<p>Topic</p>
<p>After the to not go thread, I want to see some counter opinions to help me make a decision.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>1) Top Dog.
2) La Burrita.
3) La Val's pizza.
4) Asian Ghetto, especially Thai Basil.
5) Chez Panisse, if you can afford it.
6) It's the birthplace of Peet's Coffee, which is way better than Starbucks.
7) Best public school in the nation!
8) Because "Cardinal" is a lame mascot and we've ensured that their class of 2006 has never seen a Big Game victory.</p>
<p>There are many reasons to go to Berkeley. Let me see if I can enumerate some of the ways.</p>
<p>1) Pretty good value for the price, if you are instate and not getting significant aid from a private school.</p>
<p>2) Weather is very good</p>
<p>3) Lots of things to do either locally or in SF.</p>
<p>4) Can provide a traditional college experience, with major sports teams, rallies, and so forth. </p>
<p>5) Provides a plethora of resources, academic and otherwise, which are available as long as you have the aggressive personality to seek them out. </p>
<p>6) Very strong research projects, which you might be able to get into, especially if you are pushy.</p>
<p>7) Pretty good ties to industry, especially to Silicon Valley and to the San Francisco business district (banking, consulting, marketing, sales etc.)</p>
<p>8) Maybe the biggest reason of all - an absolutely top-tier place to go for graduate school, especially for your doctorate. Those who have been admitted to a Berkeley doctoral program should be assured of how strong Berkeley is. The doctoral programs definitely play to all of Berkeley's strengths and none of its weaknesses. </p>
<p>Note, some of you may find it strange that I am 'praising' Berkeley. I don't think it is strange at all. I have always aid that Berkeley is a fairly decent school, even for undergrad. My main beef has always been that it could be so much better. My other beef is that a lot of students just don't seem to be interested in having Berkeley become better.</p>
<p>1) It rains a lot here, which reminds me of my home province in Vietnam.
2) Very interesting classes & professors, at least for the ones I have had so far.
3) Many nice GSI's & students from different backgrounds. I love meeting French & Russian people.
4) OK foods. Well, I'm very fastidious when it comes to food, my 7 isn't bad at all.
5) Many activities for me to participate & discover my interests.
6) My friend from high school in VN moved to Oakland, just 20 minutes on BART.
7) Hot girls. Haha, I find it funny that I'm citing this as one of my reasons.But it's true, I find many females at Berkeley attractive, and not only the appearance. Just be a little careful...
8) Half-priced book store. Stuffs in the student store or Ned's are just crazily expensive. I'm so happy spending around $10 a week for 2 music CD's and some interesting books.</p>
<p>i'm from socal (north orange county) and all my friends cite the weather at berkeley as terrible and one of the reasons they do NOT want to go to berkeley. but you both cited it as a plus. this is probably because in socal we are just spoiled with nice weather, BUT...</p>
<p>i wanted to know: would you say that you have to wear really heavy clothing? it doesn't snow at all or hail often does it? how many months have nice weather (i.e. warm but not hot & not raining)?</p>
<p>i toured the campus in august so i'm not sure how the weather would be most of the time.</p>
<p>Its rainy and windy most of the time.</p>
<p>that sucks. do you have to have heavy jackets, or warm pants or warm shoes or anything? i don't own anything like that, i hope i don't have to buy an entirely new wardrobe.</p>
<p>I swear I get this depress feeling on cloudy days... and there's a bunch of that at Cal.
Anyone else feel this way about this type of weather?</p>
<p>"that sucks. do you have to have heavy jackets, or warm pants or warm shoes or anything? i don't own anything like that, i hope i don't have to buy an entirely new wardrobe."</p>
<p>People here wear "layers." That is, you wear a lot of layers of clothing in the morning because it's freezing cold, then take one piece after another of your clothing off as it enters midday. By sunset you need to wear all your clothings again because it gets very cold again.</p>
<p>thanks unlimitedx</p>
<p>I live in NorCal and I can say that I honestly love the weather. Just have a sweatshirt or a hoodie and you'll be fine. But in the early morning it is very chilling. Get some gloves. And layers are very important because in the morning it can be deadly cold and by afternoon you can be sweating..</p>
<p>damn southern sunny cal has spoiled my weather tastes</p>
<p>The weather isn't that bad. </p>
<p>IN THE FALL it's very nice. Very few rain. I've walked around without a jacket in the fall and been perfectly fine. And I hate cold weather. </p>
<p>Now...SPRING is a different story. Very very very rainy and windy and cold and horrible. But it's not that big a deal because the rain is only strong at night when classes are done....I guess if you're the party type it could be a problem. But the rain tends to be light and sporadic campus and time (it will rain for like 5 minutes, then stop for five minutes, then rain for five minutes, then do it all over again for hours1...)</p>
<p>Summer-just like socal. </p>
<p>Hardly any hale (like, none.) </p>
<p>No snow. Ever.</p>
<p>1.athletics..</p>
<p>go bears!</p>
<p>Regarding the weather, just remember to bring an umbrella. Most of the time it's just nice and sprinkly, but there are times when it's absolutely pouring, and you would have to walk to classes.</p>
<p>That being said, I absolutely love the weather. It's all really a personal preference.</p>
<p>I'm biased, but here are my top 8 (in no particular order) reasons to go to Berkeley:</p>
<p>1) Solid Greek and Co-Op Scene. Great social options.
2) Solid education no matter what major you choose.
3) Interesting student body. Yes, there are idiots and incompetents, but ignore them. They go away pretty quickly.
4) Weather. Let me tell you, after living in Germany for a year, Berkeley and California Weather in general is paradise.
5) Food. La Burrita, Top Dog, Steve's Korean, Thai Basil, Mandarin House and Gypsys, are some of my favorites. Naan n' Curry is good too.
6) SF -- I don't really care for SF myself, it's a bit of a pain to get to for late night partying, (not really a club person.) but if you have a car or can afford cabfares, I say by all means, take the plunge.
7) The Bars on and near Telegraph. Nothing beats a pitcher of beer or a Long Island Iced Tea at Kips after a football victory.
8) Cal Football. 'nuff said.</p>
<p>
[quote]
8) Cal Football. 'nuff said.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You should feel good that you're around for the Jeff Tedford years. Cal football was certainly NOT a boon during the Tom Holmoe years, including the infamous 2001 season when they went 1-10, where the only game they won was the last game of the season. I believe that these were also the times when the Cal football team landed on probation for having its players caught getting illegal academic help (i.e. players illegally staying eligible by getting academic credit for classes they never took). </p>
<p>Hence, not only was the Cal football team a cheating team, it was a BAD cheating team. You would think that if you were going to cheat, at least you'd win a lot of games. In Cal's case, the team cheated, and STILL lost a lot.</p>
<p>
[quote]
3) Interesting student body. Yes, there are idiots and incompetents, but ignore them. They go away pretty quickly.
[/quote]
Thanks for saying this. I hope so, as I was pretty disappointed at the "quality" of some of the students in my school that got in.</p>
<p>I've lived in Berkeley for half my life, and I have to say I love the weather as well. Not crazy about the Spring rainy season, but I like how there's still variation in weather.</p>
<p>"I have always aid that Berkeley is a fairly decent school."</p>
<p>Sakky, this is what drives me crazy about you. First, you can never just give a complement. C'mon, "fairly decent?" Is that all Berkeley is to you? And if Cal is only fairly decent, what does that say about the thousands of school that Cal is considered better than? Sure, maybe Cal is only fairly decent when put next to Harvard, but in the grand sceme of things it is surey bettery than fairly decent. After all, this fairly decent school got you to MIT for grad school. Do you think you would've got their from Cal State Northridge?</p>
<p>Actually I want there to be some idiots. And I hope they are in some of my tougher classes. They can be the one that fills the bottom of the curves or fails, so I don't have to. Yes I'm cruel :p</p>