to get in your face, literally. GSIs are pretty nice.
Featured professors will also make guest appearances,
Himmelstein is pretty cool and do NOT miss Bank's
lecture!
CHEMISTRY
Chem 1A - General Chemistry
STACEY: I didn’t take a decent chemistry class in high
school so Chem1A was pretty hard. At least there was
plenty of testing so you can still do okay if you screw up
one test. Stacey lectures with immense interest so it’s
probably no surprise that most people in the class got As
and Bs.
NITSCHE: Great professor, very enthusiastic. Chemistry
will always be difficult, but he wants people to pass.
Attendance is extra credit and midterms are multiple
choice. Study hard for midterms and the final.
STACEY: She’s really good at the subject of chemistry,
also a very good teacher. She makes everything in
lecture easy to understand, even for people who have
never taken chemistry. And that’s the class I enjoyed the
most in my freshmen year. On the exams, she tests us
not only on memorization, but also how to apply
chemistry and understand real world phenomenon with
chemistry.
Chem 3A - Organic Chemistry
FRECHET: I HIGHLY recommend Frechet! You’ll have
a blast going to lecture because his French accent
makes his jokes so funny. Overall, he explains
everything pretty well, but definitely look at his previous
tests to get a better idea for what he expects. That
doesn’t really change. And when he tells you that you
have to remember everything he tells you, he means it.
In general, OChem is hard.
Chem 4A – General Chem. and Quantitative Analysis
PINE; Pines was a clear and easy to understand
lectures which is a good way to start the cal chem
experience. His exams were fair and straight forward.
SAYKALLY: He loves chem as much as he loves to blow
things up and throw water balloons at the gsi's, but this
doesn't necessarily mean best teaching. His exams
were very math and calculation intensive.
DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES
Development Studies C10 - Intro to Development
Studies
TRIST: This course introduces students to issues faced
by governments and citizens in "developing countries".
For someone like me who went into the class not
knowing anything about developing countries (or really
the rest of the world for that matter), this course really
opened my eyes to a number of problems these
countries face: debt, health issues, weak political
structures, etc. Trist is a quirky professor who makes
lectures greatly engaging and interesting. We had two
large readers among other smaller books, which mean a
fair amount of reading. No worries though, these
readings and their topics are really interesting! Course
had one midterm, (3?) short research papers, and a
final. Definitely take this course if you'd like to learn more
about problems plaguing the rest of the world.
EARTH & PLANETARY SCIENCE
EPS 80 – Environmental Earth Science
BERRY: When I took this class, the focus was on
sustainability but I’m not sure if this is still true.
Professor Berry is a really sweet old man and he’s
funny if you listen closely! He is one of the most
passionate professors I know and his love for the subject
rubs off onto his students. The class
is very lax—there isn’t really any homework, but I
remember writing one or two papers and doing a short
project. The tests are also quite easy also, so almost
everyone gets an A.
BERRY: This is a very easy-going and fun course where
you "learn science by doing science!" Professor Berry,
an older gentleman, is a very nice guy and this leads
people to take advantage of him. Although many may
not take this class so seriously, please do not go to
lecture and talk and disrupt class while Professor Berry
is lecturing. The least enjoyable part of this class for me
was the lectures not because Professor Berry is a bad
lecturer, but because rude students who do not take the
class seriously talk and disrupt class, making it difficult to
hear Professor or to even focus on his lecture. So if
you're going to take this class and go to lecture, please
don't do this. Assignments consisted of conducting really
fun scientific experiments that allowed us to learn more
about environmental issues plaguing our Berkeley
community. One midterm, a number of little experiments
+ short write-ups and a final.
EPS C82 - Intro to Oceans
BISHOP & RHEW: This is the popular oceans class
you've probably heard everyone talking about. Even
though this class is only two units, be forewarned: this
class is NOT easy. I had to work for my grade.
Assignment-wise, this course is pretty laid back, but just
because there aren't really any assignments this does
not mean it's okay to slack off! I think reading the
textbook (or at least skimming it) is a must. The
midterms are really difficult and will murder you if you
don't crack open the book. Although study guides are
distributed and review sessions are held prior to the
exams, it’s still imperative to look over the textbook.
Don't let this scare you though--there are a couple
opportunities for extra credit. Overall, a pretty interesting
intro course. I did learn quite a bit. Course has: 2
midterms, a few small assignments (some of which are
used as extra credit), and a final exam.
EDUCATION
Education 40AC - Experiencing Education: Diversity
and (In)equality In and Beyond Schools SEYER-
OCHI: I love this professor, and I love going to lecture.
She lectures like she’s talking to us and really engages
students into critical thought towards real issues
happening today—around Berkeley, San Francisco, etc.
No matter what class she’s teaching, you have to take
her. The AC course automatically means a lot of
reading and writing assignments. Essay grading
depends on the GSI. Seyer-Ochi gives one challenging
midterm, but there’s some extra credit.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
ES 10: Intro to Environmental Sciences
BERRY and KONDOLF: This class comes very highly
recommended, specifically for the Fall since the spring
class is pretty different. This class is great for gauging
your interest in the environmental sciences as it cover a
wide variety of interesting topics. Some of the lectures
are by the two professors themselves, but most of them
are guest lecturers. Although some of the lectures end
up a bit bland, lab section is definitely the best part of
class. Labs are hands on and never boring, especially if
you have an awesome GSI! You really get to know your
GSI and the students in your lab section. Even if you
end up finding out that the environmental sciences aren’t
the thing for you, you will still take away plenty of useful
information and you become more aware and
knowledgeable of the world around you. This class
convinced me to become an environmental science
major!
HISTORY
History 7A - The U.S. from Settlement to Civil War
PETERSON: What makes this course so enjoyable is
the Professor himself -- Professor Peterson. He is a very
nice and approachable professor whose excitement for
early American history clearly shows when he lectures.
Even though this class was early in the morning, I was
able to attend every lecture (without falling asleep in
class either!) due to Professor's lecture style and
personality. Peterson uses PowerPoint for the sheer
purpose of outlining his lecture and showing pictures.
This is a plus because it means that he's not reading off
the PowerPoint (like some monotone professors can)
and he also shows a bunch of interesting primary
sources such as photos, documents and even music and
lyrics! Although there is a textbook for this class, I feel
that it only came as a supplement to our other readings,
which were pretty much all primary source documents
and narratives. Course had two papers, one midterm,
and a final exam.
History 183 - History of Medicine
OSSEO-ASARE: I’ve heard that she teaches a History
10 course. Fast lecturer because she knows her stuff.
This professor can be incredibly funny when she breaks
out of her lecture mode into random stories and
thoughts. She is very nice in office hours if you need
help on your essays.
MATH
Math 1A - Calculus
OLSSON: He’s a pretty decent teacher, but still lacks
clarity. His tests vary greatly in terms of difficulty. His first
midterm was so easy, but second one was so hard. His
proofs can be difficult for those who haven’t learned
much math through proofs before. But put work in to the
class you will be fine.
Math 1B - Calculus
RATNER: Her lectures are excellent and entertaining.
She really knows how to teach math, probably one of the
greatest math professors in Berkeley. But downside is
her tests are really, really hard. Also she doesn’t curve
her exams. So in many years she taught math 1b, lots of
people failed. But if you go to her lectures and do
homework right after the lecture, there is a great chance
you’ll do well.
Math 16A - Analytic Geometry and Calculus
GU/GOO: Basically a review of Calculus BC. Didn't
attend lecture much as I mostly learned from the book
=X
Math 16B - Analytic Geometry and Calculus
WILKENING: Good professor, more of Calculus BC but
towards the end you reach new material.
Math 53 - Multivariable Calculus
HUTCHINGS: From what I’ve heard, he is one of the
best math professors. Witty and good at explaining. 3D
calculus has some easy and hard material. It’s honestly
not that bad if you do enough problems and pay
attention to what you’re doing. The theorems at the end
of the course are pretty hard, though, but make more
sense with some physics background.
Math 54 - Linear Algebra and Differential Equations
VOJTA: The professor basically reads and writes down
the book for you. (Occasionally, he makes a funny joke
to himself if you’re lucky enough to be awake.) Linear
algebra and differential can be learned straight from the
book, but they can either be really easy for you or really
difficult. Tests were very straightforward so the curve’s
set where you have to make minimal mistakes to get
good grades.
NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
Near Eastern Studies 15 - Introduction to Near
Eastern Art and Archaeology
FELDMAN: Bring a laptop to this class; there are no
PowerPoint slides with information, just pictures, so
everything you learn is based off what she says. It's hard
sometimes to not fall asleep in the dark room, but make
sure you don't. Lots of memorization, you have to
recognize items from different dates, locations, materials
and more of items from a span of 2,000 years.
NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE
NutriSci 10 - Introduction to Nutritional Science
VARIOUS: I really enjoyed this class! It’s one of those
introduction science courses that you can apply to daily
life. Tests are very straightforward, so there’s minimal
but SOME studying involved. Slideshow lectures + one
book can be shared between multiple people.
AMY: She's adorable in a grandma kind of way but not
in a sit in a one hour lecture way. She'll definitely put you
to sleep. Pros are you don't need the book for this class,
she says so herself. You also get to drop one of your
test scores. So if you do good on the 3 midterms, you
don't have to take the final. Beware for trick questions on
the midterms and know that a lot of memorization is
necessary to do good on them.
PHYSICS
Physics 8A - Introductory Physics
GOLIGHTLY: The professor is really funny and dorky—
which seems to translate onto his way of teaching
physics. He’s incredibly clear about material as well as
what he expects from you on tests. You can’t go wrong
taking physics in the summer if he teaches it. The class
IS fast-paced, but as long as you’re on top of things, it’s
a very do-able for a science class in the summer.
PSYCHOLOGY
Psych 1 - Introduction to Psychology (For Majors)
KIHLSTROM: If you do not need this class, I would
advise you not to take it. The material is interesting,
excluding the biology aspect of Psychology, but the
class itself wasn't too exciting. The workload wasn't too
terrible, along with some of the extra stuff you had to do,
experiments, not bad at all. Exams were big
determinants of your grade. Lectures were boring,
although the professor is REALLY nice, very
approachable and helpful, but I had morning lectures,
maybe that was a factor.
SHIMAMURA: Shimamura's a fun lecturer. Your grade is
based off your tests and one paper. If you mess up on
one it can ruin your grade. Discussions are optional
which is nice, but go to them because they can be really
helpful if you get a good GSI.
SIMONE-THOMAS: Pretty good at engaging students.
She throws in some difficult test questions nonetheless
and grades written assignments fairly. I wouldn’t
recommend taking Psych over the summer because it
felt rushed. I’d definitely take an intro psych course
during the semester though. Fulfill a breadth!
Psych 2 -- Introduction to Psychology (For Non-
Majors)
SOUZA (listed as MENDOZA-DENTON): This was a
really fun course that got me really interested in taking
more psych courses! Mike Souza, a grad student (don't
let this discourage you from taking the course), is a great
lecturer. Lectures were very interesting and kept me
awake at 8:00 am in the morning. Lectures were very
straightforward, but not dull or dry at all. He tries to
incorporate as much alternative teaching material into
lecture as he can, such as videos. Three 40 question
multiple choice midterms and an optional final that can
only help your grade.
Psych C162 - Human Happiness
KELTNER: I would highly recommend this class
because the professor is an incredible storyteller and the
most interesting lecturer I’ve ever had. You learn start
off learning about the philosophy behind happiness, then
you move on to the science behind it, and finally
methods to being a happier person. It sounds corny, but
it’s a really great class and people that can’t get into the
class end up coming to class regardless. The topics he
presents are very intriguing and makes you look at your
life a little differently. The tests are in essay format and
it’s more or less regurgitating out everything you
remember on various topics. Grades are based on your
test and attendance in discussion—no homework!
PUBLIC HEALTH
PH 116 - Seminar on Social, Political, and Ethical
Issues in Health and Medicine
Super easy. Guest speaker at every lecture which is
once a week. An essay due every week. All you have to
do is just write an essay and pass the midterms and
you'll pass. Go to the reviews before midterms and you'll
know enough to pass.
PH 181 - Poverty and Population
POTTS: Poverty and Population helped me to think
about the issue of global poverty and overcrowding at a
more comprehendible level. He and his wife, Martha, co-
taught the course with several other guest lecturers to
help bring a global issue that is often understated to
attention. Take this course to understand what is, will,
and should be done about global overpopulation.
READING & COMPREHENSION
College Writing R1A
STEENLAND: During my semester, Professor
Steenland’s topic was Heroes. The cool thing about this
class is that we worked on various types of texts. So,
instead of just reading books, we read short stories,
articles, graphic novels, and saw movies. Professor
Steenland is super friendly and truly cares about her
students!
Native American Studies R1A
RICHARDS: Interesting course with critical thought!
Analyses, projects, poems, etc. If you don’t know how
to write, it’s ok. Kim (Richards) basically lays out an
exact outline of what she wants. For most of the class,
you sit there and listen to her lecture and share personal
stories of being Native American herself. Huge reader.
Italian Studies R5B
FALKOFF: She makes sure her class is small so that
everyone can sit in a circle and go through books which
follow some kind of theme that she picked. Regular
writing assignments are fun and easy because you freely
question your own thoughts. She is HUGE on
interpreting plot, especially in essays. Yes, she is a
difficult grader, but you’ll end up thanking her for her
high expectations! You’ll definitely gain MUCH better
writing skills from going to her class. She’s so nice in
office hours too.
SOCIOLOGY
Sociology 3AC: Principles of Sociology
POWERS: In this course, we examined the experience
of a number of racial groups as well as socioeconomic
groups through a sociological lens. Lecture can be a hit
or miss. Sometimes Professor spends the whole class
time discussing how we're supposed to organize our
papers, but other times we going deep discussions on
racial issues. I disliked how Professor took class time to
explain how we were supposed to organize our essays,
but I guess it sort of helped when I started writing my
papers because I had a really clear idea of what he
expected from us. This course consisted of two research
paper projects that incorporate a number of concepts we
explore. Final exam is a take home exam that consists of
two short response papers. Overall, lecture was eh, but
writing my papers which utilized a lot of our readings
really did teach me a lot about race and class, the focus
of this class.
STATISTICS
Statistics 2 - Intro to Stats
D’ABRERA: D'Abrera is the sweetest Professor ever; he
brings us little chocolate treats all the way from Australia!
I am not a math person at all and only took this class
because I had to. I'm glad I took it with D'Abrera. He is
very approachable in office hours, which he holds plenty
of in the SLC for easy access. He also goes out of his
way to hold extra review sessions and office hours
during finals time which is what I think helped me pass
this class. This class was definitely one of the harder
ones I've taken so far, but Professor helped make it
bearable. There's a reader for the class, but it's just
photocopies of all the slides he presents in lecture. This
was a very valuable resource for someone like me who
takes forever to copy down notes and slides in class.
D'Abrera encouraged us to bring the readers to class so
we could follow his lecture and take side notes. Class
consisted of three midterms (the lowest grade is
dropped), a midterm, and a final. No homework
assigments. Very fair class that if anything, works to the
students' advantage.
Stat 21: Introduction to Statistics for Business
Majors
PURVES: I can’t say this was the most interesting class
ever and may be slightly difficult for students who have
never encountered statistics. However, there are plenty
of office hours as you can go to any GSI so it is definitely
a manageable class. The tests are pretty tricky, and the
class is curved.
VISION SCIENCE
Vision Science 24: Freshman Seminar (Myths of
Vision Science)
HARVEY: Professor Harvey is a very animated
professor and her class is very fun. I don’t remember
very clearly the topics she taught, but I never fell asleep
in that dark and warm room! No homework but there is
an oral presentation and written report on a topic of your
choice. She ended up canceling our test and throwing a
party instead! If you end up on the waitlist for this class,
she’ll most likely end up letting you in so just keep going
to class!