Berkeley's CalSO

<p>hahaha, nice analogy.</p>

<p>have to take my gf to the airport tomorrow morning...anyone know will i still be able to check in at around 9:00am?</p>

<p>or do i even need to. all i really want to do is sign up for my classes, talk to an advisor, get my student id and go home.</p>

<p>Haha I'm done with finals! Goodbye spring semester. Now I can plan on going to a CalSO.</p>

<p>Anybody else planning to go with their family ? As in parents and a sibling? I definitely know there's gonna be few more future opportunities to spend time with my family as ill be moving up north, so i kind of wanted this to be a short tour of Cal along with the Bay Area</p>

<p>I would like to bring my family but expenses are tight right now.</p>

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Anybody else planning to go with their family ? As in parents and a sibling?

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Yes... . .. . .</p>

<p>just my mommy...</p>

<p>People are at CalSO right now!</p>

<p>you guys better be meeting people and be promoting our 08 transfer facebook group!!!</p>

<p>Hey guys! I'm went to CalSO yesterday. GOT MY CAL1 ID!!! =) I'm still in Berkeley, will be here until Saturday night. </p>

<p>Something you might be interesting in knowing...THE PARKING IS TERRIBLE! There is absolutely no where to park on campus or around campus..so..I have decided to live on campus. The last few nights I stayed in the dorms--Unit 3 (priestly) and they were much nicer than I had anticipated. Seriously, the PARKING IS HORRIBLE..just fyi.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, and you have to wait until the end of CalSO, 5pm, to get your Adviser Code. (kind of a bummer since many of you will find out you already know most--if not all of the info presented during the orientation) All it consists of is logging into CalSO.berkeley.edu--selecting "adviser code" and then receiving the four digit code. (of course, you have to go to CalSO in order to get the adviser code link)Like someone in a previous post stated, for classes within your major, you will most likely be waitlisted. It isn't until after submitting the "short form" (the earliest you can do so is the fourth week into the semseter) will you be in your major. So basically, next semester you will have a much easier time getting into your classes once you're technically in your major. </p>

<p>Prior to Wednesday, I had never visited Berkely, so I was extremely nervous about what I had gotten myself into..being that I selected Cal before ever going. But I have to say, I was blown away; the university truly is an amazing place..you guys are going to love it. Anyway, feel free to ask me any questions..should be around most of the day.</p>

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There is absolutely no where to park on campus or around campus..so..I have decided to live on campus.

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The apartments most students live in (particularly southside) are just as close to campus as the "on campus" accommodations, so I don't quite get that.</p>

<p>How did the staying over night go?</p>

<p>"The apartments most students live in (particularly southside) are just as close to campus as the "on campus" accommodations, so I don't quite get that."</p>

<p>Good point. The two "off campus" rooms I found on Craig's list were about two miles from campus. To me, that's too far. If you find apartments that are within walking distance then I guess you are set. Overall, it just seemed as though the "on campus" are much less complicated..don't have to worry about food, car, etc. I haven't decided 100% I will be living on campus..I do want to wait to see what dorm selection I "won" in a few weeks..then go from there. If I get any of my five selections..I will most likely go with it.</p>

<p>Staying over night went great. Another reason I am now strongly considering the dorms. It defintely feels more like the college experience, not to mention...less lonely. As far as the bathrooms go..in the particular dorm I stayed in..they weren't bad at all. Each shower had it's own door and changing area. For some reason, I had envisioned just a huge open space with multiple shower heads on the wall..lol. So..I was relieved they had plenty of privacy. But yeah, you and your guest will more than likely be staying somewhere in Unit 3..and your guest/parent can stay in your room with you..even if of opposite sex.</p>

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Good point. The two "off campus" rooms I found on Craig's list were about two miles from campus. To me, that's too far. If you find apartments that are within walking distance then I guess you are set.

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That could be because it's too early to look. Six weeks before you are going to move in is the earliest to start, really. There are plenty of apartments blocks away from campus. </p>

<p>Yeah, I think all the Units have reasonable privacy. What about cleanliness? I guess it could be misleading, being the summer and all, but were the bathrooms clean? Did you take a shower? I think it would be funny to have someone's mom or dad in the shower next to you...</p>

<p>"I think it would be funny to have someone's mom or dad in the shower next to you..."</p>

<p>lol..yes, I agree..it would be funny. Since I went with my Dad..he had to use the bathrooms on the floor above since we were on a "girl's only" floor. But now that I think about it..when I did shower in the morning..I was literally the only person doing so. At first, I thought I woke up way too early...then I remembered I was at Berkeley and all those liberal hippies prefer to go al natural. =)</p>

<p>"That could be because it's too early to look. Six weeks before you are going to move in is the earliest to start, really. There are plenty of apartments blocks away from campus."</p>

<p>Cool..so I shouldn't feel like I need to finalize housing now? For some reason I felt like I should have it figured out months in advance to put myself at ease..but it has done the exact opposite. If I don't like my "on campus" housing offer, then I will look at apartments close to campus.</p>

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If I don't like my "on campus" housing offer, then I will look at apartments close to campus.

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4-6 weeks before you move in is the recommended time to begin searching for off campus apartments according to Cal Rentals.</p>

<p>Hey tallkel cool beans on the cal1 card. Really quick, what was your group like? </p>

<p>How did you get from the airport to the school?</p>

<p>Would you say Calso is, on a range from one to the other, more boring or more interesting?</p>

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How did you get from the airport to the school?

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I don't know how she did, but there is a BART shuttle that takes you from the airport to the BART station. Then you can ride BART to the closest station to Cal, the downtown Berkeley station.</p>

<p>tallkell</p>

<p>did you go to the housing option workshop yesterday? the lady told me that its best to look in mid july if i want to move in the end of august because most landlord would ask you to move in right when you look at the apt.</p>

<p>After signing in at the butt crack of dawn, I walked with a big group to the Polly something building where there was an excellent continental breakfast. Before I sat down to eat, I was assigned a table with people primarily in my major. My group consisted of about eight to ten people...but many of the group sizes varied. The chancellor gave a welcome speech and it was pretty amazing..the view from the building...what he had to say..he thinks very highly of transfer students..in fact, this is why he chose to come to Berkeley. (would tell you the story..but you'll just have to wait =)</p>

<p>My Dad and I actually rented a car from the airport...maybe that's why I made such big complaints on the parking. As soon as we got to Cal..it was quite apparent the car was a big issue. In retrospect, I guess we should have just taken the BART shuttle, but at the time had no idea what I problem parking was going to be. </p>

<p>CalSO was pretty interesting overall..I was more interested in checking out my fellow peers...seeing if the people were as ugly as everyone says..but I was pleasantly surprised. Defintely not as unattractive as everyone is claiming..but then again, according to gabe..the transfer students are better looking overall...=) As far as informative..etc..I would say on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the least), for me personally, it was about a 3. But then again, I'm crazy obsessive with the Berkeley webpage. I mean, they talk about deadlines, how to pick classes, how to offically enroll in your major, how to succeed as a transfer student (skipped that workshop..oops!), campus tours..etc. I mean, I would definetly go..but don't go in there assuming they will give you any incredible insight. Actually, the only thing I can think of that I didn't know already (information wise) was the 25 max log-ins on telebears...so don't go telebear-login-crazy when enrolling in your classes.</p>