Spring 2025 FAQs

Last updated: January 19, 2025

Spring 2025 listing on classes.berkeley.edu

Enrollment

Q1: Will the course expand?

We don’t know. In the past three semesters (Fall 2024, Spring 2024, and Fall 2023), we were able to expand the class to enroll all interested students, but we cannot promise that the same will happen in Spring 2025.

We will not have any information about potential course expansion until the first full week of the spring semester (January 27, 2025), at the earliest.

Q2: What are my chances of getting off the waitlist?

We don’t know. (And we still won’t know even if we know your waitlist position, so please don’t email us to ask.)

You could check Berkeleytime for enrollment trends from past semesters, but there are no guarantees as to how past trends will extrapolate to Spring 2025.

Besides past trends, we have no way to estimate your odds of getting off the waitlist. If you’re on the waitlist, we strongly recommend having a backup plan in case you are unable to enroll.

Q3: I’m not a declared L&S Computer Science or College of Engineering major. Can I enroll in the class?

Sorry, course staff is not in charge of enrollment. We have to follow the department’s enrollment policies, which restricts CS 188 enrollment to Computer Science and Data Science majors only.

If you are not part of this group, you cannot enroll or waitlist in the class. We don’t have enrollment codes to hand out or any other way to circumvent this policy.

If you have further questions, please reach out to the emails listed in the linked document.

Q4: I plan to declare CS this spring. Can I enroll in the class after I declare?

If your declaration is processed in time, and the enrollment system lets you enroll in the class, we can let you enroll. However, it is your responsibility to keep up with the class before you enroll. We can give you access to all the assignments while you wait to enroll (see Q5 below).

Q5: I plan to declare and enroll later. Can I keep up with assignments before I officially enroll?

Yes, we can add you to the course Gradescope and Ed forum. There will be a form (will be linked on this page, closer to the start of the semester) that you can fill out to request access.

Q6: I’m a concurrent enrollment student. When can I enroll in the class?

The department processes concurrent enrollment applications, not us. Concurrent enrollment applications are scheduled to be processed in the first full week of the spring semester (January 27, 2025), at the earliest. Please check this page later for updates; we have no additional information at this time, so please do not email us about concurrent enrollment until this page is updated.

If you have a pending concurrent enrollment application, please do not email us asking to be added to bCourses (or Gradescope or Ed). We will automatically add all students with pending applications to the course. It can take 3-4 days for us to add you after you submit an application, so please be patient. If your application is approved late, you can request extensions using the form on the website, so that the first few assignments are not counted late.

Q7: Can I audit the class?

All course materials that we can share with auditors will be posted publicly on the course website. Also, on the policies page, there is a link to a public Gradescope class that you can join.

Q8: I officially enrolled in the class, or filled out the form requesting to be enrolled, but I don’t have access to Gradescope/Ed.

We sync the rosters once a day, so you may need to wait a bit before being automatically added to the class. If you’ve been officially enrolled for 48 hours and haven’t been added, send an email to cs188@berkeley.edu. Please don’t ask us about being added until 48 hours have passed; we don’t have time to manually add each student.

Exams

Q9: When are the exams?

We are still working on finalizing our midterm date. We have tentatively scheduled the midterm for the week of March 19, 2025, but this is subject to change. This page will be updated as soon as the date is confirmed.

Update (Jan 2025): The midterm is confirmed to be Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 7–9pm PT.

The final exam is on Thursday, May 15, 2025, 3–6pm PT. (Source: Registrar website.)

Q10: Can I take this class remotely? Do you offer remote exams?

Spring 2025 staff have not discussed whether they are allowing remote accommodations yet. The class is officially listed by the university as in-person, so if you enroll in the class, you should be prepared to take the class in-person, including exams.

If the policies on remote attendance change, we will update this page, so please check this page for updates, and don’t ask us for updates.

Q11: Do you offer alternate time exams?

If you are unable to take the exam at the scheduled time, we will be offering only one alternate exam time, in-person only, immediately after the scheduled exam. Specifically, the alternate midterm time is immediately after the scheduled time. The alternate final exam time is Thursday, May 15, 2024, 6–9pm PT (we’ll give you a few minutes to walk between exams). There are no other alternate exam times. There are no remote exams at alternate times.

We are only offering the alternate exam time if you are unable to take the exam at the normal time. For example, if you have another exam at the same time, you can take the alternate-time exam. However, wanting a break between non-conflicting exams would not be a valid reason to take the alternate-time exam, because in this case you are able to take the exam at the normal time.

We’ll release a form closer to the exams for you to sign up for an alternate-time exam.

Prerequisites

Q12: Do you formally enforce prerequisites?

No. The enrollment system should not block you from enrolling or waitlisting if you haven’t taken the prerequisites (CS61A, CS61B, CS70). We will not drop students who haven’t taken the prerequisites.

Q13: Should I take this class without the prerequisites?

We have a diagnostic quiz that you can take to check your preparedness for this class.

You can use this join link to access the Gradescope class with the quiz: 4VK322

Joining Late

Q14: I need to miss the first few days of class. Is that okay?

We don’t take attendance, so it’s okay if you aren’t in-person for the first few weeks of class. You do not need to contact us about missing class. However, it is still your responsibility to keep up with the assignments.

Q15: Can I enroll in the class late?

If you plan on enrolling late, it is your responsibility to keep up with the class before you enroll.

If you enroll late, we will give you a grace period of 3 days after the day you enroll. After the 3 days are over, you should be fully caught up with the class (all assignments due up to that point should be submitted).

You can request extensions using the form on the website so that assignments submitted during this grace period are not counted late.

If you need more than 3 days to catch up, you can request extensions through the form, but we cannot guarantee that they will be approved. Please don’t email us asking about extensions - use the form on the website.