<p>I wandered here and there on these forums as a HS student applying to undergrad institutions. Four years later I'll be graduating summa cum laude with a degree in English in the top 5% of my class. I've learned a lot and was pointed back here by a younger sibling who noted, correctly, that there's a lot of misinformation spread on these boards. </p>
<p>So, I'd like to give back. Shoot me a question about Cal or college in general and I'll do my best to help you in whatever way I can.</p>
<p>Question: Why didn’t you get into Yale law?</p>
<p>Question: What kind of bear is best?</p>
<p>Slightly more serious question: Did the homeless people/Berkeley’s supposedly horrible streets actually ever negatively affect your experience here?</p>
<p>Fira: Solid numbers, but Yale is a black box and nobody’s ever a lock there.
Nathan: Trick question!
Flutterfly: No, not really. They’re an eccentricity and you don’t have to deal with them outside of a relatively small radius around campus. A few of them are actually wildly entertaining if you’ve got a few minutes to waste. They didn’t affect my experience at Cal but they do keep the city a little dirtier and more dilapidated than I’d have liked.</p>
<p>Where else did you get in? Why did you choose Cal?</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to many schools in high school for a lot of really terrible reasons (I didn’t apply to any ivies because I was afraid of getting rejected). I swept the UCs and didn’t really apply to anywhere else because while I was a smart kid and got good grades, I was wildly apathetic about school and had no real notion of what people who were shooting for the nation’s top ranked schools did to get in. I was in-state; I applied to the UCs.</p>
<p>Fortunately enough, what I did know was that I wanted to study English. I had grandparents who had attended Cal, saw that the English department was about as good as one could be, and sent in my commitment soon thereafter. My decision wasn’t really an informed one, and I would recommend Cal for many reasons besides the ones that convinced me to enroll.</p>
<p>I agree about the hobos thing :)</p>
<p>it’s pretty annoying when people use that as a reason to dislike berkeley when no actual students are ever upset about it.</p>
<p>Where there are generally two schools of thought, but it is generally accepted that the black bear is best. The California Golden Bear is at a close second though.</p>
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<p>You realize where you posted this right?</p>
<p>what was your experience like in the english department? I’ve been admitted to Berkeley and have wanted to go there for a very long time. I’m OOS, from NYC, and have been attracted to the reputation Cal has gained for their english program. Generally speaking, how large were your classes? Did you take any sort of creative writing? Do you know how the average student (especially studying humanities) will be affected by the budget cuts? I’m becoming more reticent with the school as I learn more about the bureaucracy and overwhelmingly large class sizes, but perhaps I’m just stumbling more often upon the cynics…</p>
<p>Why are you so successful?</p>
<p>^ Yup. Any tips on doing well in college? Not just academically, but the whole package.</p>
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<p>Don’t listen to the cynics, as many times they generalize criminally. One of the arguments they used to give is that they’re stuck learning stuff they did in high school and competing against a bunch of people. Then, I learned these are people satisfying premed requirements. Guess what – many of us don’t have any sort of rigigidity to our curriculum and can take what we want.</p>
<p>English is very good here, and you should be able to find small classes without a problem. However, getting into your classes isn’t a breeze – you have to play your cards correctly. But it seems my acquaintances in the department are doing well, despite the slight rush. If you come in with junior or senior standing, that helps a lot too (this means you came in with lots of credits).</p>
<p>What kind of extracurricular activities did you do?</p>
<p>Is Berkeley worth it for an OOS student?</p>
<p>^^for a few specialize programs like Engineering & Chemistry, Cal is absolutely worth it for OOS. But NOT for typical liberal arts majors, IMO. (Why spend $50/yr to be an unemployed English major when you could still be unemployed for a whole lot less cost at your instate Uni.)</p>
<p>I was just kidding around, people at HLS love to make fun of YLS.</p>
<p>Questions:</p>
<p>Is law school admission truly about the numbers, high GPA and high LSAT?</p>
<p>Are women more attracted to you knowing that you’re going to HLS?</p>
<p>How many people look at you with jealousy once they find out you’re off to HLS?</p>
<p>Are there arrogant poli-sci or english majors whose faces you would like to rub your admissions in? </p>
<p>How has your strut improved?</p>
<p>@Bluebayou I was thinking of majoring in science (most likely chem or biochem which I know Berkeley is EXCELLENT for) with a minor in either some sort of history (anything but US) or some language (although minoring in a language might be pointless). Is double majoring hard?
I feel like I’m one of those people who would be kind of on the border to slightly below the border at an Ivy, could I get in? Mostly my SAT scores will be what’s killing me >.< I just don’t think my parents are big fans of me going across country though 
but Berkeley sounds so appealing, especially since it’s better than most Ivies (at least at the grad level) for what will most likely be my major. They think Berkeley isn’t any better than one of those small respected LACs in New England (IE. Swarthmore, etc…) and since it’s not an Ivy they think the name won’t help but I beg to differ…</p>
<p>I applied for Chemical E as a freshman. I want to change to pre-Business. Is this possible?</p>