An overview of Berkeley: First Year Experience from a current Undergrad

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Okay, so I haven't been on CC for about a year now, and I feel that since I am nearing the end of my first year at Berkeley, I give some thoughts about it. Well, let's begin,</p>

<p>Fist of all, I would like to say that I am an extension out of stater from Texas, went to school at the Texas Acaemy of Math and Science, and did not live in the dorms the first year. This may help you with some of my comments.</p>

<p>This year at Berkeley has been in a word: hell. It has been the toughest year of my life, and all in all, not spectacular by any means. I came in from an environment (TAMS) where I had lots of friends, who are smart, and I was really close to them since I lived with them. I expected it would be similar in Berkeley, but that is not so. I didn't really make a whole lot of friends here, the friends I did make were only so-so, apart from like one who I am quite close with. But still, overall I seriously did not make the friends I expected even though I am a very extraverted kind of guy. You could say this is because of Berkeley, but I think it is combo of Berkeley's "unfriendly" atmosphere coupled with not living in the dorms.</p>

<p>The second major hurdle was academics. The academics here are intense. I am majoring in MCB and minoring in CS. I took Ochem and CS61a, both of which were murder. The classes are literally insane. The class average for the second midterm for ochem was a 62/150, thats crazy! I have studied more this year than I ever have in my entire life and still did not do that well because the school is just that hard and competitive. What kind of place makes you work ur nuts off, and then doesn't even give you anything in return. Now granted, kids did do better than me, but having an avg of 62 is crazy. The avg for CS exams was like a 24 out of 40. There is no curve in the CS class either. </p>

<p>And you know what really burst my bubble, is that even after having such difficult academics, the school does almost NOTHING to help you. Berkeley doesn't even have a campus sponsored 24 hour library. I mean come on, with such rigorous studying you need a 24 hour library. University of North Texas, a mediocre university where TAMS was at had a 24 hour library. Seriously, they don't provide the faciliites, even though they provide the hellish work! </p>

<p>Right off campus there is no wireless internet. Advisors are scarce and you have to make appointments otherwise lines are long. I am still waiting for my credits from TMAS to get transferred after waiting a full year. Tuition is increasing. My gf who goes to MIT, all the buildings are accessible with her ID, NONE OF OURS ARE! only if you are specialized to a dept can you get in to a specific building. Housing is far from campus, rather than ON CAMPUS like most universities. Most students only do dorm housing for 1 year because its so expensive and there is such limited dorm housing, thus even further preventing a school bonding/friendly experience. The kids are extremely competitive, expecially in the science classes. </p>

<p>Just to make further comparison at MIT (i use this school because i know a lot about it through my gf) they have a full year of P/F pretty much . The first semester doesnt even count and the second one if you fail a course it doesnt count. Then there is things like FLP, which is basically a program before you come into MIT where you playa lot of ice breaker games and stuff to just get you knowing people in the school. There is also things like in winter break they have classes and stuff you can take. At Berkeley, even though it is considered a top school, it has NONE of this. I know it is state, but damn its supposed to be the best! You come to Berkeley and the effing begins. I mean no cushion, no ice breakers, no nothing. Its rough, its rough.</p>

<p>Overall, just not a very welcoming or warm environment for your undergraduate, seriously...</p>

<p>Now I'm not saying its all bad, I am paying 40k/year for something. TH professors are amazing and the quality of education is close to on par with HYMPS, which is saying a lot. I mean the professors are really quite good and the classes are interesting. </p>

<p>But sometimes that's just not enough in undergraduate...Berkeley needs some serious help in a lot of areas.....</p>

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<p>Well that sucks. But about your friends problem- it's really hard to make friends outside of dorms or so I hear. I guess you're too busy to join a club then huh? :(</p>

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<p>"The classes are literally insane. The class average for the second midterm for ochem was a 62/150, thats crazy! I have studied more this year than I ever have in my entire life and still did not do that well because the school is just that hard and competitive. What kind of place makes you work ur nuts off, and then doesn't even give you anything in return."</p>

<p>Welcome to college, where effort means nothing at all. Just because you put in the effort doesn't mean that you'll get the grade that you want. You're not entitled to anything just because you work hard.</p>

<p>"And you know what really burst my bubble, is that even after having such difficult academics, the school does almost NOTHING to help you."</p>

<p>This is somewhat true. The library should have longer hours during the academic term. On the other hand, the library is not the only place where you can study. Furthermore, it's not like Berkeley does nothing: there are office hours and the SLC, which are far more important than library availability since these provide instruction rather than just a place to study.</p>

<p>"Right off campus there is no wireless internet."</p>

<p>Did you expect the UC Regents to cover the entire city of Berkeley with wireless network?</p>

<p>"Tuition is increasing."</p>

<p>It's increasing almost everywhere. It will go up even more if you wanted the UC Regents to cover the entire vicinity of the campus with wireless network.</p>

<p>"My gf who goes to MIT, all the buildings are accessible with her ID, NONE OF OURS ARE!"</p>

<p>Which building are inaccessible? I've been able to wander aimlessly into many buildings even though I'm not in those departments.</p>

<p>"The kids are extremely competitive, expecially in the science classes. "</p>

<p>What do you expect from an undergraduate student body of 24000+ overachievers?</p>

<p>"I mean no cushion, no ice breakers, no nothing. Its rough, its rough."</p>

<p>Ice breakers are difficult with such a large student body. The UG population at MIT is a sixth of that at UC Berkeley.
It's a public school, there's no hand-holding here.</p>

<p>"Berkeley needs some serious help in a lot of areas....."</p>

<p>Yes, it does. But keep in mind that it is a public school with a massive undergraduate student body. Icebreakers and whatnot are unfeasible. Highlighting the problems of Berkeley by comparing it to a private school does not help at all.</p>

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<p>yawn..................</p>

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<p>my first year here's been awesome. I'm a poli-sci major. I've taken classes that peak my interest, and they've paid off. Class is hard, so what you deal. I worked at it, and i'm doing ok. More importantly, i'm LEARNING tons of new things, new ideas, and becoming a revolutionary.
I lived in bowles, i don't like the dorms, but i've made better friends than in 4 years of high school. I go out every weekend, i have awesome stories to tell, i get some tail every now and again, and i have NO regrets.
I don't need a 24 hour library because studying is not my #1 priority, LIVING is. </p>

<p>I'm having the time of my life here, and it's gonna be a sad day when i graduate, or even when i have to go home for summer.</p>

<p>I've made the best decision in my life in coming to Berkeley, and would do it a million times over. My only longing is that i wish there was more ethnic diversity, and more student political activism and radicalism.</p>

<p>so see,...it's all relative.</p>

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<p>Sorry that your experience was so rough. </p>

<p>Social: Alot of the things that you described can be improved by trying harder yourself. Most obviously, I don't see how you couldn't make at least a couple of good friends...there are literally tens of thousands of other people. If you don't make any good friends whose fault do you think it is?</p>

<p>It's probably easiest to complain about the perceived "unfriendly" atmosphere in the city, but honestly its probably just a lack of social skills. You can make all of the claims you want about your social prowess; however, I commute to school on Bart from my home 50 min each way, go to work and do research, I can't make such a claim about Berkeley's "unfriendly" atmosphere.</p>

<p>Academic: I would have to agree that the classes are hard; this isn't high school. I have walked out of chemistry midterms thinking that that was the hardest test I have ever taken, only to take another math midterm the next week and to honestly say the same thing. Just try a little harder, prepare a little sooner, and you'll be ok. Most classes are curved for a reason, I would much rather take a hard test and spread out the distribution of scores than have everybody piled around the 95% mark, hard tests are thus a consequence.</p>

<p>In my opinion these have been the best years of my life. Sure the academics are hard but you have to rise up and take them on, not complain about them. I am an MCB major also, the classes are tough but definitely manageable if you apply yourself. You can't really complain the people are "extremely competitive" and trying to score the best, when you're here complaining about scores. Everybody wants to do well, you just have to want it more than everybody.</p>

<p>Oh and Pulkit, you should be studying for finals and not writing essays on how competitive people are.</p>

<p>I don't desire to demean you this is just how I feel.</p>

<p>/I feel like a freaking counselor.</p>

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<p>Pulkit: Quite possibly your "Berkeley experience would have been better if you would have lived in the dorms rather than live off campus for 1st year. You probably would't have the opinion that Berk is an "unfriendly" environment if you had the dorm experience. Dorms may seem expensive but there are other things thrown into the cost besides your room and food, like academic advising, study lounges, etc. Meeting people in your building and studying at Late Night or in the lounge on your floor could have changed your prespective on Berkeley.</p>

<p>It's also not true that Berkeley does nothing to help freshman transition. What do you think the purpose of Welcome Week is? There were plenty of "ice-breaker" events in the Units and with my floor mates last August and again in January to help create a community. A lot of these events may not be campus wide... it's a huge campus and over 4400 incoming freshman students each year. Welcome Week has events every year for incoming students though.
Our dorms may be off campus, but the walk is no further than MIT's on campus if you consider our campus is over 2600 acres. By the way, there are over 2500 returning students staying in the dorms next year, not moving off campus...
Like The Righteous, I haven't had any problems getting into buildings I've had business in... </p>

<p>Berkeley academics is tough, no denying. And no pass/fail for 1st semester. That's the way it is. You either do it or not. There is though advising and tutoring available for you if you need and want it. </p>

<p>I hope you got your transfer and acceptance and wish you the best of luck wherever you are going.</p>

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<p>we should all be studying for finals and not responding to this thread.... or even on CC :)</p>

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<p>Pulkit, is it typical for TAMS credits to take a year to transfer?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
""My gf who goes to MIT, all the buildings are accessible with her ID, NONE OF OURS ARE!"</p>

<p>Which building are inaccessible? I've been able to wander aimlessly into many buildings even though I'm not in those departments

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think what he meant by that was that a lot of buildings at Berkeley annoyingly begin to lock up at around 5-6 PM or so. In fact, I recall it became something of a game to get keys to some of the buildings so you can use them at night, and then how to figure out where the tunnels are to get around from building to building (i.e. all of the buildings in the chemistry/chemical engineering complex are connected by tunnels such that a key to one building effectively means access to all the buildings in the complex, but only if you know where all the tunnel locations are, and some of them are not obvious). </p>

<p>In contrast, most of the buildings at MIT, and in particular, all that are connected to the Infinite Corridor, are open 24 hours a day, and even on holidays. You want to camp out in one of the Athena computer workstation labs during winter break every day from 9PM-9AM (yeah, that's right, 9PM-9AM) to complete a major computer project, like one guy I know? Go right ahead - nobody is going to stop you. {As for why somebody would want to deliberately work the graveyard shift like that, well, many, if not most, good computer guys are night people.}</p>

<p>But to be fair, this is one of those perks that makes MIT special. Other private schools are certainly not open like this. Harvard, for example, is a rather closed school where many buildings tend to close after business hours and where, once again, obtaining after-hours key access becomes something of a game.</p>

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<p>Don't you think it's illogical to pay 40K for an out-of-state public school that you absolutely despise?</p>

<p>You should really think about some privates near home that will hold your hand more. Grade inflation at privates for the win?</p>

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<p>Alright, I see that many of you are adamantly against what i have to say, and thats cool. I'm really happy that so many of you are enjoying your first year experiences. But I do have a few comments</p>

<p>First of all, don't tell me i have a lack of social skills, because quite frankly I don't. Literally, if you met me, it would take 10 minutes to like me. i know that sounds cocky, but i am just trying to convey the point that I have sufficient social skills, I have always had lots of friends. </p>

<p>Okay, I could see how the social aspect could definitely be helped by living in the dorms, and next year I will so let's see how that goes. I know its somewhat uncommon for sophomores to stay in the dorms, but what the heck, so what if i make freshman friends. </p>

<p>Okay, but the thing that still holds true is that you are not guaranteed housing if you are in extension. I know that it is a special case, but since I am part of that special case, I can't help but feel kinda bad that I didn't get it. </p>

<p>Also, about the slc and advising, yes those opportunities are there and that's very good, but I wouldn't say that they are more important than a 24 hour library for some people. For me, for example, I tend to study at night, I'm a procrastinator like many, but still given how difficult the school is, the least they could do is provide me with a place to work at the odd hours of the night. </p>

<p>And to the comment about how your number one focus is not studying, well I respect that, but I did not spend 40k/year when I could have gone to UT Austin where most of my friends went if not for the academics. So yeah, I'm premed, and my number one focus is academics. That is not so uncommon in Berkeley, and you have to respect me for that too. </p>

<p>And about the part that I am comparing Berkeley to a private school. I know that I am, but I still feel that Berkeley should make steps toward doing similar things. I mean, it is much harder because it is such a large school, but that doesn't mean we can't try. </p>

<p>And about the point that it is tough, so get over it. It isn't high school. Look, I know its not high school, but this is also incredibly tough for college standards. There are not many colleges in the country that rival Berkeley in difficulty. I mean even at MIT, my gf's classes have better stats of people getting A's. I am not saying that MIT people are scoring higher or lower, simply that they give more A's. And I know that effort does not correlate to a good grade, but I adamantly believe that there is some problem with the system when the class average for exams is around a 60 out of 150. Say what you will, but that is ridiculously low. You can argue that it is o that the birghtest kids are able to be challenged, but the highest grade on that exam was not above a 110. This is not the way exams are supposed to be structured.</p>

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<p>yeah, cheese dude, im thinking about it, but I don't want to go a school with lesser stress on academics. I will never say that Berkely does not have great professors and classes. That is definitely there, and their departments are very well regarded. Therefore I wouldn't want to go to a random private school in Texas. The only schools that I would consider are of similar quality or better, or UT. So basically Rice, UT, and like the top privates. The top privates are very difficult to transfer into so, Rice is looking quite promising. </p>

<p>However, I am graduating berkeley in a total of 2.5 years, therefore, I am only here for 1.5 more years. It may not be worth it to transfer at this point. Also other schools wouldn't be as generous about accepting my credit from TAMS. And lastly, I will be living in the unit dorms next year, so I am hopeful about that</p>

<p>And yes Sakky, that is what I meant by Berkeley closing early. Really? How do you get keys for these places?! I would really like to know</p>

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<p>"I mean, it is much harder because it is such a large school, but that doesn't mean we can't try."</p>

<p>Yes, we can try, but that also certainly means tuition will increase even more.</p>

<p>"And I know that effort does not correlate to a good grade, but I adamantly believe that there is some problem with the system when the class average for exams is around a 60 out of 150. Say what you will, but that is ridiculously low. You can argue that it is o that the birghtest kids are able to be challenged, but the highest grade on that exam was not above a 110. This is not the way exams are supposed to be structured."</p>

<p>What's wrong with an average of 60/150? It's much better than a grade distribution with a high average, because you can actually tell how well the students are doing. Furthermore, the class is graded on a curve, so your raw score average doesn't mean much. As for that midterm, the highest score is much higher than 110. I know this because I scored well above 110 and I didn't get the highest grade, which was a 138/150.</p>

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<p>so wouldn't you actually want to be in this environment?
you take care of your own stuff here, no one to run around and do the work for you.
there's no bubble to protect you from the fear of failure during the first year. many of us transition very well from high school to college and get good grades.
through all this, you can prove your worth by surviving the competition</p>

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<p>So, what places ARE available on campus for late night studying and homework?</p>

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<p>ON CAMPUS, libraries should open 24 hours during finals
other than that, i don't think there's any. but your room's always available for independent studying</p>

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<p>the dorms have a study lounge on each floor (some buildings every other floor.) if you don't want to study in your room you can study there.</p>

<p>isn't the library open 24 hrs during finals? (I don't use it to study... don't know.)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I mean even at MIT, my gf's classes have better stats of people getting A's. I am not saying that MIT people are scoring higher or lower, simply that they give more A's.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I am completely unaware of such stats, and I doubt they actually exist. Berkeley gives out PLENTY of A's. </p>

<p>"Of 79,791 undergraduate course grades given at UC Berkeley fall 2003, almost 50% were A's, approximately 35% were B's, and less than 5% were D's or F's. "</p>

<p>"the humanities and social sciences in many classes had all but given up on grades below a B, and in many courses below an A-, "</p>

<p><a href="http://ls.berkeley.edu/undergrad/colloquia/04-11.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ls.berkeley.edu/undergrad/colloquia/04-11.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Let's be honest. There are a lot of easy classes at Berkeley, where getting an A is not that hard at all and where plenty of A's are handed out. </p>

<p>And besides, frankly, even if it's true that MIT gives out more A's (which I doubt) than Berkeley does, I would say that MIT ought to do so. Honestly, there is a long tail end of students at Berkeley who just aren't that good and are certainly not at the caliber of MIT. They shouldn't be getting A's. But of course some do anyway just by taking creampuff classes. </p>

<p><a href="http://ls.berkeley.edu/undergrad/colloquia/04-11.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ls.berkeley.edu/undergrad/colloquia/04-11.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
And yes Sakky, that is what I meant by Berkeley closing early. Really? How do you get keys for these places?! I would really like to know

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It usually means getting to know grad students very well. Or knowing people who know them. I knew a girl who seriously dated (& almost married) a grad student and so was able to spring for herself keys to a number of buildings and rooms, including keys to the nice grad-student lounges and after-hours access to one of the libraries. Shen then made copies of those keys for her very close friends. </p>

<p>The other way, of course, is to get yourself on a research project and then say that you need access to the lab at night, which obviously means you also need access to the building at night. Either that, or, again, getting to know people who are doing this and will make copies for you. Like I said, it's all part of the 'game' of building access at Berkeley.</p>

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<p>Wouldn't the grad student who copied the keys get in trouble if a person he copied a key for is caught having a key but isn't suppose to?</p>