University of California-Berkeley Top Questions

Great school- it has every opportunity you can imagine but unless you actively pursue them you will not recieve shit. Student body strikes me as largely sheeplike and boring, seems like the state has doen a good job pacifying the campus with the exception of the coop system which more or less singlehandedly manages to keep student protests going and the fire department scared out of their wits: a friend of mine revealed they refer to CZ as the "animal house" (this may have been after someone repeatedly shot 20 foot flames off the roof with a bathtub and gasoline). Biggest controversy is the tree people who I think have the right general direction but are in truth making a big deal out of a small issue and giving the whole of the environmental movement the image of shortsighted, selfish attention hounds while simultaneously alienating the campus. There is some school pride but it is mostly from Rallycom who from as far as I can tell are the Dumbest People On Earth. They have the idea that shouting a lot in groups and wearing all the same clothes makes them cool- well, I guess everyone likes to participate in the mob mentality sometimes. Experience I'll always remember. Huh. Well. I set myself on fire with a molotov cocktail once in the Foothills parking lot. It melted most of the flesh off my lower right leg and even after I waited three days to go to the Tang center and the flesh was rotting they were totally cool with it. Also, in Norton some girl fell down the garbage shoot which was funny if tragic as people from the eight floor didnt know and dumped yogurt all over her before we could haul her out with a rope. ONce we broke in the powerplant from teh steam tunnels and me and my one friend were let go, but our third friend is an engineering hippie and they help him because they thought he was homeless (needs to shave more or something). Oh, and getting arrested at the naked protest was very interesting. I would like to say that on numerous occasions the Berkeley University POlice has treated me with the utmost respect and dignity: this includes being handcuffed for breaking into BAM through the ceiling ventilation ducts, that protest, being trapped on the roof of that one building that starts with an H next to McCone by seven police cars, naked bicycle police chases . . . theyre pretty nice guys. Although this ne time they confiscated my rollie office chair because we had twenty of us doing races down past Pimentel and I refused to leave. Complaints: very hard and huge classes.

UC Berkeley has so many students, it is both a good thing and a bad thing. The key is finding a niche and growing from there! Berkeley, as a city, is definitely a college town.

The best thing about Berkeley is its location in the YAY Area. The YAY is awesome. It's urban environment provides plenty of culture, diversity, people, and delicious food. Also, it's very bike friendly. I would change Berkeley's bureaucratization. It is too expensive to pay for too many private contracts and there isn't enough input or voting powers for the students. I spend most of my time on campus in class, studying, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and working at my job. When I tell people I go to Berkeley, most people react like I just told them my mother died (saddened and shocked). Berkeley is a town of college. The admin here sucks big, fat, hairy, schweaty balls. The biggest controversy is over a BP Oil contract that was signed and the state of democracy on campus (shockingly, or not?). Too much school pride, and that is what is unusual about UC Berkeley. I will always remember using the women's bathroom in the ASUC arts center because the men's was always closed. The most frequent complaints are about studying, surprisingly. Supposedly you should study when you are in college.

One of the most important part of Berkeley is school pride, seen most vividly during football season. The students here are proud of their accomplishments and of other Berkeley students' accomplishments and give their best to the activities in which they're involved. Most of the world does not understand UC Berkeley because of the many misconceptions that have been propagated through the years. Berkeley is not a hippie school; while many students hold liberal values, a sizable population also holds conservative values. With the wide range of activities and events on campus, there is a niche for every student. That said, Berkeley is a large, public university. The first year here can - and often is - overwhelming, not only because of the social and academic adjustments but also because of the lack of support from the school. While the resources are available, you must reach out first - no one will take care of you. You must take care of yourself. In this sense, Berkeley prepares students well for the real world. At Berkeley, you have to do everything for yourself. No one will take you by the hand and guide you through college life. You have to make Berkeley your own. If you're unsatisfied with your learning experience, your grades, the social scene, or even dorm food, you have to take the initiative and make the change. This is why Berkeley students are student activists; we know that success and change won't be handed to us on a silver platter.

To explain my perspective on Berkeley, I think I should simply say this: I knew exactly what I wanted from college when I came to UC Berkeley, and I got it. My college counselor in high school suggested that I attend Swarthmore, and I could only shake my head. I knew why she suggested it; although I've never feared public speaking and always enjoyed expressing myself to others, my natural state is to keep my head down and study passionately-- not the sort of passion that gets one out of the house. Given my particular circumstances and my experiences in high school, I had identified what I wanted to improve upon in myself: not to become more "outgoing", for I appreciated the aspects of my character that made me less so, but to make myself more willing to engage in what came to me, more excited about opportunities that would draw me out of what came easily to me. I wanted to be bombarded by new situations, strange people, and I wanted to have the strength to accept that with grace and roll with whatever came. I wanted those situations to come to me, I suppose, because I knew that otherwise I would be too easily satisfied, that I would not take the initiative because I was already in some sense happy. But I wanted a new kind of challenge beyond being "happy", to instead be striving perpetually for a more meaningful existence; I wanted to be able to take the person I had become and apply that in all kinds of environments, and see what would happen. So I came to Berkeley. I'm not from California originally, although I have family in SoCal, so when I visited the Bay Area I was somewhat at a loss. Yet following my intuitions, I didn't take a structured tour of the campus and instead wandered around, noting the permeability of its boundaries, the wild variety of the people that populated the town and the campus. I stared in baffled awe at those sporting the regalia of the hyphy movement, grinned obligingly at the aging hippies and street preachers at every corner. There was a lot of new packed into a relatively small space, and like molecules bouncing all the quicker for the increase in pressure, I found myself thrust with unusual frequency into situations I was unprepared for. They were situations I could have avoided -- and many do -- but I chose to perceive them as opportunities, new mirrors in which to see a different reflection of myself, and from the cultivation of that attitude I foresaw that I would grow. I believe I have, in a way that I would not have anywhere else. In some sense I have not immersed myself in any particular social group or style, because that's never how I've been, but I've taken great joy in taking advantage of all sorts of opportunities. I teach DeCals, undergraduate-run classes that offer credit, both to improve my lecture and facilitating abilities for a possible future profession -- one that runs in my family -- and to meet new people as my 'students'. I've enjoyed co-op room-to-rooms, found endless entertainment in compelling every sports player I meet to high-five me by shouting "Go Bears!" -- because how could they let me one-up them in school spirit? -- and savored every trip to The City that we can manage. Getting to San Francisco is very convenient with the BART, but it's incredible how many opportunities Berkeley itself offers; the environment is rich with possibilities. The only problem is that it's easy to miss that. Perhaps it wasn't always so, but it's easy to confine oneself to a particular group and never experience the rest. The Greek system is vibrant but self-contained, and the co-ops are worlds unto themselves. Members of those cultures do not always venture beyond them, to say nothing of those who would rather cloister themselves on the quieter north side of campus to stick to their studies (that would be me my first two years, which I should say I do not regret). You'll see them on campus and gaze upon them, but you will not be compelled to do any more. I recommend you do, however; I highly recommend you do. There is a lot of potential at Berkeley, because it is enormous, a roiling cauldron of possibility, thanks in large part to the high bar set for those who attend. It is not so united as it was before, perhaps, and it is easy to pass through without ever finding oneself in a politically tense situation. The college bubble is always there to embrace you if you seek it-- but right outside the borders of the campus, the borders that are barely there, the town presses in, expanding the scope of what one must consider "normal". That itself will make you a greater person.

I like Berkeley because it has exposed me to a whole new culture. It's intelligence is on a whole 'nother level. Students are passionate about social activism and environmental responsibility. One thing that really bothers me, though, is that the majority of students seemed depressed. Everyone always looks pale and unhappy and way too stressed out. The academic competition is ridiculous. If you miss a lecture for whatever reason, good luck getting notes from a classmate!

real-life application of classes and materials learned in lecture-- i really enjoyed HSI's internship where i got to experience public health service first-hand at a mental health clinic for a semester. without a doubt, i wish everyone cleaned up after him/herself. it would make SUCH a difference. especially in the bathroom stalls of dwinelle.

Berkeley is like the LA Unified School District - it's too large for the administration to administer effectively, so that all students are made aware of what's available to them. As with anything in life, you have to make a concerted effort to find your niche, or find stuff to join and do, but in some ways it would be nice to be babied as on a small liberal arts campus. On the other hand, it is nice to have some heterogeneity - I like that there are some non-hipsters floating around. On the other, other hand, I was in a class my first year that had 800 people. Granted, it was a celebrity professor, but it was like going to a performance - not a lecture. We clapped after every class...I don't think because every lecture was so inspiring, but I guess instinct says it's rude to not clap at whatever's in front of you as part of an 800-member audience.

The best thing about Berkeley, the thing I miss the most, is its ability to attract serious students dedicated to their disciplines. I was always annoyed to hear about the multi-major psychology/poli-sci/micro-bio majors with high hopes of graduate school in each of these focuses, but I always preferred this to the students at other schools where college was an annoying speed bump on the way to "life." People who go to Berkeley really want to go to college, and they want to go to college because they want to become inspired by academics (the people and the subjects). Again, this isn't always the case - see: Jocks - but it is true and certainly a reason to attend if you want to meet this type of student.

Berkeley is an amazing college town. In my opinion it is the perfect place to live when you are college age. There are tons of great cheap restaurants, fun bars, beautiful parks and more. There is much more school pride than I ever thought there would be but after attending Berkeley for 4 years, I really do take pride in my school and am proud to say that I went to UC-Berkeley.

As a recent graduate, I feel I wouldn't be who I am without the experiences I had at Berkeley. I moved to California to attend UCB and that in itself was a huge change for me. The people I met, the things I did, and the classes I took all influenced me in some way or another. I loved it. Berkeley can be academically rigorous if you want it to be. I was so confused for the majority of my college career about what I wanted to study that I ended up taking classes in a huge variety of disciplines - from economics to organic chemistry to religious studies. I still managed to graduate in four years (in a major I don't think was particularly right for me) even though I took so many courses outside of my major. I don't regret the path that my academics took, but I do recommend exploring at least 5 different options for a major before deciding on one... you really never know what you might discover by taking a random class in another discipline. As for location, I really don't think it gets too much better. The bay area is magnificent in all its glory - just walking around on campus and being able to see the ocean... wow. Berkeley was a large enough city that I didn't feel like I was stuck in a bubble that I couldn't escape (after all, the BART or bus to take you into the city is right there). Berkeley has tons of great food and nice neighborhoods and is so much more than just a campus (in reality, the school is just a small part of it). There was always an experience to be had - something I had never seen, done, or eaten before. Being very close to Oakland and San Francisco is a huge advantage for students to explore opportunities outside of what the campus has to offer. Overall, I feel really lucky to have been able to attend UC Berkeley.

Never did I hope to be at or even imagine life for myself at another school. I have learned some of the most important lessons of my life at UC Berkeley- some from world-famous biochemists, some from my aggravating classmates, some from wonderful co-operative living environment, and some from the hyper-cynical attachment-o-phobes that you encounter in the Berkeley dating scene. The above highlights some of the key elements of Berkeley that I will also describe in the specific categories below. Just in case this text box and my following replies get separated, I will enumerate the following: 1) "World-class academics" is not just a cheesy tag line. Your professors, particularly in the biological sciences, are the leaders in their research fields, and most of them also know how to teach. This is extremely awesome. 2) UC Berkley students, particularly in the biological sciences, are cutthroat, driven assholes. My recommendation: study alone. 3) The Berkeley Student Co-ops (BSC) are the most awesome of possible living environments for anyone who values independence but also loves the fun that can come with living in a collective, who is willing to do chores but not have to do ALL the chores yourself, share resources and space and in turn get access to more resources and space than you could ever have on your own, who would like to come back to homemade dinner every night, and who is down to recycle, compost, have murals on the walls, etc. 4) If you're looking to snag a hunny who will put a ring on your finger by senior year, for the most part, unless you're in some Christian group, don't come a-lookin' here. People at Berkley are all about "seeing all there is to see" and are more likely to break up with you senior year because "its weird that theyve only been with one person" or date strictly casually.

The best thing about Berkeley is the way it rewards people who know what they want from it. And the longer you go here, the more accurate your expectations are. You can learn a lot about music, or just about your major. You can develop life long friends, or set a strong career path for yourself, or most likely both. The size of the school is a both a blessing and a curse. It gives you the room you need to live how you want, provided you have some notion of what you want already. People outside of Berkeley tend to react well, and that is a source of real school pride. The school pride concerning the football team, though loud, is mostly a freshman experience, and has little to do with real feelings of pride about the school. It’s the intelligent and passionate people that you see on campus every day who really make the wheels turn. UC Berkeley is integrated humorously with the city of Berkeley, and there is a lot to learn from that. You can live far or close to the source of student energy near campus, and your experience will be shaped by that choice. Sometimes the distraction of student life is overwhelming, and sometimes the isolation of life down University Avenue or in Oakland can leave you hanging. But on telegraph, academia, homelessness and the hyphy movement tend to collide without regard for one another, and to great comic effect. The administration of the school, and the student government make a lot of noise, through sidewalk chalk and through the daily cal, but my experience is that they can be almost fully ignored without effecting your demeanor if you are good at saying “no” to flyerers in the spring, and if you don’t read email bulletins from the chancellor. It seems like students can be intimidated by the impersonal aspects of their Berkeley experience, and often feel like the academic and social aspects of the school are disconnected and don’t support one another. But there is a lot of life and energy at UC Berkeley, and if you put in a little effort you can learn a lot about it.

The best thing about Berkeley is the capacity for change. When most students graduate, they are almost unrecognizable from the person they were as a freshman. Berkeley teaches its students not just facts and formulas, but a wider perspective on life. Most people undergo drastic changes because they find new causes to support, new hobbies to explore, or they meet people who expose them to different backgrounds. Most of the time when I tell people I go to Berkeley, they assume I am a big egghead with no social skills, or they say something teasing like, "Oh, did you stop shaving your legs and become a lesbian?" Pretty closed-minded ideas, in my opinion. I spend most of my time on campus trying to find a way out of Dwinnelle, the most confusing campus on building. Luckily, most people who aren't History majors don't have to spend much time in Dwinnelle. I love to sit on the hills outside Wheeler on those few warm, sunny days. During Finals Week, I live in the library, along with the rest of the student population. There is a great sense of community on the Berkeley campus. I was surprised to find how often I ran into people I know on campus. Everyone seems to find their niche, and if you grow out of your niche, there's always room for change.