Advice for a new Freshmen?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hey Guys... sooooo I'm a new Golden Bear starting this fall (fyeah). I'm also a lurker on this forum for a while, and judging by the threads I have read, I can tell that academic life at Cal is really tough, especially as an EECS major. I hope to balance that by taking a few interesting PEs/DeCals every semester, while hopefully not flunking my grades :D. I also have some non-academic questions I want to ask you guys</p>

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<li><p>In your opinion, where do most people usually hang out in the weekend? Do people generally go to SF? Is there any cinema or some sort of entertainment at Berkeley during the weekend that I should know? :D</p></li>
<li><p>Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to bring my bike with me to school... I also don't want to skateboard either because I heard that the north side of campus is pretty hilly. So, do you find it's feasible to just walk on bare foot and/or use public transportation to get to class and/or around the city?</p></li>
<li><p>What is your overall experience with the dorms? If you have any experience with Foothill specifically, would you mind sharing it with me?</p></li>
<li><p>Where do people usually shop for food and some other trivial stuff? When I visited during Cal Day, I only got the chance to check out the Walgreen right across Telegraph (buy some batteries for my cam) and the Asian Ghetto (boba!) and they were both pretty good with reasonable price. Any other recommendations? :D</p></li>
<li><p>Back to DeCals/PE, if you have taken any of those, what was your experience, in terms of workload and time commitment? Specifically, I want to do some sort of tennis/swimming, and a couple of interesting DeCals. Like, there's even a DeCal in Pokemon here at Berkeley! But seriously, even though the workload in Berkeley classes are high, I shouldn't expect a term paper in Pokemon right? haha</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, what is one thing that you wish you had known prior to starting your freshmen year at Cal?</p></li>
<li><p>Any other advice for a new freshmen? Any other things I should be aware of? :D</p></li>
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<p>Thanks guys, I'd appreciate it if you can share some of your experience here with me.</p>

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<p>Walking (or running) is a perfectly fine way to get around campus. Classes actually start 10 minutes after their nominal start time, so walking between classes should not be a problem, unless you schedule something like Tolman to Wurster.</p>

<p>The Foothill dorms are relatively close to where most math, science (except biology), and engineering courses tend to be.</p>

<p>The College of Engineering has some pages for new students that you may want to read before going to CalSO and choosing courses:</p>

<p>[New</a> Student Information — UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students]New”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students)</p>

<p>For EECS, you can also see the undergraduate notes:</p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Notes | EECS at UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/Notes/]Undergraduate”>Information for Current Undergraduate Students | EECS at UC Berkeley)</p>

<p>Also, see the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1305840-freshman-math-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1305840-freshman-math-faq.html&lt;/a&gt; .</p>

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<p>SAT scores have a very low correlation to what GPA you will get.</p>

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<p>I knew it! (This coming from a self-proclaimed SAT hater)</p>

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<p>I hate the SAT as well, haha. I have a 1910/ 34 and I stilled got a 3.95 cumulative this semester (freshman year, which the SAT is supposed to predict) in computer science.</p>

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<p>Here’s some advice: stay away from shepherd’s pie in the dining commons.</p>

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<p>People usually either: (1) hang out with friends (2) stay at their dorm (3) go to parties. Surprisingly, people don’t go to SF that often.</p>

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<p>Walking is fine. If you get lazy sometimes, you can always use the bus. A bicycle is really inconvenient unless you live off campus. Bicycle tickets… theft issues, etc… </p>

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<p>The experience is what you make of it + how your floor interacts. If your floor is active, you’ll be very active as well. I lived in the units, but Foothill tends to be quieter than the units. Try no to travel at night b/c the Foothill area is extremely quiet/unsafe at night. Use bearwalk!</p>

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You can buy your food at SafeWay / Trade Joes. Wal-green is a decent place, but they are usually overpriced! South side has Asian Ghetto, North side (Foothill area) has Asian Gourmet. There are La Val’s Pizza, CheeseBoard Pizza, etc… Decent places! </p>

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Lets see… don’t overpack! Going back home was such a hassle and most people overpacked…</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone for replying</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus: Ill keep in mind those links, thanks</p>

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I’ll keep this in mind too, as a SAT-hater haha. Ty</p>

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<p>Hey thanks Pixel2012, didn’t see your reply when I posted mine :D<br>
Can you tell me a little bit more about bearwalk? What is that and how does it function?</p>

<p>Another question for everyone, is the bus route hard to learn? Is it vital to my freshmen year? (when I want to go around and/or shopping for stuff)</p>

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<p>Campus buses: [Shuttle</a> Routes & Schedules | UC Berkeley - Parking & Transportation](<a href=“http://pt.berkeley.edu/around/transit/routes]Shuttle”>Getting to and Around Campus! | Parking and Transportation)</p>

<p>AC Transit: [AC</a> Transit | Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District](<a href=“http://www.actransit.org%5DAC”>http://www.actransit.org)</p>