Today
Thu Sep 3 · week 2
Week two, Friday.
Lab 2 due 5pm — not 11.
DATA C8 labs are due Fridays at 5pm, not 11pm — Lab 2 today. Then the mandatory BIO kick-off at 3:30, BBS at 8, Beta Alpha Psi at 9. And Data 8 moved Midterm 1 up two days: it is now Monday Sep 21, 8–10pm, the night after R1A Paper 1 is due.
Next hard deadline
Tonight 11:59pm — BC + 180DC; then BBS Fri 8pm
The spine
C140 · CS 61A · ECON 100A → 61B · 70 · 100B
Real target
Haas + CS, or CS + Econ — quant firms require a quant degree
1.0
The runway
Enrollment and the summer course are done; the arrival chain is most of the way through. Dimmed rows have passed. Rows in full ink carry a deadline or a hold.
Jul 6-Aug 14
LiveSummer PS1 (async, Session D) — verified on the official class page: fulfills the full American History & Institutions requirement plus Social & Behavioral Sciences breadth. Week-1 posts (Jul 8, Jul 12) are behind you — now in week 2 of 6. Listed workload is ~30 hrs/week: treat July like a job and front-load, because the final lands ~Aug 13-14, days after move-in. Letter grade stands (P/NP switch stays open to Jul 31). Still owed: the instructor's written confirmation that the final is the usual 24-hour take-home — remote-friendly from Hong Kong; chase and keep the reply.
Jul 17
GateLast day to drop PS1 with tuition refunded (fees excluded; 11:59pm PT — one day after fall enrollment). If week one revealed a bad-hour exam or an unmanageable load, this is the clean exit; after it, dropping earns only a tuition credit. Confirm matriculated-student drop rules with adviser Tara Young first.
Jul 21
Golden Bear Prep opens in CalCentral (BIO's pre-arrival module) — complete it once it appears.
Jul 31
Last day to switch PS1 grading (letter ↔ P/NP, 11:59pm PT). The late escape hatch: a P at C- or better still banks the AH&I credit with zero GPA effect.
By Aug 1
RegisterBIO international orientation registration due (Google Form in the Jun 30 email): virtual session Aug 19, 9:00-12:30; in-person Welcome Day Aug 25, 1:30-5.
Late Jul
Re-check the cart on CalCentral: nothing stuck on a waitlist, Wednesday lab locked. Any 1-unit seminar or DeCal waits for the adjustment period (cap 20.5, opens Aug 17).
Aug 8-9
Fly HKG to SFO (UA862 or CX870 land the same morning). BART in about 54 minutes, or rideshare.
Aug 10
Move into The Durant. Check your I-94 reads F-1, D/S. Renters insurance active before the keys.
Aug 16-18
F-1Arrival chain cleared. Online Arrival Confirmation submitted Aug 16, I-94 uploaded (batch 222582), Continued Attendance I-20 completed via DocuSign Aug 18. The SEVIS-termination risk is closed; the record should flip to ACTIVE once class registration processes, and that is the gate for the DMV trip.
Aug 19-20
GBO check-in and Day 1 done. Lower Sproul check-in Aug 19 (Cal 1 Card, wristband, EasyPass, clear bag); Convocation at Haas Pavilion and Bear Foundations Aug 20. Your small group is 522.
Aug 20
HoldRegistrar: no valid photo ID was recorded for your Cal 1 Card, so a registration hold is on your account. It does not touch Fall — it blocks enrolment for future terms, and Spring 2027 enrolment opens Oct 26. Fix: passport to Cal Student Central, 120 Sproul Hall. Ten minutes, and the only reason to delay is that nothing breaks today.
Aug 21
RecoverData Scholars. You were offered a Scholars Lab place on Aug 19 (not a Data 36 seat), confirmable only through a form that closed 1pm Aug 20 — and there is no reply in the thread. Labs begin Aug 26, so email
data-scholars@berkeley.edu today and ask if a slot is still open. It attaches a smaller lab, office hours, homework parties and exam reviews to DATA C8.Aug 23-24
Caltopia 2026, 10-4 at the RSF — 23rd year, 100+ vendors, free entry and giveaways. Day two collides with L&S Day; L&S wins. The RSF then closes all day Aug 25 for teardown and reopens Aug 26 at 7am.
Aug 24
L&SL&S Day — the final day of GBO and the only one aimed at your college. College Advisors, L&S Deans and L&S Peers; schedule at lsadvising.berkeley.edu. Prioritise it over general programming and over Caltopia.
Aug 25
The day before classes. BIO In-Person Welcome Day 8:00-12:30 (RSVP required). Berkeley Career Engagement runs Career Fair Prep Day the same day — Handshake 101 at 11, One-Stop Drop-Ins 1-3, PM resume workshop at 3. EOP New Student Welcome in the afternoon if you RSVP’d. Tonight: walk the Wednesday route, Wheeler 150 → UAB 325 → Wheeler 220.
Aug 26
ClassesInstruction begins. 8:00 MATH 54 (Wheeler 150), 9:00 ENGLISH R1A (UAB 325), 10:00 DATA C8 online, 11:00 MATH 54 discussion (Wheeler 220). Data Scholars labs also start today, if you recover the offer. Calapalooza is Aug 27 on Upper Sproul. IFC rush week runs Aug 26 - Sep 1; club applications close Sep 3-4. See 2.0.
Sep 4
You are hereWeek two, Friday. Lab 2 at 5pm, BIO kick-off 3:30, BBS 8pm. MATH 54 HW 1 Tue Sep 8, Quiz 1 Wed Sep 9. Spring 2027 still hinges on the advising emails: The Fork.
Sep 1, 19
TasksTwo campus trainings — but check which dates are actually yours. The Aug 17 all-student email set Sep 1 for policy acknowledgements (Code of Student Conduct + Civil Rights, includes a 30-minute video) and Sep 19 for SHAPE — then said in its own text that it addresses continuing students and points new first-years to separate instructions. Do not assume exemption and do not assume those dates: open CalCentral Tasks and read what is assigned. Missing them earns a registration hold, and you already have one.
Sep 4
MandatoryBIO Peer Mentorship Kick-Off, 3:30-5pm, Faculty Glade. Calendar invite from Aug 18, marked mandatory. RSVP accepted Aug 24; Nancy’s roster check answered. It lands the same day as the BBS (8:00pm) and Beta Alpha Psi (9:00pm) deadlines — finish those applications before you walk over.
Sep 3, 16
Your CalCentral deadlines: early drop Sep 3, add/drop/change units Sep 16, grading-option switch Oct 30 (all 11:59pm PT). Add Berkeley Connect (PHILOS 98BC) or the Math 98 adjunct by Sep 16 if the load feels right. Your DATA C8 lab is still listed “To Be Announced” — that must resolve before Sep 16.
Sep 15
F-1DHS ends duration of status for F-1. Injunction hearing Sept 3. Do not leave the US on or after this date without talking to BIO first. Separately, Course Credit CPT is suspended (Aug 12) and a second ICE memo (Aug 24) closed the elective-course route for good — a paid summer 2027 internship now runs through pre-completion OPT, filed ~Feb 13, 2027. On-campus jobs need no authorization. See F-1 Work Map.
Oct 26
GateSpring 2027 enrolment opens — the Cal 1 Card hold must be gone by now. Same day: Cal Job Shadow registration closes (alumni externship, Jan 4-15, 2027, in person or virtual, open to undergraduates — the obvious thing to do with winter break). Register on My Berkeley.
2.0
Club & frat applications
Both recruiting tracks run inside the same nine days, starting on day one of instruction. Career-club applications close Sep 3-4; IFC rush week is Aug 26 - Sep 1; every club interview round lands Sep 5-8, Labor Day included. Rows in full ink are hard, published deadlines — verified on the clubs' own pages and the IFC registration portal on Aug 2.
Track A · career clubshard, annual, mostly irreversible
Deadlines are fixed and come once a year. Miss Sep 3 and the next real opening is January — for some clubs the fall cycle is the one that matters. Berkeley Consulting waives the transcript for first-semester freshmen; BBS accepts “all majors, career paths, or prior experience.” Budget 12-20 hrs/week if you get in, so pick one flagship.
Track B · IFC rush6-7 nights, but reversible
Formal rush runs twice a year, the registration portal stays open to Dec 11, and Berkeley's own page says most fraternities recruit year-round. No deferred-rush rule, no penalty for waiting. Dropping rush costs a semester; dropping a club application can cost a year. If you cannot do both properly, rush is the one that waits.
Aug 18
SPAR mentee applications closed. AI-safety research, remote, unpaid. Behind you either way.
Aug 25
Career Fair Prep Day (Berkeley Career Engagement): Handshake 101 and career-fair overview 11-12, One-Stop Drop-Ins 1-3, PM resume workshop 3-4. Free, and it is the cheapest way to have Handshake configured before the sprint.
Aug 26
Day 1Instruction begins — and everything opens at once. IFC rush week starts today. Berkeley Consulting tabling (Dwinelle/Wheeler, 10-4) and BBS coffee chats both open. Front-load coffee chats into Aug 26-30; Sep 1-4 is consumed by info sessions and writing.
Aug 27
Calapalooza, 12-6pm, Upper Sproul — and rush night 2. The fair is day two, not the starting gun.
Aug 30
BBS Meet the Presidents, 10am-12pm, Heyman Terrace.
Sep 1-2
FairsSTEM Career Fair Sep 1 (afternoon) and Business & Public Service Career Fair Sep 2, both on Handshake. Before each, a 30-seat Brunch with Employers 9:30-11 at 2440 Bancroft, 3rd floor: Business brunch register by Wed Aug 26; STEM brunch form closed Aug 21 — submit anyway. Bring the F-1 line ready: on-campus now, pre-completion OPT for summer.
Sep 1
Info-session pile-up. BBS Info Session 6-8pm (Maude Fife); Berkeley Consulting #1 8-10pm (Faculty Club); 180DC #1 8-10pm (Dwinelle 145). Rush week ends today. BC runs two identical sessions — attend one and double-book the other slot.
Sep 2
BC Infosession #2 and 180DC #2 — same content as night one. Bid dinners historically fall Sep 2-3 (2024 actual; not published for 2026).
Sep 4
You are hereWeek two, Friday. BC and 180DC closed last night; BBS 8pm and Beta Alpha Psi 9pm tonight. Interview rounds Sep 5–8 if you applied. Decisions land Sep 9–18.
Sep 3
DeadlineBerkeley Consulting closes 11:59pm. 180DC also due 11:59pm. Case workshops run the same evening — BBS 6-8pm, BC 8-10pm — and they are free case prep whether or not you get in. Your CalCentral early-drop deadline is also today.
Sep 4
DeadlineBerkeley Business Society closes 8:00pm — not midnight. Beta Alpha Psi resume drop due 9:00pm (their FAQ answers “can a first-semester freshman pledge?” with a flat yes).
Sep 5-8
RoundsEvery interview round, back to back. Sep 5 first rounds (BC at the Faculty Club, BBS); Sep 6 BC Candidate's Dinner 6-8pm; Sep 7 BC final round — on Labor Day, a campus holiday; Sep 8 BBS finals. Block the whole weekend and do not book travel.
Sep 3
“Get Career Ready: How to Start for First Years”, 3-4pm, Berkeley Career Engagement — aimed exactly at your year, and it sits in the gap before the BC case workshop at 8pm. Register through Handshake events.
Sep 9-18
Decisions land. This is the week you will want a floor already built — see below.
Late Sep — Nov
The deliberately-late doors: Dorm Room Fund closes late September, VCIC's team application late November, and the Haas HSO common app historically closes Sep 21-23.
Jan 19, 2027
The whole cycle runs again. Berkeley Consulting, ML@B, Codebase and most others rerun from spring instruction. Spring rush banks a semester of GPA first.
Before you fly
The only list that matters between now and Aug 26.
- Write one page. High-school activities, any job, any project, any code — normal and expected. BC's own application waives the transcript because you will not have one.
- Steal the format, free, today. BBS publishes two sample resumes plus case-essay and market-sizing walkthroughs; BC publishes a resume PDF and a full sample case at
ocf.berkeley.edu/~bconsult/. Same material the week-two case workshops teach. - Register on the IFC portal if rush is even a maybe — ten minutes, no GPA field, no transcript. There is a fee and the amount is published nowhere; email
ifc.recruitment@calgreeks.comand ask. - Build the blue-heart list on CalLink — orgs that declared open membership and cannot reject you. Screen out the Haas MBA ones. Do it now, not on Sep 9.
- Buy one business-casual outfit. The Berkeley Group requires business attire at both interview rounds. No time to shop in week two.
- From Aug 20, check daily: Voyager, the International Consulting Club, Codebase and Phi Beta Lambda have all confirmed a fall cycle and posted no dates.
The floor
Things that cannot reject you. Not consolation prizes — OCF contributions are publicly verifiable in a way club membership is not.
- Open Computing Facility — volunteer, real infrastructure, public GitHub, no application ever.
- IEEE — sign-up form only, plus four DeCals including hands-on PCB engineering.
- Berkeley AI Safety — join the Slack; that is their announcement channel. Open reading group.
- SkyDeck ACE (10 workshops, no application) and eHub (book the Navigator, walk into Thursday events).
- Cubstart is a DeCal, not an application; hackathon entry is registration only.
Traps
Each one is a documented way to lose something you already earned.
- Deadlines are not midnight
- BBS closes 8:00pm, Beta Alpha Psi 9:00pm, The Berkeley Group's was noon, Blueprint's 1:00pm, Berkeley Innovation's 5:00pm. Assuming 11:59 is how people lose an application they already wrote.
- calgreeks.com
- Where you land if you Google “Cal IFC.” It lists 32 fraternities and nine are on the university's do-not-join list. Its recruitment page still says Fall 2020. Always finish on
lead.berkeley.edu/cal-greeks/find-a-chapter/.
- Recognised is not clean
- Sigma Chi is currently recognised and on probation from a Feb 2026 hazing finding that hospitalised a member. Check the hazing transparency report, not the house.
- The Haas portal lies about timing
- The HSO common app closes ~Sep 21-23, three weeks after the independent clubs. Calibrate off it and you miss Beta Alpha Psi on Sep 4.
- MBA clubs in your search results
- “Haas Finance Club” and “Berkeley Real Estate Club” are graduate organisations. They rank well and waste your time.
- Nobody publishes an acceptance rate
- Not one Berkeley professional club. Every percentage you hear at a party is folklore.
- Codebase gates on coursework
- Mentored Track needs CS 61A taken or concurrent and 3+ semesters left — which actively excludes juniors and seniors. That rule works in your favour.
- ML@B Fellows is grad-only
- Apply to NMEP, the no-experience-required track. Applying to Fellows gets you measured against PhD students.
Full detail sits in three PDFs in this folder: Berkeley Career Clubs — SHORT (13pp, the one to actually read), the 175-page full reference, and Berkeley Fraternities (19pp, including the documented safety record and the twelve houses the university tells students not to join).
3.0
The term
One rule above all: buy no book before the syllabus. On this schedule MATH 54 is the only text you will likely pay for, and the library's free Digital Course Reserves come first.
MATH 54
Your one new subject, and the 8am- July prep with the highest payoff: 3Blue1Brown's “Essence of Linear Algebra” (about 3 hours), then skim Lay chapters 1-2.
- Text is the Lay plus Nagle custom bundle. A used standalone Lay 5th is far cheaper; a free scan exists on archive.org. Wait for the syllabus.
- Exams run harder than the homework. Counter with the free SLC Math 98 adjunct and the Tau Beta Pi exam archive (1994-2021, with solutions).
- Shift to a 6:45am wake before term; sit front-third. Final: Mon Dec 14, 7-10pm
DATA C8
Install nothing, it runs in the browser- July prep: inferentialthinking.com chapters 1-6, free, then Kaggle Learn's Python and Pandas mini-courses.
- Skip raw pandas: C8 teaches its own simpler
datasciencetable library. - Grading: labs 20, homework 10, projects 20, midterm 20, final 30. Your two lowest labs and homeworks drop automatically.
- Final: Tue Dec 15, 11:30-2:30
PHILOS 12A
Your safe course, despite its reputation- “Hardest class in the major” because it is symbolic logic, which is math. That is your strength, not your risk.
- Likely materials: the free “forall x: Calgary” text plus Carnap.io proof software. Do not buy Language, Proof & Logic used; it needs a fresh access code.
- Weekly problem sets, a midterm, a final. Final: Wed Dec 16, 8-11am
ENGLISH R1A
Process beats talent here- “Death and Dying”: mortality in Poe, Dickinson, Jackson, and film. Essays move through drafts and revision; attendance and participation carry real grade weight in a 17-person room.
- Go to office hours with drafts. Book the free Art of Writing tutoring when it opens in early September.
- Readings are mostly PDFs; wait for the syllabus. Final: Fri Dec 18, 3-6pm
The winter bracket: RRR week (Dec 7–11) is a no-class study run before finals, not a break — don't book travel into it. Your last final is R1A on Fri Dec 18, and the term officially ends that day; spring instruction resumes Tue Jan 19, 2027. So the earliest flight home to Hong Kong is the evening of Dec 18, and you need to be back on the ground before Jan 19 — book both legs early, holiday HKG–SFO fares climb fast.
4.0
The scoreboard
What a Berkeley L&S degree actually requires: 120 units; the university requirements (entry-level writing, American History & Institutions, American Cultures); the college requirements (Quantitative Reasoning, a foreign language, Reading & Composition Parts A then B, and the Seven-Course Breadth — seven distinct courses across seven areas, and AP exams clear none of them); senior residence (the final year taken at Berkeley); and one declared major. Haas is separate on top of all that: a once-only application in March 2028 built on four prerequisites and GPA. Every line below verified Jul 17, 2026.
University + college requirements
On stacking requirements: L&S says a course may count for several general-education areas, but only one breadth area — a listing showing three breadths means you choose one. It also warns that Essential Skills courses (R&C, Quantitative Reasoning, language) rarely stack with breadth, so treat any “R&C plus breadth” plan as unconfirmed until an adviser says otherwise. Also: at most two courses from one department count toward the seven.
One thing to check before you file: the rule turns on the primary language of instruction, not the country. Many Hong Kong secondary schools are English-medium. If yours taught in English, this route does not apply and the requirement has to be met by exam or by a course — worth confirming before you pay to ship transcripts.
| Requirement | How | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-Level Writing | satisfied on entry | Done |
| Quantitative Reasoning | AP Calculus BC 5 (MATH 54 doubles it) | Done |
| American History & Institutions | POLSCI 1 — A+, Summer 2026 | Done |
| Foreign language | Paperwork, not a gap. L&S added a secondary-school route starting Fall 2026: three or more years of schooling where the primary language of instruction was not English, from grade 6 up, verified by transcript. Two steps: send the Hong Kong transcripts to the Central Evaluation Unit, then file an APR Correction Request Form. Your APR only refreshes after a completed semester, so expect it to clear after December — start it now anyway, the transcript leg is the slow part. Deadline is graduation, not this year. | File → Dec |
| R&C Part A | ENGLISH R1A, enrolled | Dec 2026 |
| R&C Part B | R1B in spring — no AP English exempts it. AGRS R44 is fall-only (checked Sp25, Fa25, Sp26, Fa26), so it is not a spring substitute; taking it would mean Fall 2027 and one semester less slack | Spring 2027 |
| American Cultures | HISTORY 7A if added Aug 17 — doubles as a breadth | Open |
Seven-Course Breadth — 2 of 7 by December
Seven areas, one approved 3+ unit course each. A course counts for exactly one area even when its page lists several tags — POLSCI 1’s extra AH&I tag is a separate university requirement, not a second breadth.
| Area | Course | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Social & Behavioral Sciences | POLSCI 1 | Aug 2026 |
| Philosophy & Values | PHILOS 12A | Dec 2026 |
| Historical Studies | HISTORY 7A if added Aug 17 (doubles as American Cultures) | Planned |
| Arts & Literature | — | Open |
| Biological Science | — | Open |
| International Studies | — | Open |
| Physical Science | needs real physics / chemistry / astronomy / earth science — math, statistics and CS are excluded | Open |
Haas prerequisites — all four complete by Spring 2027
The Spieker application is once-only: window March 2–31, 2028, decision mid-June, and it requires 60+ units with all four prerequisites letter-graded and complete by the end of Spring 2028. This plan finishes them a full year early — from there the application rides on GPA, essays and involvement.
| Prerequisite | How | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Calculus | MATH 54 satisfies it outright | Dec 2026 |
| Statistics | DATA C8 (Dec) + C140 in spring — Option 1 outright, and it also serves Econ and Data Science | Spring 2027 |
| Reading & Composition | R1A (Dec) + R1B (spring) | Spring 2027 |
| UGBA 10X | fall/spring only, no summer section | Spring 2027 |
Economics prerequisites — the spine, not just the parachute
Admission is guaranteed with a C in each of six prerequisites — two of which are upper-division theory courses. Economics is STEM (36 months of OPT); Haas alone is not (12). So the plan builds the Econ core while waiting for Haas and adds Haas on top as a simultaneous degree. One rule: never take UGBA 101A/101B — ECON 100A/100B replace them at Haas and are credit-exclusive. Full term-by-term plan: The Fork.
| Prerequisite | How | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ECON 1 | AP Micro 5 + Macro 5 ⚠ chart dated 7/2019, confirm with adviser | Via AP |
| MATH 1A | AP Calculus BC 5 | Via AP |
| MATH 1B | AP Calculus BC 5 | Via AP |
| Statistics | DATA/STAT C140 — the only course on the Econ, Haas and Data Science lists, and it satisfies Econ’s take-one-at-Berkeley rule. DATA 89 is the fallback if Econ says C140 does not count. Neither DATA C8 nor UGBA 88 counts. | Spring 2027 |
| Theory #1 | ECON 100A | Spring 2027 |
| Theory #2 | ECON 100B | Fall 2027 |
What the Haas what-if actually says — APR, Aug 26 2026
Run from CalCentral against Business Administration BS. Green here means the campus system agrees, not that a plan says so.
| Haas requirement | Status on your APR | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | Satisfied by your calculus exam score | Done |
| Additional Mathematics | MATH 54 satisfies it — already counted, in progress | Done |
| Economics | Satisfied by exam scores. The 7/2019 chart worry is settled — the system already accepted it | Done |
| R&C Part A | ENGLISH R1A, in progress | Dec 2026 |
| R&C Part B | 1 course needed | Spring 2027 |
| Statistics | Option 2 is 2 courses: DATA C8 + one of UGBA 88 / DATA C88S / STAT C88S / DATA 89. C8 counts already, so one more in spring. Option 1 alternative: STAT 20 alone finishes it in one course. | Spring 2027 |
| Business Principles | UGBA 10X at Berkeley. Note: continuing students admitted from another Berkeley program may use a transfer course — worth asking about | Spring 2027 |
Three things the what-if surfaced that were not on this page:
- Haas breadth is not L&S breadth. Under Haas, Philosophy & Values lists only UGBA 107 as a satisfier — PHILOS 12A clears the L&S slot but not the Haas one. Plan for UGBA 107 on the admitted branch.
- 12 units of upper-division non-business electives are required for the Haas BS. Zero so far, and easy to forget because they sit outside the UGBA core.
- ECON 100A/101A can substitute for UGBA 101A, but non-UGBA courses do not count toward the 38 upper-division business units. The substitution saves a course, not the unit requirement.
Check this with an adviser: the what-if ran with the Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology concentration attached, and it waived Biological Sciences breadth “for MET students.” M.E.T. is a freshman-admit dual degree — if that concentration is not actually yours, Biological Sciences breadth is still required and the report is quietly one course optimistic.
Units on the record: 20 of 120 — and that is expected. Your Aug 26 Academic Progress Report counts only the five graded courses, with no AP credit anywhere, because exam credit is calculated at the end of December, after a completed semester. Same clock as the language requirement: both post once Fall closes. Nothing to chase before then — but confirm in January that every score actually landed, because the compressed May 2029 Economics exit depends on roughly 21 AP units being there. Spring 2027 is the hinge term, now set as C140 + CS 61A + ECON 100A + R1B + DATA C88S (18 units) — 61A with a posted grade makes you eligible for CS and Data Science review in January 2028. Loads are heavy by design; the floors are 3.0 for CS and Haas, C in every Econ prerequisite.
Which contract each ending is — Econ + Haas and Econ + Data Science are simultaneous degrees (two colleges, two admissions, hard 8 semesters on the CDSS side); only Econ + Applied Math is a true double major; a Data Science minor is the zero-time hedge. Rules, overlap math and the Jan 2027 CDSS window: Degree Paths.
5.0
The ledger
The load-bearing parts of F-1 status, life at The Durant, and club timing.
F-1 statusthe non-negotiables
- SEVIS transfer confirmed — same record, no new fee, prior valid visa works for entry. Print the I-20 and sign it in ink before flying; electronic signatures are not valid for travel.
- After landing: confirm the I-94 reads F-1, D/S, then complete BIO Arrival Confirmation before Aug 26.
- Never drop below 12 units — and with C8 online, your three in-person courses ARE the 12-unit floor (only one online class/3 units may count toward it), so never drop one of them. On-campus work only; gig apps count as unauthorized employment. Update your address within 10 days of any move.
- File Form 8843 next spring even with zero income. GLACIER is free through BIO.
The Durantand getting around
- BayPass is in your fees and covers AC Transit and BART, handed over pre-activated at GBO check-in.
- Renters insurance is required. Buy your own at roughly $12 a month, or Greystar auto-enrolls you in a pricier plan.
- Target is a 16-minute walk for move-in basics; the Durant food court is one block west. No H Mart nearby; use Koreana Plaza in Oakland.
- Text WARNME to 67283 for alerts. Save Safewalk,
510 642 9255. Keep the phone pocketed on Telegraph at night.
Clubs, week 1the pre-Haas angle
- Applications open in week 1 and the fast ones close around day 10. Target 2-4 serious applications, expect rejections, reapply in spring.
- Freshman-friendly doors: Data Science Society (fastest), The Berkeley Group, Compass Fellowship, BIC, Product Space.
- Traps: “IBC” means BIC. Delta Sigma Pi (“DSP”) is defunct here — nationals lists Berkeley as inactive, 0 members (founded 1922, 1,415 lifetime initiates). Its CalLink profile still exists and looks alive, but it is a dead record: no events, “how to get involved: N/A”, a chapter site (dsp-rho.com) that refuses connections, and it does not appear in CalLink’s active org search. Also note “DSP” on this campus usually means the Disabled Students’ Program. AKPsi does not bid first-semester freshmen; rush it in spring.
- Take UGBA C12, the Changemaker gateway, in a later term as a low-stakes business signal.
The vocabulary
The words and norms locals never explain.
- Berkeley Time
- An “11:00” class starts at 11:10. Everything runs ten minutes late except exams. It is why your TuTh back-to-back works.
- GSI
- Graduate Student Instructor, elsewhere called a TA. Your MATH 54 and C8 sections are GSI-run. OH means office hours; going weekly is a strength move, not remedial.
- CalCentral and bCourses
- CalCentral is admin (enrollment, bills, tasks). bCourses is Canvas (syllabi, grades). Swap is the atomic drop-plus-add. Always Swap.
- Ed and Piazza
- Where big STEM courses actually answer questions. Check there before emailing anyone.
- Wheeler
- MATH 54 at 8 (rm 150) then R1A at 9 (rm 122) — back-to-back in one building. C8's lecture is online; only its labs and exams happen in person.
- Big Game
- Cal versus Stanford, and in 2026 it is home (Nov 21). Home opener is Sep 5 against UCLA; football needs the paid Student Combo Pass.
- Moffitt, Doe, Main Stacks
- Moffitt is the undergrad library, reopening this fall after renovation. Doe is the grand one; Main Stacks is the underground maze behind a Cal 1 Card.
- RSF
- The gym. Free with your Cal 1 Card once you accept the RecWell waiver in CalCentral.
- Sproul and Sather Gate
- Where every club tables, and the gate into the campus core. “Go Bears” is the sign-off; “Stanfurd” is spelled wrong on purpose.