University of California-Berkeley Top Questions

School does not care much about how well students do.

The most frustrating thing about Berkeley is also the most rewarding aspect. It is very "sink or swim," with hardly any guidance for incoming freshmen in regards to majors, classes, social life, health care, and the community. This can (and often does) lead to an adjustment period the first year and can cause some academic difficulties and depression. There should be a stronger support network with upper classmen, advisors, or professors being more involved. However, if you do learn to make it here on your own, there is a strong sense of accomplishment and pride.

Because UC Berkeley is a competitive school, classes become both challenging and intimidating. As a student, it makes it difficult at times to keep your mind in the right place and focus on only you and your schoolwork. For me, the most frustrating thing is feeling as if I am no good and I do not deserve to be in a great school like this. The name of the school itself seems to have high expectations and living up to those expectations makes it difficult because of the type of students that you work with.

The on campus internet access can be iffy. Also it is a LOT of work. There is so much information crammed into each class that a lot of studying is mandatory. Also on Saturdays when there's homegames, Berkeley is flooded and there is no parking.

The coursework is more challenging than that of comparable universities, but this truth is not recognized.

The competitive nature, of the school makes it really stressful

Feeling as if I made the right choice in my major.

Getting into the classes you want. The class sizes are big, but they fill up very fast so plan out what you want and also backups that you want to take. Don't always think you'll get the professor you want.

Funding for certain departments. Classes and majors are often impacted and cannot take the course/major of your choice. The buildings are dirty.

the competition and academic rigor. Also, being such a big school, you individually have to go and seek out help if you need it instead of having faculty checking in with you to see how you're doing.

You really have to take iniative to learn. If you want a B, you can just show up to class and turn in the homework. If you want an A, you have to go to office hours, ask questions, start assignments early, find a study group, and take time ot talk to the professor. Also, liberal arts classes are much easier than science classes.

That no matter how hard you study it feels like the midterms and finals test you on material you never learned or tricks that you would never think of while experiencing the pressure of taking a test.

Everybody is super competetive with thier grades.

Adjusting to the level of work expected. You are expected to work harder than you've ever worked before and it can be a shock at first.

Because it's so big, you often have to figure things out for yourself and be very VERY aggressive at time

Being an out of state student

People can be too uppity.

When attending such a large and competitive university, it is easy to get lost in your thoughts, dreams, motives, etc,. This in turn often results in great confusion. Sometimes this confusion is beneficial, as one is able to truly discover their passions. At other times it is the complete opposite outcome; one can easily become engulfed in competition that he/she loses sight of what it is they love. It becomes more a competition of how much better you can look than your peers, versus a coming together of great minds to solve the worlds problems.

Parking!

Very bureaucratic, hard to get into classes, Business school changed their policy (i.e., if I knew ahead of time the business program had a mandatory summer program that didn't allow students to have internships I would have considered another major or another school)