Mitchell
We're best known for our open-mindedness. UC Berkeley students are incredibly unbiased, refusing to make generalizations based on homelessness, ethnicity, background, drug use, disability, or sexual orientation.
Martha Reuben
As the liberal college, the hubub of activism that produces quality students.
Elizabeth
UC Berkeley is known around the world as tree-hugging hippie liberals. Today, we've moved so much away from that. There is a large and vibrant conservative community here; the liberal community is alive and thriving as well. While everyone thinks Berkeley students will ostracize you for saying something out of line with the current liberal political view, everyday I see the opposite. I see my peers chiding each other for not listening and respecting others. I see my classmates seeing past each person's opinions and trying to understand the person behind the opinion.
Betsy
Berkeley is known for having very successful faculty and graduate programs. It is also a wonderful city to live in, because it is so alive and close to many different places.
Laura
Music program, urban planning, engineering and research.
Coral
My favorite campus tradition is the superstition of Athena. Over the doors of our main library (Doe Library) there is a beautiful statue of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. It is said that when you enter the library for studying, Athena grants you all the knowledge you need to complete your schoolwork and finals. But when you exit through those doors, she takes it all away again. Therefore, you have to exit through a small side door to retain the knowledge that she has granted you. It's just a silly superstition, but it's fun, especially around finals!
Kathleen
Berkeley is more than anything known as the number one public university in the nation. Academics are challenging but rewarding, and the faculty lives up to the school's reputation. There is definitely a strong expectation of academic curiousity and research.
Sachi
In the '60s there was alot of campus activism. There is a still a uniquely hippie vibe on campus, in the co-op housing especially, but there is also a huge emphasis on academics. So I would say there are still alot of people who care about the world and want to change it, and there are many others who want to focus on their futures and their own incomes and well-being. The school is known for having alot of pride, a great football team (brand-new stadium!), Nobel-prize-winning professors, and lots of diversity.
Kayla
UC Berkeley is recognized internationally as the best public school in the entire world. Cal students are dedicated to their academic life and students tend to be very competitive. While all departments at Cal top charts, the business program is the one that I am involved with. The US News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley among the top three undergraduate business programs in the nation. In addition to academic life, UC Berkeley is also recognized for its strong alumni program and its close proximity to Silicon Valley for internships.
Betsy
The University of California at Berkeley is well known for many things. It is an internationally respected academic institution, known for stellar programs in political science, engineering, psychology, history, sociology, and English, among other departments. It is also a politically active campus that brings together thousands of international students, activists, and academics from multiple disciplines.
Carling
UC Berkeley is best known for its research and faculty. The better known departments include zoology, biochemistry, rhetoric, anthropology, and most likely more. The rich culture of arts and theater of the city of Berkeley is also very attractive; there are numerous playhouses, cinemas and performance venues in the city alone.
Michelle
Free concerts in Sproul plaza. Crazy protests all the time. Free concerts put on in Sproul by the different choral groups. Dance competitions, drum shows. Free cupcakes on Cal day.
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Mass cooperative living-organized streak through the Doe library during dead week. Too funny.
Jayson
Being very liberal.
elanae
Free speech movement of the 60s (legacy of liberal protests/"hippies"); Nobel-prize winning professors and research; the law school
Taylor
Probably for its frequent protests that somehow always manage to involve nudity. Berkeley has a history of rallying against injustice in its many forms, and to this day there is a very politically active unit of the student body that maintains this spirit of revolucion and youthful commradere. Aside from (or in addition) to that, however, UCB is a highly regarded educational/research institution that entertains an impressive academic staff.
Jessica
Competitiveness and hard to get good grades.
eric
Our school is best known for engineering and our architecture program. We have the only NAAB acredited bachelors program in the State. Our school is designed around hands on learning meaning we have machine shops for the mechanical engineers, architecture studios for architecture students, and so on. This creates an environment similar to the workforce that we will be entering.
Ze
This school is best known for its strong academics and success in its students after graduation. Only the brightest and hardest working students end up in this school. In addition to the academics, the social life in this school is very unique, as it is part of a city, whereas most universities are isolated from the neighboring cities. The quality of social life is definitely debatable. One should visit the campus multiple times to make sure it is the right university for him or her.