University of California-Berkeley Top Questions

Though rumors fly that all of UC Berkeley's classes are scary, bell-curved classes, that is not true. Not every class is graded on a curve and the bell curves do not hurt your grades. There has never been a class where everyone got 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} or above, so the professor had to curve the class, and half the class would get a B. The curves always help your grade. Please do not let that rumor deter you from enrolling at UC Berkeley.

Before I accepted my admission to UC Berkeley, I wish I had known more about the campus and its lifestyle. I adore the way that students share out their passions for life and leap towards achieving new heights. However, I wish I had visited the campus first and really considered all my options before heading away from home. I am truly happy with my final decision but it would have been highly disappointing if I had not found UC Berkeley to be my new home.

The competition is much more intense than I expected. Your peers are often individuals who know exactly what they want to do with their lives, and that environment can be incredibly intimidating.

How much going into dent would hamper my future.

While I have come to love the Berkeley environment, I wish I had known that the school was so competitive. All my life I had been at the top of my class and now I'm meshed in with myriads of people who are just like me. This often times makes class difficult for I feel like I'm constantly competing with my peers, however, it also drives me to accomplish things I would never have accomplished in my comfort zone.

I wish I had known that it was going to be a vary high contrast that what I had pictured it to be.

How to get better involved in more research, which professors are accessible and which are not; also how to apply for or gain access to more scholarships.

I wish I had known to seek to understand prior to seeking to be understood. In a tremendously competitive environment, the ability to listen to the wisdom and insight of others - both superiors and peers - is often swept under the rug in the effort to "outshine" others. We shine brightest, as academics and human beings, when we are conscious of each other's strengths and celebratory of our respective contributions to the global good. Berkeley is a diverse and challenging learning environment, and it deserves students with thoughtful, self-reflective, and humble attitudes.

The disparity between in-state admits and out-state admits - because the admission standard varies greatly for in-state and out-state students, there are great disparity in academic achievement.

I wish I had known how large the classes were, and how science and research based the school was.