ESS 707: Registration tips

Laura Vogt:
Hello. Thank you for joining me and The (Not So) Secret Guide to Being a Berkeley Engineer. I’m your host Laura Vogt, the associate director of marketing and communications in the College of Engineering. And this week we’re talking with Vanshikha Sinha, who was an ESS peer advisor, about enrollment tips. Hi, and welcome to the podcast.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Hi, Laura. I’m amazed to be here and can’t wait to talk about registration. To tell you about, I just graduated from Berkeley, class of 2023, and I majored in electrical engineering computer science. My time at Berkeley was, I felt it was short but also very happening and I enjoyed a lot of clubs. I was part of Design at Berkeley, Convergent at Berkeley, and I did a lot of helping around with different orgs and orgs outside of Berkeley, just as volunteering time. I’m excited to be here and answer any questions and have a conversation today.

Laura Vogt:
Awesome. Thank you so much again for being here. I know you’ve gone through this process quite a few times, so I’m sure you’ve learned a lot as you’ve gone.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Yeah, I know, for sure.

Laura Vogt:
Right now our students have just finished their Golden Bear Advising, and so that means they submitted their list of their courses that they’re going to take to their advisor, which was a big test in and of itself, but now they actually have to plan their semester out and what that’s going to look like. What resources did you use to help choosing that actual, what the physical schedule was going to look like?

Vanshikha Sinha:
Honestly, Golden Bear Advising was one of the first points in beginning of my time at Berkeley that really started off thinking about my classes. I am from Canada and I didn’t have a lot of people that knew about Berkeley and the classes, so it was such a important aspect that you as a student starts off [inaudible 00:02:07] Golden Bear Advising as a starting point, because there’s so many resources that it comes with and I use that myself. And I build off throughout my four years, especially with peers around me, different professors, my advisors, that their knowledge also changed throughout the years and what new resources that were there.

In my time, one of the biggest contributors to my figuring out what classes to actually take was Berkeleytime. That comes off at the top of my head, especially given that there’s so many factors that go into choosing a class in a specific semester, especially the professors and how the grading goes and how many people are taking it, what space, how much space is available. A lot of times students like taking a certain class with a certain professor because their teaching style is different than another professor. With all of that in mind, Berkeleytime was one of my first resources, apart from what Golden Bear Advising already provided us with. I used that in parallel. That wasn’t in its silo. It was more so with parallel with talking to my peers. Of course, before coming to Berkeley, it was mainly based off of my guided schedule, the basic schedules that are given on the website, College of Engineering, as well as talking to the advisors during the time and what they suggested to take, especially given that you’re a freshman coming in with no idea about the classes, so that was one of my first thought processes.

Again, as I started school, peers were a great resource, especially older kids and who have much more knowledge about the classes and how they run around. I would say just keep your eyes open and talk to people. They’re not going to say no. If they say they don’t know, that’s just a learning that goes around and you’ll come across so many different resources through them, and Berkeleytime was one of the ways that I knew about it through my peers.

Also, the way I figured out my classes was through a four-year plan. I sat down my freshman year. I was like, “Okay, next four years, I’m going to take these classes.” In my brain I was like, “I need it to be flexible,” but at least I know what I’m taking and I can change it as I go along, because not every class, some might be offered in a certain semester, and at least that four-year plan helped me guide myself through, depending on what my interests are. My interests changed throughout college, so a lot of it did change in that way, but at least I wasn’t confused coming in. Spending even 30 minutes in a day when making that plan is amazing.

Of course, last but not the least, advisors, if you meet with them, they’re more than willing to sit down with you, make a plan. Don’t ever hesitate to send them an email, drop in hours during school year, and don’t ever be shy. They’re your literal best friends in terms of helping out with your schedule, helping out with any type of problem with your classes. That was my, I would say, way of figuring it out. I feel like I jumbled out a lot of things, but Golden Bear Advising is your first step into figuring these resources out.

Laura Vogt:
When it came down for you to actually sit down and register each semester, what was your biggest concern and do you feel like maybe there were some things you were worried about that you ended up not needing to be worried about?

Vanshikha Sinha:
Yes. Concern, that’s a big word right there. Especially being at Berkeley, it’s such a big school and especially given that the classes, the smaller classes, the ones that are more niche, they do tend to fill up and more popular classes. For example, there’s a lot of CS classes that a lot of majors want to take and get the background in. My biggest concern was getting into the class, because if I didn’t have a time that was in a day that was early on compared to my peers, the classes tend to fill up. I had to really make up a plan to have backups for the classes, the first choice, second choice, third choice, and that was all done with a lot of patience. Spending that time initially to figure it out, because then you wouldn’t be stressed, come your enrollment time.

I feel like there’s already enough stress when you are sitting in front of your computer and trying to see, “Okay, your enrollment time is now. Get onto your CalCentral and trying to enroll in those classes,” and there’s a lot of obstacles that come in with any type of technical difficulties. The biggest concern was figuring out your backups, because there’s always really stuck to that one class, but I feel like you should be flexible for sure, because there’s a lot of factors that come into what class you can get in, reserve seats, and those things like that.

Laura Vogt:
Excellent. Well, thank you so much. We’re going to switch gears a little bit and talk about just some overall tips that we know could probably help a lot of students. Number one, as you’ve talked about Golden Bear Advising, make sure you’ve completed it.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Yeah. As I said, if you haven’t completed Golden Bear Advising, you might have holes on your registration, which can become a lot of work, especially as a freshman coming into the school. That’s one aspect that you just want to take away. Don’t want to worry about going to talk to your advisors or going to talk to any of the admin at the school and trying to figure out, how do I get that hold off? Sometimes it’s really complicated to go through CalCentral, figuring out every single aspect of it, trying to get that thing. Since you have time during summer, you want to finish it up and start preparing your your mental state and your mindset to enter Berkeley fully prepared and ready to take on the classes and enjoying your time. The resources you gain from GBA helps create the initial blueprint for your time at Cal, so I would for sure recommend spend your time and take your time and go through it, figure out, write down the resources, write down questions that you might want to ask when you get to Berkeley.

Laura Vogt:
Our second tip is check your enrollment time.

Vanshikha Sinha:
As I hinted at it before, enrollment times are such important, especially, what time do you enroll, July 11th or 13th? Especially with new transfer students, enrolling for them is July 11th and all new freshmen are enrolling on July 13th. Therefore, the time of the day you’re assigned is very, very important. If you’re trying to get into popular courses, as I said before, you want to make sure have everything ready in your cart, including your backup courses, so having everything put in and knowing what to click on. You sometimes get panicked in the process, so really having a plan, even if a Google Doc is a way of knowing what classes you’re taking and what should be a first priority and what should go first as enroll button should be clicked on, then that’s your way of doing it. Get ready to enroll when your time begins and you can view your enrollment time on the right column under Fall 2023 in CalCentral. Do not stress too much, but I would say just have that time, put it in your calendar, and put on reminders for it.

Laura Vogt:
Reminders are always a good thing. I depend on them a lot.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Me. Too.

Laura Vogt:
Tip number three, don’t make your first semester schedule too heavy.

Vanshikha Sinha:
That is such an important tip, because as a freshman, you come in and especially, this is the first time in your life you’re moving away from home, being in a new environment, and you need that time to … In high school you might think you take those eight courses and you’re fine. You wake up at six in the morning and you’re getting to school, you’re coming back after extracurriculars and you’re not tired, but I feel like being at college, especially at Berkeley, it’s competitive, but you learn so much at Berkeley. Being able to take fewer courses in your first semester and trying to figure out what extracurriculars you want to be and trying to be involved in exploring, giving yourself time in that manner really helps you figure out yourself, as well as figuring out your schedule, so you are not rushing into the Berkeley Cal experience without having that clear mind.

I feel like having fewer courses, and as I said, many of the programs’ plans show that 15 to 17 units each semester. If you have tested out or have already completed some of the courses, you may consider taking fewer units. A lot of times people do, especially with AP and IB courses, they have a lot of units that they come in with, and so they can keep their first semester as a exploration semester and being able to see what they want to do beyond just courses.

Laura Vogt:
If you can get away with just doing the two technicals and maybe one humanities, then that’ll give you, what, 12 to 14 units, which is, I think it’s a nice-

Vanshikha Sinha:
It’s perfect. It’s a good balance. In that way, you get to figure out your personal life, your school life, your extracurricular life, and anything else beyond that.

Laura Vogt:
Building on that, we want you to be aware of what those college requirements are.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Not all colleges have same requirements, as we said, so make sure you’re aware of the College of Engineering requirements that were part of the engineering unit in the Golden Bear Advising. And again, Golden Bear Advising is very important. Some of the examples include needing to be enrolled in 12 units and taking two technical courses towards your degree, so really keeping track of these, especially when you’re planning out your courses so that you’re not missing out on these. You might think it’s very minor details, but it can sometimes be such an obstacle in terms of progressing in your degree, and just having a calm and quiet time at Berkeley, because you don’t want this to be in your way when you’re trying to enjoy your time at Cal.

Laura Vogt:
Number five is taking classes towards the major you’re enrolled in, not a major you want to change into.

Vanshikha Sinha:
This is something that’s not emphasized enough, but again, we’re emphasizing it here. You can work with your advisor in fall about change of major, as we talked about process in last week’s podcast, and it was a lot, in terms of you don’t want to think too much about … You’re coming in with a major. You are in the major that you are currently in, and there’s again, no guarantee that you might get into the major that you’re applying, because again, it’s very competitive. There’s a lot of quotas, policies change, and you don’t want to stop yourself from progressing in the degree that you’re currently in. I would say put that first and all the classes you’re enrolling and you’re progressing in that direction, first of all. And when you have time and when you have space, do enroll in not the classes that are not in your major currently. Just take classes towards the major you’re enrolled in and put that first and then second, whatever you’re aspiring to change into, and do talk to your advisors. I feel like that’s your first step when you are, again, as a freshman coming into Berkeley or if you’re a continuing student in any form.

Laura Vogt:
Yeah, that’s perfect. Number six, if there’s a class available that you can enroll in now, do that instead of adding yourself to a wait list.

Vanshikha Sinha:
I said that. We started talking about the whole idea of enrollment time and being ready with your classes. Your wait list class might be your initial choice, but I think your backups need to have more space in the class and not have a wait list and have reserved seats for yourself. When we say you can use a swap feature to try and switch into classes you really wanted, but it’s better to be enrolled rather than being on the wait list, because a lot of times professors might say there might be space. There’s the word, might, and later on when you come, once the enrollment times are done, there’s a very big chance that you might not even get enrolled in the class and then you’re stuck. You might be below the unit count, if you’re really banking on the wait list to be the one that gets you in, and the wait list units do count towards your enrollment units, too. Do be wary and try to plan out your timing, as well as your classes, based on … If there’s space in the class, enroll. And sometimes, one class being on the wait list, fine, but don’t make it most of your classes. I would prioritize classes that you can enroll in right away rather than the wait list [inaudible 00:16:17].

Laura Vogt:
Excellent. And n

umber seven, avoid time conflicts when making your schedule.

Vanshikha Sinha:
There are a few exceptions to this rule, but overall you want to make sure you can attend all of your classes. You don’t want to have classes at the same time. You choose between the two. You can be behind in classes and it can be a lot of added stress. And plus, if you have a class at that same time, you will most likely have your final at the same time, too, and instructors do not have to make arrangements for you if you can’t make it to the posted final time.

The first aspect that I said, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Some classes do allow time conflict. You to talk to your professor or if it’s said in your course description, but most of the time, don’t try to have two classes at the same time. You’re taking away from attending lectures, learning in that focused manner, and also, a lot of time conflicted classes do have finals at the same time, so there’ll be a lot of confusion in that end, so avoid time conflicts when making your schedule, for sure.

Laura Vogt:
And you’ve talked about this a couple times today, but our final tip is to be flexible.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Yes. Being flexible is so important, especially if you do not want to be stressed out. When you made your schedule in schedule planner, it may have had the perfect gaps in between classes and sections, but the reality is that you may not even get into your first choice lecture or section, and having that backup is very important, even backup backups for backups, because sometimes, depending on your enrollment time, enrollment day, the classes just fill up so quickly. There’s so many students trying to get, especially popular classes. As we talked about earlier, it’s better to get into an open class than to wait list into a course that’s full and risk not getting in at all. And that risk, again, takes you to another risk of being under the unit count of 12 units and other aspects, say, two technicals not being enrolled, and other aspects of just having a relaxed semester at Berkeley and a relaxed year.

Being flexible is one of the biggest tips and having the plan. In order to be flexible, do plan ahead, and I would say start thinking about your four years at Berkeley. I know as you go through the years, your interests, your wanting to take a certain class will change, but at least if you start off with the four-year plan, you your mind is more organized and has ability to think about different options and ways to go about it, so you’re not just stuck in a little hole. I can feel that sometimes there’s so many classes that you can take, so many options, and so many ways of going about it, but being flexible is one of the biggest tips, I would say.

Laura Vogt:
And now as we wrap up the resources and tips for registration that everybody has coming up, is there anything about your first year that you would’ve done differently?

Vanshikha Sinha:
In my first year, what I’ve done differently, as I said, the Golden Bear Advising was one of the most important. I wish I paid more attention to it, in ways. I gave the advice because I felt that that’s something I did not do my initial year, so being able to branch out from the resources. I think in my freshman year, I wish I did talk to my advisors more often. I did go every few months, but I think having even the smallest questions and if I asked them, the relationship would’ve been built in a better way, and that would’ve had a ripple effect throughout my years. I feel like I started doing that more so in my sophomore year. I saw my peers and everyone and learning about how they approached their time at Berkeley, took the nice little pieces from their ways of approaching your classes, your ways of joining clubs, and exploring, and just being independent at Berkeley. I feel like that allowed me to think there’s just beyond. My major is there, but I was able to go beyond it because, I don’t know, it just felt like there was so much to learn from other people.

I really give this example that, do not have horse blinders on and again, be flexible, and be open. I know there’s so many people. It’ll feel very overwhelming at Berkeley and especially given that you’re one in 40,000 kids that are on campus, 40,000 people, but I feel like having that open-minded mindset as well as being flexible as we emphasized a lot in this podcast for sure, and having that sense of not being afraid. I feel like coming into Berkeley, there was a lot of imposter syndrome, and that’s a very big topic comes in, especially in college. Do not worry about what others might think or, “Oh my God, they’re going to think I am not smart. I’m asking these questions,” and I feel like I wish I stepped over that boundary of just asking all the questions. The most stupid questions are still going to get you, I don’t know, it might make you even smarter than the next person because you just know that. I feel like the questions you’re asking might even help you and another person right next to you answer their questions. Especially at Berkeley, it’s just filled with knowledge and I think asking questions is the best way to go about it.

Laura Vogt:
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being here today and talking about your experiences.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Thank you so much for having me, Laura. And honestly, graduating, it’s still settling. With me being class of 2023, I felt like I was just a freshman a few weeks ago, going to exploring Berkeley, going past the Campanile and figuring out my Golden Bear Advising in that way, but thank you so much. It was so fun talking about it and it brought back memories, even though I just graduated a month ago.

Laura Vogt:
Well, congratulations on graduating. You put in a ton of work and I’m so excited for you.

Vanshikha Sinha:
Thank you so much, Laura.

Laura Vogt:
And thank you everyone for tuning in to The (Not So) Secret Guide to Being a Berkeley Engineer. We’ll be back next week for more resources for all our new students.