University of California-Berkeley Top Questions

The worst thing about the school is the competitive nature of the grading. What happens is that there are students who all their lives have been the best and all of the sudden get bad grades and this destroys them as a person. This makes them lose hope and lots of their previous dreams like becoming a doctor for instance. However, if you suceed its great.

I had a difficult time with sports. I have a very high GPA and struggled with what I perceived to be falling behind normal students in that I was not able to take extra courses or engage in activities having to do with my major. This was especially difficult with an unsupportive head coach.

Berkeley is supposed to be such a great school, yet much of the student population is disappointingly unmotivated/not so great. Also, lower division premed classes can be really tough; sometimes test material is extra hard, beyond the scope of the class, just to weed some people out.

Too many students are depressed and will party to run away.

It is pretty easy to feel alone at such a large school.

The worst thing about UC Berkeley is that there is little guidance for students. Incoming students are largely left to choose courses themselves, and it can get confusing. While there are counseling services available for new students, there is more help for students who have already declared their majors of study. However, while that is helpful, it would be more constructive to have counselors more available to new students who are unsure of what they would like to study.

UC Berkeley is a bohemian sanctuary that lets you come out of your shell and explore a multitude of different academic studies and meet a variety of other students from varying backgrounds.

The tuition and the difficulty of finding nice, affordable off-campus housing. How sometimes you might not get the classes you want to sign for.

The only downfall to Berkeley is the size. As an undergraduate, it can become overwhelming how many other students are present in the lecture hall. But because UC Berkeley students are determined to achieve a valuable education, they should have enough spirit and dedication to personally see professors at office hours. Lectures can become daunting for the new student, but this is also part of the beauty of Berkeley because you are surrounded by so many other brillant and interesting students. The administration can also pose a problem and create stress.

It can be really hard to get the classes you want. Study areas, such as the library, may get crowded and it can be really hard to find seats during exam weeks. What also bothers me is that a lot of students don't really care about learning the material--they only care about getting good grades.

It's in a dangerous city.

I definitely think access to professors is a major problem. Although professors are required to hold office hours, their general distain for undergraduates is apparent. They are here for the research and the prestige, rather than student interaction.

the school is underfunded and classes are therefore overcrowded and hard to get in to

There really is nothing bad about UC Berkeley. If I really had to chose something, and this is nitpicking, I would say that the administration is too bureaucratic.

Overly competetive people who do nothing but study.

the city itself. not very safe.

-little too big, a little impersonal sometimes when in a big class, semester system (quater would have provided more opportunities for different clases), somewhat dangerous if live on the south side of campus.

The worst thing about Berkeley is the career center, the only majors it really focuses on are biology (pre-med), business, and engineering. There is hardly any guidance for liberal arts majors, no active alumni network for job placement, and all job fairs focus almost entirely on the science and business fields. The campus is huge, and while most feel some connection, at least to the football team, it can be very fragmented and the support systems for both entering and exiting students are lacking.

There aren't enough African American and Hispanic Students on campus (although they do definitely have a presence). Although they pay students well, the full-time workers on campus don't get paid enough.

Class availability can sometimes be a nightmare here, if you do not sign up for the most in-demand classes at the first chance you get, you will be placed on a waiting list and have little to no chance of getting in (sometimes signing up at the first chance you get isn't even enough). I think recent state budget cuts have something to do with it, but either way, I have difficulty every semester signing up for the classes I need.