<p>how is berkeley politically? is it as liberal as it was in the 60s? I hear it now has a higher ratio of conservatives.</p>
<p>more balanced than the stereotype or history, although just about any college campus is more liberal than the average community. Not as liberal as many LACs, for example, and probably less liberal than UCSC, for example.</p>
<p>
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Are you saying that in order for me to switch from CivilE into another engineering major I have to finish some classes first? I can't directly switch into the major before school begins?
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</p>
<p>Nope, especially if you want to get into a heavily impacted major such as EECS or BioE. You have to take prereqs in whatever major you want to transfer into and do well in those courses. Unfortunately it is kind of a pain to switch majors in CoE but there are many people who do it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
how is berkeley politically? is it as liberal as it was in the 60s? I hear it now has a higher ratio of conservatives
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</p>
<p>There are quite a few conservatives as well as a large number of Christian groups. Most students lean liberal but it's not nearly as bad as it was in the 60s.</p>
<p>The Berkeley College Republicans is the largest political student group. It is for anyone leaning conservative or right; we have a lot of moderates, objectivists, libertarians, and yes, conservatives (not all of us are Republicans).</p>
<p>While liberals outnumber us, we definitely exist in a greater presence than before.</p>
<p>Are people at Berkeley health conscious? I mean this in the most general way possible, since I think it would be hard to categorize such a large student population. And I don't mean uber-health-nut status of health conscious, just, an average amount of concern towards healthy living, rly.</p>
<p>I've been accepted into the chemical engineering program at Berkeley from out of state and I have never really worried about the course load itself until now. Mostly I've been focused on making sure I get into all of these schools, but I've heard pretty awful rumors of questionable validity and I'm really curious now. </p>
<p>1.) Is it true that over 50% fail out of this program? I breezed over one similar statistic earlier in this thread soo obviously this worries me a bit.
2.) I've been sucessfully juggling 7 AP classes this year without too much trouble so its not like I don't have any work ethic but how killer are these ChemE classes? Will I ever have sleep? I mean, I don't need too much, but a couple hours maybe?
3.) It'd be awesome if you could list particularly hard classes you've had to take versus comparitively easy ones. </p>
<p>I hope someone can help a bit, and if you can, I would be extremely greatful :]</p>
<p>I've been accepted to the College of Natural Resources for the fall 2009 semester, unfortunately, I intended to apply to the College of Letters & Sciences, and I guess I chose the wrong box :(.
I talked to the CNR counselors and they said I could easily transfer to LAS after the first semester and that I would be placed in classes conducive to the fact that I would be transferring...aka that I wouldn't waste my time in classes that wouldn't benefit me. My question is; for those first semesters, does the college you're in impact you that much? Would I be forced into orientations, field trips, etc. or would my experience largely be shaped on the classes I am taking for that first semester?
By the way, I ended up clicking "Environmental Chemistry" when I meant to click just plain old "Chemistry."</p>
<p>No field trips, but your choice of CalSO days, the orientation sessions, would be limited to the dates that service CNR, not the larger pool of possible dates for L&S. There should also be L&S advisors there, but in reality your choice of classes for registration shouldn't really be impacted. </p>
<p>Sorry you have to face the complication of having inadvertently selected the wrong box, but really you can see that CNR is pretty easy-going about this and willing to help. </p>
<p>Go do the online advising stuff offered by L&S prior to arriving at CalSO, so you know what classes are suitable for first semester. You don't have to declare an L&S major for some time, but you should have a plan for yourself of what major pre-reqs and Cal requirements must be taken over the next four years. Pick from them, but also pick classes that you can clearly do well in, so that you have a decent GPA. Trying to transfer in with a 1.0 GPA will not be as easy as with a 2.7 or 3.5.</p>
<p>cnr and l&s require 3.0 to transfer. how much do they enforce that..?
hmm 8 is lucky. i have 8 eights so its double lucky ...</p>
<p>@ akspin1. </p>
<p>Yeah, same goes for me. I feel that I might flunk out of the Civil Engineering program. They make it seem impossible. I mean I was a good student in high school, I just don't feel like I am on the same level as the other people in the engineering program...well so it seems at least. </p>
<p>this is why I am even leaning towards UCLA. I sort of want to be able to graduate from my undergrad school...duhhhh =)</p>
<p>I am beginning to question the validity of the statements that people make of how “impossible” the engineering program is to pass. I know it’s hard, but isn’t this the case at any school? Engineering is a difficult major. I think the flaw in many people’s thinking is that if they are good in high school math and like science, then engineering is the way to go. That’s not necessarily the case. Since Cal makes it very difficult to transfer from one college to another, prospective students to the CoE should be especially careful. Know what you’re getting yourself into. It’s ridiculous how many people don’t actually know what engineering classes entail. In any case, I’m going to try to not let the idea of a competitive program deter me from attending, all I can do is my best.</p>
<p>On a separate note, how hard is it to get around campus on foot? Is a bike necessary?</p>
<p>I know that there is no official premed program here at UC Berkeley, but I just love the atmosphere of UCB. I love how one day I could sit and just chat with some homeless person that might turn out to be a retired professor. I love how one day I could join protests on campus to which I agree on. I love how the city is new to me and how unique this place truly is. I love how the people here are so diverse and awesomely weird. (lol)</p>
<p>However, my first priority is to become a doctor. I want to wear that white coat and walk down those halls and become the surgeon I dream of being. I know that UCLA has a great premed program and I can excel over there if I put my all into it. But, how good/average/bad is UCB premed path? is there any programs that can lead me to a future in medicine?</p>
<p>Which should I choose UCLA or UC Berekeley???</p>
<p>Please help me decide! =]
JinSoul is online now</p>
<p>hHallmark – I live off campus, and not terribly close to my classes (10 min to campus, 10 min from there to classes), and basically I don’t see the need for a bike. </p>
<p>About the COE – you are wise in having doubts that it’s being overhyped. I will say, though, that Berkeley’s engineering programs are going to be similar in rigor to MIT’s, especially if they’re very top ranked. This goes for EECS for sure. And that means, they’re going to teach you what you need to become very good at your field. </p>
<p>People do come here and get very high grades, and go on to wonderful grad schools. It depends, actually, on how good you think you are at reasoning through math and science problems, not on raw grades in high school math, which may have offered too little. </p>
<p>If you know something about engineering, and take a look at our websites, courses, etc, then you’ll figure it out. If you have a passion for engineering, and don’t overload your schedule + work diligently at your classes, you’ll not only get the most out of each class, but also get through engineering while still enjoying your studies. Don’t let fear deter you, you can do it. I think it’s horrible to discourage people from entering a world class engineering school on the basis of it being hard, and the only reason to discourage someone is if he/she doesn’t really CARE for that world class reputation + resources, and just wants to get some engineering degree because, as you put it, they were not bad at high school math and science.</p>
<p>Pain in the neck question:</p>
<p>UChicago or Berkeley for a student who wants to major in economics?</p>
<p>How to the majors stack up in terms of difficulty, gpa, competitiveness, reputation?</p>
<p>BioE, EECS, and MCB?</p>
<p>Difficulty:
EECS, MCB/BioE</p>
<p>Competitiveness:
MCB, BioE/EECS</p>
<p>GPA:
Can’t say for certain.</p>
<p>Reputation:
EECS, MCB, BioE</p>
<p>BioE is relatively new, so the reputation isn’t that great. MCB is consistently ranked top 5 with UCSF, Harvard, MIT, etc. EECS is well, EECS. Everybody knows about EECS at Berkeley.</p>
<p>Thanks. According to Campus Buddy for average gpas…</p>
<p>Bioengineering - 3.51
Molecular and Cell Biology - 2.96
Electrical Engineering - 3.11
Computer Science - 3.01</p>
<p>So haha I asking a question about my own question but… what is the difference between difficulty and competitiveness? Do you think these numbers are accurate? And should i be worried about my GPA if i attend Cal? Or should it be mostly fine as long as I haul ass?</p>
<p>Oh also how hard is it to transfer from College of LS to College of Engineering?</p>
<p>Your GPA will matter for any graduate or professional school, so you should take your GPA seriously.</p>
<p>I think those departmental averages should be fairly accurate, I cite them fairly often; they get the data from the school records (as in they are not self-reported).</p>
<p>Those figures don’t account for lower division classes.</p>
<p>Sorry what exactly is lower and upper division classes?</p>
<p>How about cal’s research/internship opportunities? Is it similar to nice gpas in that its there for thoose who are agressive/dedicated enough to grab it?</p>