How I Stay Organized at Berkeley as a STEM Student
Before I came to university, I always considered myself a fairly organized person. In high school, that meant having a different binder for each class and a to-do list in the notes app on my phone. But flash-forward to my first time reading a course syllabus at Berkeley, and I realized that I needed to change my approach.
Firstly, I think it’s incredibly important to put all of your classes into a calendar. Most students use Google Calendar for this. In university, unlike in high school, your classes may take place anytime from 8am to 9pm. But most of your day likely won’t actually be taken up with classes, and you may even have days with no class at all. It’s important to use a calendar so you can plan work shifts, meetings, etc. around your varying class times.
Something else that I do each semester is create a spreadsheet with all the information from my syllabuses. Course syllabuses are pages and pages long, so I find it much more helpful to refer to my spreadsheet for crucial information. I add exam dates, grading schemes, office hours, and instructor contact info so that I can easily find what I’m looking for.
n addition, I carefully plan my class schedule so that I’m not overwhelmed by my course load. As a first or second year, it can be tempting to enroll in all of your difficult courses at once to get them done as quickly as possible, but I’ve found that spacing them out is what works best for me. I try to limit the prerequisite classes which can be time-consuming (such as math or physics) so that I’m not taking more than one or two in the same semester. Then I’ll add in a breadth course to fulfill one of my remaining general requirements and a major course too (one that is directly related to what I’m studying). If I still need more units then I’ll enroll in a one or two unit course like a seminar, research, or one of our student-led “DeCals”. As a third or fourth year here at Berkeley, you’ll likely have finished most of the breadth courses that you need to take and your lower-division prerequisites as well. In this case, you may take all major courses in a semester, and some other classes just for fun too. I’d recommend taking a look at the course descriptions online to figure out how demanding the classes are so you may determine if you want to take certain ones at the same time.
I also have yet another spreadsheet, this one dedicated to my four year plan to complete all aspects of my degree. All of my major and general requirements are listed, and I update it at least once per semester with the classes I’m taking so that I stay on track for graduation. This is super helpful for me when course registration takes place, but it’s also really valuable when I meet with my advisors, as I know exactly what I have left to complete. And on that note—meet with your advisors! You’ll have many different advisors during your time here at Berkeley, and they’re all here to help you succeed. You’ll have a major advisor, faculty advisor, and college advisor, just to name a few. It’s important to check in with them regularly, and they can offer advice on when you should take certain classes, classes to avoid taking together, etc.
In terms of organizing schoolwork, I think it’s important to do whatever will work best for you. It’s better to use a system that makes sense to you specifically rather than trying to follow what other people do. For me personally, I take notes on a tablet for most of my classes. For something math-heavy though, I always use pencil and paper as a personal preference. As most of my courses don’t have many paper handouts, I don’t carry around any binders. When I do need to do something on paper, I have a folder for all of my printed assignments. You’ll likely find that at university, there’s hardly one right way to do anything, and it takes time to figure out what works best for you, but it’s well worth it!