University of California-Berkeley Top Questions

UC Berkeley is a world class university, and the numbers show it: "In the latest National Research Council (NRC) study, Berkeley had the highest number of top-ranked doctoral programs in the nation, based on a regression analysis involving 20 criteria from more than 5,000 programs at 212 institutions" (http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/). But what does this mean for undergraduates? Well, the PhD students and professors involved in these top-ranked programs are the same ones involved in the undergraduate education you will receive at UC Berkeley! While the California budget crunch is making the "affordable" leg of California's Master Plan for Education (Accessibility, Affordability, and Accountability) less and less one to stand on, the quality of education at UC Berkeley still rivals that offered by private institutions who continue to charge fees above and beyond even the most drastic of fee hikes planned by the UC Regents. The effects of these budget restrictions can be felt in ways besides the frequent student demonstrations on campus: class sizes continue to grow larger, the list of impacted classes (http://registrar.berkeley.edu/?PageID=courseregs.html#impacted) grows larger, and, unfortunately, the amount of available, dedicated professors shrinks, as the university loses them to higher-paying institutions. In spite of its problems, UC Berkeley is fantastic. The campus is beautiful, the students are friendly, and from frat row to the southeast of campus, to the artistic, co-op community to the north, there truly is something for everyone,

best thing about berkeley? the people are great and you learn a lot. but this school is not for the faint of heart. even if you were valedictorian in high school, this place will definitely serve you up something new. dont go in to berkeley thinking you will be on top. study hard from the first day. the curves here are vicious. with classes larger than most universities, lecture classes being around 500 students, trying to meet people in class is daunting! and trying to get to know the professor? even harder.

The tuition may be low, but you will pay a high price for a substandard education in other ways. Students at UC Berkeley deal with faculty apathy, frustration in getting into required courses, and aggravation with the administration. In the 1960’s, Berkeley deserved its excellent reputation, but since then, California voters have elected not to support public higher education. Instead they prefer to provide welfare to corporations (Proposition 13). Ever since Ronald Reagan served as Governor of California, state funding for public higher education has steadily eroded. As a result, UC Berkeley has turned itself into a research center for hire. Contracts that finance research help cover some costs of running the university (libraries, maintenance, etc). Teaching is largely neglected because it does not bring in money like research. To make matters worse, budget cuts in Fall 2009 forced the main library to close one day per week. Course offerings have been reduced; class sizes are larger; and faculty and staff have been forced to take unpaid furlough. Unfortunately, UC Berkeley cannot afford to have good teaching. When it comes to education, you get what you pay for. If you can afford to go to a private school, then you will probably get a much better education there.

I just want to say that UC Berkeley is overrated, especially as a premed school. First off, the advising department is not that great. The science classes are basically cutthroat and you have to be a genius to be a premed at Berkeley. In other words, don't go to Berkeley for premed. There are better options like UCLA, UCSD which have medical schools and will advise you much better if you're a premed.

After class one day, my friend and I made crowns out of ivy while waiting for another friend. Once we all separated, I walked across campus wearing my crown. Not only did no one give me a second glance, but I got asked for directions, even though I was talking on my phone. Upon arriving home, I discovered we were having a country-western themed dinner at my co-op where my glory was recorded for posterity. (When I called my friend who lives on the other side of campus, she said that no one gave her a second glance either.)

There are so many incredible opportunities at a school with the size and prestige of Berkeley, but you need to know what you want out of college, and you'll have to take the initiative to find them, or else you may find yourself a bit lost.

Really loved the people I met as a student in the Graduate School of Education. Tolman Hall, the building housing Education and Psychology, is known as the ugliest building on campus, and rightly so. However, parts of the campus are lovely and great for walking. The weather is relatively mild--never needed a real winter coat--just added another layer. There are frequent goings-on around campus--from drum-beating to protest rallies. The campus area is fairly safe, though a bit dicey late at night. And one more thing--don't wear red before or during the Stanford-Berkeley big game--you'll catch major flak! And if you're truly adventurous, sign up to live in the co-ops. The bigger ones are mostly freshman and all-night parties (with the usual campus music and "refreshments") are a rite of passage. Most seem to survive it. I lived in Casa Zimbabwe for one semester before moving to a quieter, cleaner house. You'll definitely meet interesting people and make friends, bonding over workshifts like "naked cooking." And in some co-ops, like mine, the bathrooms are completely co-ed. A little disconcerting at first, but you get used to it. I think living in the co-ops really adds to the Berkeley experience! But don't bring a car to campus if you can avoid it--parking is expensive and scarce. Paying for parking will not guarantee you a spot, either! Walking, biking, riding the campus shuttle, or using city buses are the preferred modes of transportation.

One thing I'd change about UC Berkeley is the housing situation. When I attended, university housing was only guaranteed for one year. This meant that students ended up living in a whole host of different housing types while at Berkeley - some entered the Greek system and others lived in co-ops, while the majority moved into apartments located all over the East Bay...So, students often came to campus just for their classes and then went home, wherever home was. This, combined with the lack of places to hang out on campus, created a kinda lackluster, unexciting campus environment. Berkeley needs more casual cafe-type spots on campus where students can meet up and hang out. To be honest, I spent most of my time on campus in the library or in classrooms. Most people do their socializing off-campus, and particularly, wherever they live. Berkeley is a big school, and your experience there is totally dependent on what you make of it - where you choose to live, the classes you decide to take, the clubs/organizations you join or don't join, the mostly-lame parties you do or don't go to.

Huge school with tons of possibilities. Really your time here could either be spent killing yourself with the really tough classes and not having a social life...or being really social, broadening your horizons, and making tons of really good friends. It all depends on what you want to make of your time at the school. The important thing is that you really can do whatever you want with your education here.

to this day my sister calls me a tree-hugger. when anyone hears that i attend Cal they automatically say "wow, you must be really smart". some will even tell me a brief history of the events that went on here. there is a lot of school pride-around football season. it kind of dies down from there. most people are too busy with their studies to get involved with school spirit related activities. we do take pride in the extremely intelligent homeless men who speak wise words to us on the way to class. they are harmless and are never threatening, but they continue to preach their message to the students and visitors. there is one who waits for people to walk by with their ipods or cellphones so he can preach to them about how we are letting technology take over our lives. there is another who is called 'happy happy man' who has a giant sign with many grammatical and spelling errors on it, yet people listen to him, even if they dont take him seriously. we have some of the friendliest homeless around, and some of the most entertaining. the word is that some of them are even past students from Cal.