University of California-Berkeley Top Questions

People are constantly telling me that I go to "that liberal school with all the hippies," and I can't stand this ignorant comment. Occasionally, I also hear that my school is "full of Asians, just like every other UC" or that "all the students at Berkeley are really smart."

Liberal, protest a lot...

lots of conservative asians and everyone else is a hippie liberal

I think a lot of people assume Berkeley is filled with A) Revolutionary Communist Hippies, and B) Genius Nerds.

Some stereotypes about UC Berkeley students are that they are all obsessed with school to the point of sabotaging their social lives, that they are all ugly, and that they are all liberal.

there are three main stereotypes about berkeley: 1. its uber-leftist 2. its uber-competitive 3. its uber-Asian.

A lot of people think that everyone at Cal is a hippie and a revolutionary, which is definitely not true.

The prevalent stereotype is that everyone is Asian and intensely studious.

It's crazy liberal and hippie. Lots of people do drugs. There are also a lot of ultra-nerdy Asian science majors.

I come from a more conservative area, and a lot of people I know think Berkeley students are a bunch of pot-smoking, uber-liberals. Several people from my hometown warned me "not to get to crazy" when they found out I was going to Cal. As for me, I was afriad that the classes would be really difficult and all the students would be really smart. I was a little intimidated by the fact that UC Berkeley is basically the top-ranked public university in the nation.

-Berkeley attracts liberally minded or radical thinking students. -Students are very competitive and hard working. -People who get accepted here are smart. -There is a large Asian population. -There aren't very many attractive students.

Most people recognize Berkeley for its stellar academics and its reputation as the starting ground for student movements. At the same time, Berkeley students are often believed to be very eccentric, albeit brilliant, misfits. Recently however, Berkeley has been known for its predominantly Asian student population, and the academic competition which has increased with this flux in ethnic representation.

Some students are ingnorant to issues that affect them everyday. Students don't know how to use their student power to effect change.

We're definitely considered to be big dorks. Obviously the Engineers in particular, but the campus as a whole is theoretically packed with nerds.

That they are liberal and well read. Or that they are Asian and incredibly studious.

The thing about stereotypes is that I only really hear about them from other Berkeley students. Like it is supposedly populated by smart but relatively unattractive people. That is about it... there are Stanford comparisons, I hear.

There are, of course, the historical stereotypes that portray Berkeley as a politically charged campus: protesting, hippiedom, togetherness, liberalism, nature, drugs, the whole shebang. In addition, there are two other stereotypes that I find important. 2a.) Everyone who goes to Berkeley is Asian. 2b.) Everyone at Berkeley is smart.

The campus is filled with really smart and God-less hippies.

We are supposedly hippies. We are vegan environmentalist nuts who hate the establishment.

liberal. infested with homeless (hobo's). drug town. intellectual. ugly people. impossible to keep the faith.