L&S First-Year Pathways
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
COLLEGE OF LETTERS & SCIENCE
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L&S First-Year Pathways

Frequently Asked Questions

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Submit an interest form

Interested in Pathways? We encourage you to submit an interest form – we will keep you informed about updates and when enrollment opens this summer. Note that enrollment is limited and will be first come, first served. Please send questions to lspathways@berkeley.edu.

General Information

L&S First-Year Pathways is a program for first-year undergraduate students in the College of Letters & Science, and was designed to help new students successfully transition from high school to UC Berkeley. The program offers over 20 different “clusters,” which are groups of 3-4 courses. Students learn in small cohorts of 20-25 students, providing opportunities to form new friendships and connections. Each cluster satisfies different breadth or major prerequisites, so students make the most of their time at Berkeley.

L&S Pathways has several beneficial components:

  • New friends: Pathways provides a cohort experience (20-25 students), so you can make friends with interests similar to your own.
  • Early class enrollment: Pathways students receive priority enrollment, right at the beginning of the primary registration period for incoming first-year students. Also, if you are enrolled in a cluster, you will only need to add 1-2 more units (if any) to make the threshold for full-time student status, which is 13 units. See the question below on “how to enroll” for more information.
  • Compelling topics on some of the most interesting and important issues of our time.
  • Efficient degree progress: Each cluster satisfies different breadth or major prerequisites, so students make the most of their time at Berkeley. Read the full course descriptions to see which breadth and major requirements the class may fulfill.

To be eligible for L&S Pathways, you must:

  • be a newly admitted first-year student in the College of Letters & Science (Pathways will not enroll transfer students, as the high-unit load of the course clusters will prevent you from making progress in your major).


Pathways is a good choice if you are:

  • uncertain about what to take in your first semester.
  • unsure as to your intended major but have some ideas about topics of interest to you.
  • feeling a bit intimidated by how large the student population at Berkeley is and/or are feeling overwhelmed by the number of course choices you have.
  • want to get a jumpstart on fulfilling breadth requirements and/or major prerequisites.
  • looking for a cohort experience with fellow students.
  • looking for a small seminar experience. 


Other considerations when choosing L&S Pathways:

  • If you are planning a pre-med/pre-health major, you may consider the yearlong “Pre-Med” cluster, Futures in Healthcare: Race, Immigration, and Public Health.
  • If you are planning a STEM major with significant or specific first-year requirements, Pathways is likely NOT a good fit for your academic needs – the high unit load of the clusters will prevent you from being able to take the courses you need for your major.
  Smaller Class Sizes Designed For First-Years Small Cohort-Based On Berkeley’s Campus Academic Themes Fall Semester Only
L&S First-Year Pathways X X X X X X
Fall Program for First Semester (FPF) X X     X X
Freshman and Sophomore Seminars X X   X    
Big Ideas Courses       X X  
Berkeley Connect X     X X  

Yes. There is no conflict between Pathways and Summer Bridge. If you are a Summer Bridge student, you should be able to enroll and participate in the Pathways program with no problem.

No. FPF students take a majority of their Fall coursework through the FPF course offerings, and thus would not have the space in their schedule to participate in L&S First-Year Pathways. For more information on the FPF program, please contact fpf@berkeley.edu.

L&S Pathways cohorts are roughly between 17-25 students. While certain courses in your cluster may be larger lectures, your discussion sections will be comprised of the same small cohort.

It depends. Most L&S Pathway clusters carry an 11 or 12 unit course load, in which case you will need to add another small unit course of 1-2 units to make the minimum course load (13 units) for full-time student status. However, some clusters already carry 13 units, the minimum course load. We encourage you to ask your L&S adviser for suggestions during Golden Bear Advising. To help manage your course load for a more successful experience, we strongly suggest that you do NOT enroll in more 3-4 unit courses in this semester.

There is no extra cost for participating in Pathways. The cost of any trips and outings will be covered by the program.

There are a few courses that are only available as part of the L&S Pathways program. However, you may be able to enroll independently in some of the other courses (this would be part of the regular class enrollment process in July, and would not constitute as part of the L&S Pathways program or related cohort offering).

No – you must take the whole cluster, all the way through the semester. Barring exceptional circumstances, if you drop one course, you will be dropped from the entire cluster. Otherwise, to drop the cluster, you will need to do so prior to the early drop deadline, which is Friday of the second week of classes – you will need to find an entire other roster of courses when you do, so we don’t recommend this course of action. 

If you are enrolled in a Pathways cluster and wish to drop out prior to the start of classes, please email us immediately at lspathways@berkeley.edu so we can drop you from the program and allow you to enroll for other classes.  If you are unsure as to whether Pathways is right for you, please contact us at the same email address, or simply register for regular classes.

L&S Pathways clusters usually carry a unit-load that is very close to the minimum threshold you need for full-time student status (i.e. 13 units). While you will need a small (1-2 unit) course to make that threshold, we strongly recommend against taking another full-load (3 or more unit) course on top of your cluster. Berkeley classes are challenging – they are not high school courses – and we recommend that the Pathways cluster be the courses you focus on. Unfortunately, the class times for the cluster are unalterable – if you have other competing obligations during class times, you will need to find classes outside the Pathways program.

No – due to the high unit-load of the clusters, you cannot fit more than one within the unit cap.

Spring 2026 is currently under development. The pre-Med cluster, Public Health, Immigration, Race, was a yearlong cluster in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.

AP coursework and associated exam scores cannot be used to satisfy the seven breadth requirements for L&S. You can find more about what high school exam scores can be used for L&S degree requirements here: High School Exam Scores

Enrollment Information

You must have finished reading the FAQs on this page to register. Once you have done so, during the sign-up period (Date TBD), you can click the “Sign Up” link at the top of the homepage, and follow the instructions on the sign-up form. You should indicate whether there’s a specific cluster that you want to be in, or whether you’d be happy in any of them. Please note that enrollment is first-come, first-served!

We will let you know whether you’ve been accepted into a cluster. We will enroll you in the cluster as soon as priority enrollment for first-year students begins. Once you have been enrolled, you will only be able to register for one small-unit course during the primary registration process.

You must have a CalNetID and Berkeley.edu email address to sign-up – to obtain these, make sure you have signed your Statement of Intent to Register form, and review the instructions here: How to Claim your CalNet ID.

We will do our best to place you in your first choice of cluster. If it is full, you will be placed on a waitlist for your first choice of cluster and will be notified as such.

We will email you to let you know whether you are enrolled or waitlisted in your cluster.  At that point, you will have the choice to try to sign up for a different cluster (if there is space available). If you are waitlisted for a cluster, we strongly recommend that you try to sign up for a different cluster, or go ahead and enroll in other classes during your priority enrollment appointment. If space in your desired cluster emerges at any time prior to the first week of classes, we will email you to see whether you would still like to be enrolled. 

L&S Pathways is only available for first-year L&S students at this time. You will not be able to sign up if you have already taken courses at Berkeley as a fully-matriculated student. If you are a transfer student, the high unit-load of the clusters will prevent you from making degree progress in your major, so we do not make it available to those students.

If you have questions, please email lspathways@berkeley.edu.

Please email lspathways@berkeley.edu with the subject heading “Cluster Sign-Up.” Please say in your email which country you are from, your name, your Berkeley email and student ID number, and the cluster for which you’d like to sign up.