Am I a good fit for Cal?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I am a transfer student Psychology B.A major.</p>

<p>I am very close to choosing UC Davis and need to submit my SIR by Saturday, but yesterday the admissions person at Berkeley said my admission was retained since I dropped a class in Spring 2013 that wasn't really necessary and I guess I was honest for sucking at a computer science class and having a hard time with the professor in community college.</p>

<p>Okay so here goes:</p>

<p>-I like to build relationships with my professors. This wasn't very hard for me in community college due to small class sizes, available office hours, my tendency to add my commentary and ask a lot of questions in class, and that I often just stood out to my professors in some way or another.</p>

<p>-Although I like individual attention, it's something as the previous statement implied, something that I seek and not necessarily get "handed".</p>

<p>-I like to feel important and that I am involved in something important or special.</p>

<p>-I've never handled more than 4 classes at once.</p>

<p>-When it comes to classes like Psychology, etc. I tend to absorb the information like a sponge.</p>

<p>-I stress myself out more than I need to.</p>

<p>-I don't like crowded places.</p>

<p>-I prefer my own bedroom.</p>

<p>-I am flexible with what I eat.</p>

<p>-I enjoy schedule flexibility, something I see in the schedules of UCD and Cal but not in UCSD.</p>

<p>-I enjoy a varied education and social science perspectives that are cross-discipline especially Psychology and Anthropology together, and maybe even Psychology-Anthropology and Philosophy, Psychology and ethics, etc.</p>

<p>-There was a time when I was very much into social causes and activism, but those days have been soured with a lot of time spent among people who are so passionate about such things they left their critical thinking skills and logic at the door.</p>

2

<p>Berkeley has chosen you - which means you’re a good fit for Berkeley. Now is the time to ask if Berkeley is the good fit for you, i.e. do you want to commit the next two years of your life here?</p>

<p>I won’t comment on most of your points, but a short few things I want to point out:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>It’s easy to stand out to professors here, contrary to most people. Go to Office Hour. Ask/answer questions on Piazza if your class(es) use it. Go to Office Hour (yes it’s on here twice). Occasionally there will be more than just you at OH, but it’s fine. When it’s overcrowded, the professor will try to find a nearby conference room to fit you all in and answer every question one-by-one. </p></li>
<li><p>You don’t have to take more than 4 classes a semester to graduate on time, for any single major. </p></li>
<li><p>Everyone at Berkeley stress themselves out too. You are at the best public university in the world, you are around some of the smartest people in the world, and for damn sure nobody wants or accepts an average joe life. </p></li>
<li><p>There are rooms to take many electives, and what to take is entirely up to you. I’m a CS transfer with all 5 lower divs missing, but so far I have manage to take IEOR, Econ, Stat, Math, and Anthropology classes while finishing the 5 requirements. Not that my grades are superb, but I’m still glad I have chosen to take a lot of breadth instead of dwelling in Soda 24/7.</p></li>
<li><p>Remember: You are at the best public university in the world, with many top fields on every academic rankings. You don’t have to come here to take only Psych classes, doing all CS classes, or take graduate level math classes as a freshmen. There are Robert Reich of Public Policy 103, David Romer of Econ 134, Alex Filippenko of Astro C10, and a **** ton hundreds of world-class professors offering their courses every year. Our time are both really limited at Cal, so make the best use of it. Take all the great classes here.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Don’t worry, and go to Cal. /end</p>

3

<p>I guess my biggest issue with Cal would be housing. Also since Psychology is an impacted major do I still need to apply to it with a chance of not being let in?</p>

<p>I don’t think I get along well with roomates in the same bedroom. I also take excessively long showers for reasons beyond my understanding.</p>

4

<p>Assuming Psych is impacted the same as Econ, as long as you have a 3.0 or above with all the classes you will be taking here in your first semester, you’re in. If you don’t have above that number, but very close to it, they may factor in your CC GPA. Either way, it’s not hard to get into an impacted major.</p>

<p>Housing: just live off-campus in a studio or something if you don’t want to live with strangers or live in the dorms. There are many options, and you don’t have to do it the hard way if you don’t want to.</p>

5

<p>I have problems living independently despite my age due to a history of anxiety disorders. According to the site single dorms are hard to get and cost a lot more.</p>

<p>Also it’s possible my dad won’t let me go because of safety. He’s really into safety so much he bought a new car for my brother instead of an old one. Maybe I need to stand up and say I’m not a baby anymore.</p>

6

<p>Well, I don’t see any of these a good reason to choose Davis or any school over Cal. But make the decision that you have to make in two days, and if you decide to go to Cal, welcome!</p>

7

<p>Well of course if I post these in the UCD thread they’ll be bias toward UCD and UCB people will want me to go to UCB :wink: I’ll see what they have to say anyway.</p>

8

<p>I transferred from a CC last year. I’m also a psychology major.</p>

<p>It’s different at Berkeley, in terms of knowing professors. Go to office hours. Some professors are more likely to build a relationship with you then others (relatively famous professors with big classes, not so much). The GSIs, graduate student instructors who teach discussion sections, usually have more say over your grade… certainly in huge psychology classes. They have less students, so you can form relationships with them. Of course, you will want letters of rec if you plan on applying to grad school, especially psychology. Get research assistant credit and make connections that way, and try your best to see professors in office hours. I managed to get a letter of rec my first semester. I don’t know how common that is, though. I speak up in class often, same as you. That hasn’t changed for me at Berkeley.</p>

<p>I have never taken more than 4 classes either. That said, I highly recommend starting with 3 classes and a decal or even research assistant credits. I went in with 3 classes, got used to things, and did fine with 4 last semester. There’s no reason to take 5 classes at once… especially if you’re prone to stress. Four is definitely enough.</p>

<p>If you want your own bedroom, there are some singles in the dorms. I didn’t go for them, though… being with a bunch of 18 year olds didn’t sound too appealing, and the closest thing you’ll get to cooking anything for yourself is using a microwave. So… dinning halls every day if you go for a dorm. You said you’re flexible with food though, so if that works for you, great. The only exceptions are Wada and Channing Bowditch (upper div/transfer apartment-style dorms) since they have kitchens, but there are no singles. I went for Wada and I had a double my first semester and it was just as annoying as I expected. I made sure I had my own room in my apartment this year. I really give you advice obviously, everyone is different… but I personally don’t recommend Wada. They only just got Wifi and it’s awful and there is no service on the bottom floors.</p>

<p>Flexibility… all upper div psych classes, as far as I’m aware, are offered only at one time and many only once a year or even less frequently. You can always take something to fill a prereq, but it may not be the specific class you wanted. My CC had waaaay more flexibility. It’s been a downside for me.</p>

<p>You can definitely take anthro and philosophy classes, at least on the side. Psych is impacted, so you’re only guaranteed 2 classes a semester (you can sign up for 3 pretty easily if you’re declared or a new student and do it in your first phase for registration, if you want to). You will need elective units from other departments to graduate anyway. I think there’s a psychological anthropology class in the anthropology department that can count towards the major, but don’t quote me on that.</p>

<p>There are a lot of social causes at Berkeley. If that bothers you… I don’t really know what to say. You can ignore it. There are plenty of intelligent people around; it’s a big school. You can find people you want to talk to.</p>

<p>Sorry about that ramble. Feel free to ask me anything about psych at Berkeley.</p>

9

<p>Huh really. I could have sworn seeing multiple classes per course offered in the schedule, as in of course more than one psych something class. Though something I noticed there is a lot of classes are one day a week. That concerns me a bit but what do you think?</p>

<p>Most psych classes are 3 units each, oddly most anthro classes are 4 units each. Isn’t the minimum to be a full time student 13 units?</p>

10

<p>You were probably looking at the Discussion sections, Sabotenderizer. There is generally one Lecture section for each class that meets 2-3 times a week. That class will then have separate Discussion sections that meet once a week at various times and days. You enroll in the Lecture, and then you enroll in one Discussion.</p>

11

<p>Ah yeah I just saw the schedule again. ): One of the reasons I was very reluctant about UCSD because it was like that too. </p>

<p>If I go to Davis I may have a great time and all but I kinda feel bad for refusing such a great school like Berkeley. Maybe I can come back later as a grad student but UCD students aren’t known to go to elite ph.D programs much or are they?</p>

12

<p>if you have to ask this question, go to davis. even davis kids will tell you</p>

13

<p>I heard it can be tough to actually get classes at Cal for upper division Psychology, is it true?</p>