L&S: First-Year Pathways – University California, Berkeley

Find Your People, Your Place & Your Passions

L&S First-Year Pathways is designed for first-year undergraduate students in the College of Letters & Science. Students get to choose a cluster of three courses and learn alongside the same small group of peers throughout the first semester. Dive into interesting topics, jumpstart your academic journey, and build meaningful connections with L&S First-Year Pathways!

Strategy

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Design

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Implementation

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Implementation

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Strategy

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Design

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Implementation

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Implementation

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Early Class Enrollment

Pathways provides priority enrollment into three courses for incoming first-year students

Small Class Experience

An exciting small-class experience with a professor renowned in their field

New Friendships

A chance to make friends with other new students through shared personal interests

Welcome to Berkeley!

With L&S First-Year Pathways, you can take a thematically-linked “cluster,” which consists of a central hub course and two “wing” courses linked by a common theme. The “hub” courses are small, seminar-like settings and the “wing” courses are large lecture courses, it’s important to note that you’ll experience all three courses with the same small group of 25 students in a discussion section. All three courses will fulfill separate L&S breadth requirements, so you can move forward with degree progress from your first semester. In the video below, former Pathways students share their experiences and talk about the benefits of the Pathways program in greater detail.

Interested in learning more?

Check out our exciting clusters for Fall 2024 for a small sample of what’s in store for Fall 2025! If you have questions, please email lspathways@berkeley.edu.

Student Testimonials

As a first-semester student, it’s a very good introduction to Berkeley as a whole. It reminds you that keeping an open mind and learning from a multitude of perspectives is very important and part of the reason why you’re here.

Caitlyn L

Fall 23 First-Year Pathways Student

I applied to the Pathways Program so I would have an easier time meeting people and so that I wouldn’t have to stress about signing up for classes. Signing up for classes was made a breeze. It was definitely easier to make connections with classmates because we were in multiple smaller classes together.

First-Year Pathways Student

Fall 2023

I hoped to have a fun first semester with classes I was interested in, as well as smaller class sizes. This was fulfilled! I really love the program and am very appreciative that I got to be a part of it.

First-Year Pathways Student

Fall 2023