Ask questions about Cal Berkeley here!

<p>Nope, there are only Regent’s scholars (group of scholarship holders who get early registration, among other benefits and $$).</p>

<p>My kid was not invited to apply to Regent’s. Either they are not available to OOS or my kid was not qualified. Can you apply every year or just when you are admitted and fixed for four years?</p>

<p>I believe it’s only offered to select students at admission, and yes, it’s available for OOS students as well. However, there are a number of other scholarships available and according to the Regent’s FAQ, you will be notified “in April” if you are eligible for those, based on your FAFSA information.</p>

<p>[UC</a> Berkeley Financial Aid and Scholarships Office: Undergraduates » Types of Aid » Scholarships » Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholarship FAQ](<a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/RCfaq.htm]UC”>http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/RCfaq.htm)</p>

<p>I have a question about Honors classes at Cal (or actually in general). Does taking Honors classes give you a better chance for getting into “good” grad schools? Do they boost your GPA like in high school? </p>

<p>[I’m specifically deciding on whether or not to take Honors Math 1B; I’m majoring in Electrical Engineering; the professor happens to be George Bergman]</p>

<p>they will not boost your GPA and if the level of difficulty causes you to earn a lower grade than the ordinary version, it can hurt. They are more challenging and that would be one of many factors that a grad school admissions committee would consider. </p>

<p>Having your professors think highly of you, writing a strong recommendation, is more valuable. Getting one of Nobel prize winners to do so, also good. Becoming involved in research in your field while here, also important.</p>

<p>@rider730</p>

<p>So… what are the “many” factors that grad schools consider? Is it just like applying to regular college, where you got those app essays and listing classes and EC’s and all that stuff?</p>

<p>If Honors classes don’t boost your GPA, do any classes (or anything else) help boost your GPA, or is it impossible to get above a 4.0 GPA like in high school?</p>

<p>[also, does graduating from Cal make you automatically accepted into Cal’s grad school, or do you still have to do application stuff?]</p>

<p>Elorial, </p>

<p>Can you please post your stats from high school going into Cal? (gpa, sat, psat, act, grades, ecs, ect…) </p>

<p>Much appreciated!</p>

<p>GinyuTokusentai: I’m going to answer your second and third queries.</p>

<p>2) It’s impossible to get above 4.0. Even an A+ still earns you a 4.0, not 4.3, whatever class you take.</p>

<p>3) Nope. In fact, in some departments, it actually is HARDER to get into graduate school here if you’re also an undergrad due to the department wanted higher diversity in their graduate student pool. I’ve talked to several social sciences professors and have verified this as true.</p>

<p>In fact, no school automatically accepts you into their grad department after you go there for undergrad (as far as I’m aware - I know nothing about specialised institutions, maybe a select few do and if so, I stand corrected).</p>

<p>@UCLAhopeful24: Haha, so random. I’m international, so…</p>

<p>1) No GPA, didn’t take ACT, no idea what PSAT is, couple of As for A Levels (if that matters to you…)</p>

<p>2) SAT: 2320 (800/800/720)</p>

<p>3) ECs: couple of national (and one international) photography and a cappella prizes, lots of leadership in school, band, editorial team for school paper, chinese orchestra, theatre/drama, random competitions… so long ago that I can’t remember, haha. Various volunteer things, national museum guide… arts non profit and law firm work experience. Probably some other things but they’re not coming to mind now.</p>

<p>4) No recommendations (not required), crappy essays in my opinion (I honestly wrote them the night before not expecting to get in. Really.)</p>

<p>@Eloriel</p>

<p>So, I’ve been wondering… what’s an typical schedule of a Cal student? (specifically electrical engineering major, if you know about it, since that’s my major). I mean schedule as in just classes, not counting lunch breaks, EC’s, and that stuff.</p>

<p>Also, does Cal have online video recordings of class lectures (like MIT and Harvard)?</p>

<p>As an international freshman I was wondering if the resource fair is helpful at all? I’m deciding on whether I shud just go to CalSO n forget about the resource fair since the resource fair is kinda early(it’s in mid August)?</p>

<p>@GinyuTokusentai: Oh gosh, haha. I really don’t know, especially since my schedule is most definitely NOT the norm. I would hazard a guess at… 15-16 units with 2 technical/pre-req/major req classes, and 2-3 electives/breadths/easy classes. Hopefully someone with better knowledge of this (since I’m nowhere near being a EECS major) can help me out here. (:</p>

<p>You might want to check out the UC Berkeley YouTube channel, it’s pretty great: [UCBerkeley</a> - YouTube](<a href=“UC Berkeley - YouTube”>UC Berkeley - YouTube)</p>

<p>@Eloriel</p>

<p>So, regarding “easy” classes, what classes would these be? Do grad schools look down upon taking these “easy” classes?</p>

<p>And since all the lectures are on YouTube, I’m assuming there is no need for students to take notes during classes? Am I correct? And about these lectures, are they put up pretty soon after the lecture takes place (or is it longer)?</p>

<p>Btw, about organizations at Cal, I saw that there are LOTS of organizations (I looked at some). I was wondering if you have any recommendations…</p>

<p>^ Cal also has a webcast portal thing that’s accessible to students only. You will know if the lecture is being webcast, and if so, yes, you don’t have to go/take notes. Of course, you miss out on the opportunity of asking questions, etc. If they are specifically designated as “webcasted lectures”, the finalised webcasts will appear really quickly, often within 2 days or so, if not sooner.</p>

<p>About the easy classes - unless the adcom is experienced specifically at Berkeley, they won’t know, but then again you never know. However, even with the same class some instructors will be “easier” than others, so in general since you can’t really guarantee the class’s easiness from sem to sem, it doesn’t really matter.</p>

<p>There is much debate on what these “easy” classes are; there are many threads that touch on this so you should go search those.</p>

<p>What are your interests? Like what you said there are probably thousands so… it’s hard to recommend anything. In any case, there will be Calapalooza, a clubs/societies resource fair where all the clubs will come out and table and you can take your pick/get better informed. (:</p>

<p>Is the optometry an undergrad college accelerated or grad school?</p>

<p>How are the health related jobs or internships at Berkeley? I’m debating between this and ucsd right now becauses ucsd has several hospitals.</p>

<p>About Honors Courses, can anyone willing to do the work take them? Are there honors version of every course?</p>

<p>Not every course has an Honors variant, but for Fall semester there are 119 honors courses scheduled to be taught. To find them, go to schedule.berkeley.edu, select the Fall 2012 schedule, then do a search by selecting Honors from the “Course prefixes/suffixes” pulldown list. </p>

<p>They are generally open as long as you meet the pre-reqs, but there may be a quick test early during the semester to verify that a student belongs in the honors version, otherwise they will be urged to shift to the regular version of the course. Read the specifics for the course from the schedule above and general course catalog (catalog.berkeley.edu).</p>

<p>hey guys.
This is my first year at CAL. I am currently living in the dorms right year but am planning to move to an apartment the next. I already have a place in mind for around $730 (is this alot?). but am hesitant on the procedure that most students use to pay for their apartments who are virtually dependent on financial aid . Since my parents are currently unemployed, they will be unable to help with the rent, thus my EFC is 0. My question is, how will i get the financial aid money to pay the rent of my apartment? will this happen through a refund on CARS? And if so, will it happen before the first of every month, the date that my rent is due?
i know these are a lot of question but i am just completely lost right now. thanks</p>

<p>^Um… financial aid will NEVER pay for off-campus housing. Sorry about that. It’s up to you to finance your off-campus housing, or continue to live in the dorms.</p>

<p>As for the price of your place - is it a single room? Double? Studio? Shared with how many people? More info needed to judge if that’s a lot or not.</p>

<p>^ Really? I thought that after deducting your tuition and fees at the beginning of each semester, the money that was left over is refunded to you. I understand that you have to budget the rent yourself and that the university doesn’t “literally” pay for off campus housing directly, the money refunded from the financial aid office should cover at least a substantial part of rent right? </p>

<p>My question is kind of similar to this thread.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/298103-financial-aid-cover-housing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/298103-financial-aid-cover-housing.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;