<p>You will have no problem re: food @ Berkeley. The Mexican food I’ve found to be lacking, you have to go to the mission or Oakland. Asian fusion? No problem. French? No problem. I’ll name names in a bit.</p>
<p>I’m back if anyone else has questions for me.</p>
<p>@Eviity -Oh this is is tough, and people are going to disagree with me. La Note, Chez Panisse (everyone should eat here once), Gr</p>
<p>@Mortimer </p>
<p>Is it truly impossible to get a schedule without a giant gap? I’m searching through schedule builder it seems that only classes I can get without gap is one that happens right after another, as if I can teleport at the end of 10-11 class to 11-12 class. Any advice?</p>
<p>@kay1541: I was just reading about “Berkeley Time.” Apparently, classes don’t actually start until 10 minutes after the listed starting time. So you should have just enough time to make it to your next class.</p>
<p>I’m going to be attending my first year of college at Salem State University in Massachusetts (I live nearby), and was planning on transferring to UCLA, UCSD, or UCB after two years. Also, I’m a Computer Science major so I think the best UC is Berkeley, LA, and then San Diego, right? Correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>However, it was recently suggested to me that I should instead complete 1 year here in Salem (since I already put down my deposits), then transfer to a Cali community college and complete a year’s courses, and then transfer from a Cali community college to UCLA, UCSD, or any other UC. I was told this was better than transferring after two years at Salem for two reasons: </p>
<p>1.) The acceptance rates from people who transfer from a Cali comm. college to a UC are higher (90% chance) than the chances of transferring from out of state (10-20% chance). Is this true?</p>
<p>2.) I’d save a significant amount of money by going to a Cali comm. college for a year an establishing residency and then transferring to a UC because tuition costs would be lower for a CA resident. Also, I do plan on eventually living in CA.</p>
<p>What would be your input in this situation? I’m trying to convince my parents to let me do this but there are some difficult things that are making it hard to convince them. Those things are finding housing nearby/a place to live, moving my car from Massachusetts to California and then registering it over there (my mom is already hesitant on letting me move to Cali for school/living, let alone driving my car alone across the U.S. haha).</p>
<p>Any tips on what I should do/how I can convince my parents is GREATLY appreciated!</p>
<p>@MortimerC</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions man, really appreciate it.</p>
<p>1) I will be majoring in Political Science at UCLA this Fall. I was wondering what internships you were able to secure while you were at Berkeley, and what I can expect to be applying for? </p>
<p>2) What jobs were you offered after graduation? I am a little concerned about my career prospects/value of the degree at the moment. Currently I am thinking of working in government as well, and possibly non-profit work. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>@kay1541 - “Berkeley Time” gives you enough time to get from one class to another…in theory. Just don’t schedule one class at Tolman, and the class directly after that at Haas, and you’ll be okay. Even though the schedule says that a class starts at 11, it actually starts at 11:10. You’ll get used to it.</p>
<p>@OpaqueApotheosis - Correct</p>
<p>@bd1212 - While it is true that going to a CCC raises your chances of getting in to a UC (90% chance is an overstatement), if I were you I’d find out if the 1 year plan will work in your specific case. Luckily, you’re on the right board. I think your plan can work, but I’d be worried about reciprocity and unit requirements. Check IGETC and make sure that your units transfer over to the CC and UC and that they’ll actually count you as a 2-year transfer if you’ve spent half your time at a 4-year school.</p>
<p>If you want to meet residency requirements, I believe you need to prove financial independence. So in addition to living in the state continuously for more than a year, you’ll need to have a source of income (job, no parental “gifts”), a place of residence, and an established intent to live permanently in the state (change over drivers license, vehicle registration, voting reg etc).
This requires great effort and is not to be undertaken lightly. Stay on the board and get as much information as you can before making a decision. </p>
<p>While your parents are right to be concerned, I think their concern is misplaced. Undertaking this task will teach you Independence and prepare you for the rigors or Berkeley and the world beyond. Regardless of whether you get residency or not, a Berkeley degree will open doors that degrees from other institutions will not. The driving across country, finding housing etc part will be fine.</p>
<p>I’d worry more about securing a job, and making sure that you’re meeting residency requirements. There is a student group on campus that deals with residency issues, you may want to call them up.</p>
<p>@carlop - People in my major were able to secure internships at the state House and Senate, govt agencies (EPA, Justice dept, little hoover commission etc), Various law firms and nonprofit organizations. For someone interested in the Federal Government, I’d highly recommend the UCDC program (for state try UCCS). I know a few people who did it and were able to secure jobs in Washington working for think tanks, hill offices and nonprofits. </p>
<p>Personally, I completed 4 internships while at Berkeley. PM me for more info.</p>
<p>I took some time off before starting my job search. It took me about 2 months to secure offers. A lot of places want to interview 3 or 4 times, so it was quite the process. I think it’s easier if you do something like UCDC your last semester with the intent of staying out there when you’re done.</p>
<p>Well, I was accepted into both UCB and UCLA, now I’m going to have to decide between those two (as well as change my screename). I’m leaning toward UCLA due to weather, social atmosphere, guaranteeing on-campus housing, and some minor things (ease of scheduling classes, campus beauty, women) </p>
<p>MortimerC, you’ve been a great help so far. Before I SIR to UCLA, could you think of anything else I should consider? My reasoning is the programs at each school are similar, and I would do better at the school I would be more happy at which I think would be LA.</p>
<p>SCtrojans: Housing at Cal is guaranteed for transfers for one year. Senior year you can get on-campus housing pretty easily too, but most people want to get out of the dorms by then.</p>
<p>Scheduling isn’t that bad either… the point of telebears is to make registration fair. There’s two phases, so everyone can get the 10 credits they want most during phase 1, and then can pick the rest of their courses after everyone’s signed up for their first couple classes. Some classes are restricted by major/year, but if it’s a class in your major that works out in your favor and helps you get what you need to graduate. (Also I’m an EECS major and it’s probably the worst department for scheduling, super impacted, but I’ve still gotten the classes I need.)</p>
<p>Of course if you prefer the atmosphere of LA, go where you’ll be happy.</p>
<p>How hard or what is the process for applying for the UC to DC? Can you give me some advice or let me know a few things I should know/do?</p>
<p>Also, what is UCCS?</p>
<p>@SCtrojansfan</p>
<p>I would love for you to come to Cal. Berkeley does offer guaranteed housing to 1st year transfers, and if you’re from socal, a little change of pace might do you well. You might also want to look in to the co-op system, which is much stronger than UCLA’s. However, if you truly think that attending UCLA will put you in a position of strength both socially and academically, then trust your instincts. Just be sure that you’re putting yourself in the best situation for long term success. Make a decision, be swift and be sure, don’t look back…enjoy your summer.</p>
<p>@gamer142 - UCDC prefers people in their last semester although they do take sophomores and Juniors. You will have to get two letters of recommendation, and write an essay about why you want to be in the program. After that, they will interview you and you’ll either be accepted or rejected. I believe they take about 1/3rd of the applicants so it is competitive.</p>
<p>UCCS is the other UC’s version of Cal-in Sacramento.</p>
<p>@MortimerC @OpaqueApotheosis</p>
<p>Thank you to both of you :)</p>
<p>Also MortimerC
How costly is the housing around Berkeley? I’m not exactly a fan of sharing a room with other people and plan to find myself a studio. I’m wondering how much does a place in a relatively safe neighborhood close to school?</p>
<p>@MortimerC Another alternative that I’ve been trying to get my parents to look at and consider is to just move on over to Cali this summer, find an apartment and a roommate and then just go to a CCC over there for the next two years and then transfer. If I go to a CCC for two years, can I stack those two years together to total up to 1 year of residency? I know there is something about tacking on months but it was confusing when I read about it.</p>
<p>Would you say that this idea is better than completing 1 year here in Mass and then transferring over? Also, what are the best CCC’s to look at in terms of education, price, nearby apartments (and the price of those), etc.? I’ve been looking at San Diego City College but I’m not sure if they have a computer science type course that I could go for and I’ve also looked at West Valley College, but the nearby apartments seemed a bit expensive. </p>
<p>Do you know what the best apartments are to look at? Are there any specifically for off-campus students? That would be ideal.</p>
<p>bd1212 - (No, I’m not MortimerC, shush.) I did a similar thing, I went to CC in Maryland for a year, parents moved during my freshman year, and I moved out here after that. Did a year at a California CC, then transferred to Cal. OoS credits can be a bit of a pain, they don’t always articulate like they should and you’ll probably end up doing a lot of guessing about what classes you’ll have credit for. If you take all your courses at a CCC, you’ll know what Cal will accept, and it’ll be easier to claim residency. Of course, moving is kinda a big thing, so you/parents might not want to just drop everything and move over the summer… In terms of what CCC is the best choice, look at assist.org and pick one that has a lot of pre-reqs for your major.</p>