<p>
[quote]
my tour guide told me because it was something about how the guy who built it was a teacher and wanted students to balh balh something and how the inside is diff from the outside...wasn't paying attention..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Because it was to encourage students to become great architects so they came one day replace it with something better?</p>
<p>Yeah a few buildings were not that great but most were awesome.</p>
<p>LoL, how is cal day representative of the Berkely experience? You don't get to see any classes in action, you get exposed to a tiny sliver of the student population, and you don't get to see the real housing situation since most students do not live on campus. </p>
<p>But hey, believe what you want to believe.</p>
<p>Let's see...at Cal Day I walk around the (beautiful) Berkeley campus...when I attend Berkeley I will be walking around the Berkeley campus...</p>
<p>And since it's 2 years guaranteed I would hesitate to say that "most" students do not live on campus.</p>
<p>I think it's heck of a lot more representative of the Berkeley experience than some of the stuff you write on here.</p>
<p>Keep deluding yourself. The majority of students do not even take the 2 year offer, and indeed the 2 year offer did not occur until recently.</p>
<p>And you walk around campus like at most an hour a day for 5 days a week. You spend most of your time in classes, in the library studying, inside buildings doing personal stuff, and interacting with the students.</p>
<p>The fact that you think that walking around campus during a propaganda fest makes you think you've somehow experienced Berkeley is pretty foolhardy.</p>
<p>CantSilence, THERE ARE NO STATISTICS ABOUT HOW MANY STUDENTS TOOK THE SECOND YEAR OFFER. I'm sorry, you can't claim that nonsense here. You're right that it was offered for the first time to this year's freshman class.</p>
<p>And how is a tripe to Berkeley's campus any less representative of the school than a similar trip to a different school? If it's true for Berkeley, is it true for all visits of the same nature?</p>
<p>Yep, its similarly true for visits to other schools too which I did not mention. Cal day is interesting to see a general environment but its not really that useful in deciding what college IMO as would visits to other schools. A lot of the arguments pro-UCB'ers make are not mutually exclusive to mine. I never said anything about what the campus itself really looked like. And the majority of students DO NOT live in dorm housing. All the upper classmen do not, and a significant portion of the sophmores do not. That is hardly a majority.</p>
<p>You're right, most students live off campus, but you claimed that most students didn't take the second year offer when in fact you have no idea. </p>
<p>You're right, only a small number of upper classmen live in housing (Channing Bowdwitch and Wada being two popular destinations), and a significant number of sophomores, sure.</p>
<p>I personally believe that Cal Day is not representative of a typical day. (which is why I choose not to attend). I went last week on a Wednesday, on a more typical day. You cannot call Cal Day a typical day since it is a special event on a weekend when students do not have classes.</p>
<p>Clearly it isn't a typical day. Who says that it is? I said "visits of the same nature" - plenty of schools have their "ra ra go here" days. My cousin just went to Stanford's. </p>
<p>But really, how far away from is it from a regular day? In many ways, campus, or at least parts of campus, will feel very similar. Most people will be far more used to the environment on a "regularl day," because they would have been here for a time. It has many "regular day" qualities, but certainly it is no means a reguar day- thousands more people are on campus, far more booths than any other day, more people are talking to people they don't know, staff and students sit out and about in great numbers giving out information, so many things open to anybody who wants to walk in and see, for instance- and I don't know if anyone claimed that it was.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Keep deluding yourself. The majority of students do not even take the 2 year offer, and indeed the 2 year offer did not occur until recently.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Majority do not take 2 year offer? Do you have any proof of that at all?</p>
<p>Why does it matter if it's recently implemented? The matter of the fact is entering freshmen will have guaranteed housing for two years.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And you walk around campus like at most an hour a day for 5 days a week. You spend most of your time in classes, in the library studying, inside buildings doing personal stuff, and interacting with the students.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Maybe you do because from your posts you don't seem too social. Besides, there were tours of the libraries, dorms, buildings, campus, and there were plenty of chances to interact with the students. I asked my tour guide questions and learned a lot about Berkeley. He seemed to really like it and I can see why.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cal day is interesting to see a general environment but its not really that useful in deciding what college IMO as would visits to other schools.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Okay, but many people here do not agree with your opinion. We think it's very useful for many people who have never visited Berkeley before to see what the school is like, what the facilities are like, what the dorms are like, and to get to familiarize themselves with Berkeley.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I never said anything about what the campus itself really looked like.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No but you constantly complain about the "crappy housing" which makes people think Berkeley is old and run-down. For example:</p>
<p>
CRAPPY housing. If paying highly inflated prices for really crapp housing is your thing, then berkeley will suit you. After the 1st year of paying for extremely overpriced, unairconditioned housing shared with a great deal of idiots, the University sends you out to live in extremely overpriced, unairconditoned housing. Which is only a slight improvement because some areas of berkeley have very high crime.
</p>
<p>Quite a picture you paint there. I visited Unit one and Foothill and they both had nice dorms and nice facilities, clean and nice bathrooms, beautiful lounge room downstairs and amentities in Unit one.</p>
<p>Many top private schools do not have air conditioning. I specifically recall that Brown provides no air-conditioning. And that's for a small, private university with a lot of endowments.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And the majority of students DO NOT live in dorm housing. All the upper classmen do not
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I bet some upperclassmen live in Clark Kerr, at least.</p>
<p>
[quote]
and a significant portion of the sophmores do not.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Again, I see no proof for this.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I personally believe that Cal Day is not representative of a typical day.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Of course it's not. That's why it's called "Cal Day" and not "typical Berkeley day". People shouldn't take it as a regular day. However, it does give people a good idea of what to expect from Berkeley, if from nothing more than just an opportunity to familiarize oneself with the campus.</p>
<p>By the same token, I don't think what Can'tSilenceTruth says about Berkeley can be accurately described as a typical Berkeley day. For most students, anyway.</p>
<p>From a mom's perspective - </p>
<p>Last month we visited Davis and I liked the town better than Berkeley, although I only saw a very limited portion...I liked the small town feel of Davis better - but hold on to your butts because I have completely changed my mind...we just got back from our Cal Day excursion...</p>
<p>The awesome things about Berkeley that really hooked me:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The atmosphere was totally NOT what some posters have implied. EVERY and I mean every student from white to asian to black to hispanic (and all the other students I missed) were VERY FRIENDLY and I mean genuine... not some fake rhetoric just for Cal Day...My son and I talked to several students from several colleges so it was a diverse sampling and they all were GREAT and helpful and wonderful - I did not feel a cutthroat nature at all!</p></li>
<li><p>The campus is amazing....the buildings, the landscaping, just everything is beautiful. Very Cambridge like.</p></li>
<li><p>The faculty and staff were VERY NICE. They were very enthusiastic and answered all of our questions without making us feel like pests.</p></li>
<li><p>The dorms were typical of most universities. We toured Unit 1. It was exactly as expected. I have to admit that I am envious and wish I could go back to college and live in the dorms (what a blast that must be!) There is also privately run dorms and Co-ops if the Cal dorms are not your thing.</p></li>
<li><p>The diversity and culture are outstanding. On campus and off campus. We do come from a small town so my son loved the big town feel - It has really grown on me and I really came to love the town of Berkeley. We explored as much as possible in two days (as much as one can explore in two days).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So, as much as I liked Davis and UCSD (I still do) - I really came to love Berkeley and my son is 100% sure about Cal now. He has already submitted his SIR (today yeah!)</p>
<p>Anyways, thought I would give a mom's point of view...this has been a difficult decision as we really do like the other campuses. However, one has to finally choose...and I feel that my son has chosen wisely.</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you!
frozenrope's mom</p>
<p>go bears!!</p>
<p>frozenropes,
you sound like my mom! We didn't go see Davis, but she fell in love with UCLA and with UCSD until she saw CAL for similar reasons. I sent my SIR in today too.</p>
<p>frozenropes,
From one mom to another, best wishes to your son! My son is a first-year student there and he has had an incredible year. Cal is everything he hoped for and a lot more that he never dreamed of. He turned down a more prestigious university to go to Berkeley and never once has he doubted or questioned whether it was the right decision. </p>
<p>And I echo all of the observations you mentioned. My son has made more friends in one year than he has made in his entire life. He's gotten more involved than in high school, which I didn't think possible since his high school was brand new and relatively small. Every month he meets another famous politician (he's a political science major). Sometimes they come to his classes, sometimes to events on campus, sometimes he takes the BART to meet them in SF. He interacts frequently with law students from Boalt (he plans to go to law school). His university paid for him to go to DC for a political conference. It's paying for a trip for him and his best friend (also at Cal) to go to Cancun after finals! (Well, that's a long story, but it's true!) Oh yeah, (the whole reason he's there, duh!) his classes are interesting and his professors approachable. It's not perfect, but I can list the complaints he's made on one hand. Actually, two fingers. (One had to do with his dorm. The other with choosing a 9 a.m. class that met daily.) He's not a complainer by nature, but neither has he always been this happy with life.</p>
<p>"I feel that my son has chosen wisely"</p>
<p>I think he has...;)</p>
<p>Another example of "Berkeley is what you make of it"</p>