<p>I will be transferring to UC Berkeley this Fall and I might room with one of my friends (going to SFSU) in San Francisco. I (we) have not finalized anything. We just talked about it, but I would love to live in S.F. The areas that we are looking are the Hayes Valley, Soma, Downtown, and a few more around that area. Does anyone know how the AC Transit Transbay "F" Line commute is? How long does it usually take? Does it actually run on time? Is it worth it? If anyone has done this can you share your experience? </p>
<p>If I do live in S.F., I am going to see if Berkeley can adjust my financial aid to help with transportation fees because I would like to use the Bart (Faster). It's $7.30 round trip, so that would roughly cost me $120-150 each month. I don't know if they will do that? When I was at CalSo one of the counselor/volunteers told me that if they do adjust your financial aid they usually increase your loans and not the grants/scholarships. If that is the case then I will probably not adjust my financial aid.</p>
<p>I posted this in the UC Transfer forum (they suggested that I move it here) and the people that responded suggested that I take the Bart because it is faster. I know that my commute will be a litte longer if I have to use the AC Transit Transbay Line.</p>
<p>First and foremost congrats on getting into Berkeley. The commute from San Francisco will be a burden that incoming students should not have to deal with. If I were you I would take BART even though you can ride the AC transit F line for free with your Cal 1 card. It’s faster and more efficient. However, I would highly recommend just looking for an apartment in Berkeley, because you would miss out on a lot of things if you live far from college.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend commuting since you’ll lose out on a lot of the social aspects of college if you do so. However, if you do commute, I would recommend that you do indeed take the F line since it’s free and it actually circles campus after arriving in Berkeley (from BART you would have to walk or take a bus). The disadvantages of the F line are less frequent departures (solved if you become familiar with the schedule) and the fact it only departs from the transbay terminal in sf (solved if you find a place nearby, such as soma as you mentioned).</p>
<p>there’s also the FS, which only runs during peak hours. It’s theoretically faster than the F since it gets off the freeway at berkeley instead of Oakland. It’s not always faster cause traffic in University is horrible.</p>
<p>Don’t do it. It will take a ton of time. The FS and the other express lines run in the opposite direction as what OP wants (ie, they go into SF in the morning and return to east bay 4:30-7:30 pm).</p>
<p>We are all trying to discourage you from commuting. Since you are a transfer, you only get 2 years at Berkeley, which is not a lot. Moreover,
you probably will not have the perfect schedule of classes (i.e. chunks here and there), so unless you like webcasting, come to class. Most importantly you will miss the most important experience of sharing a floor/restroom/dorm with incoming students. If you are not convinced and still maintain a strong hold on S.F. then take BART-reliable and air-conditioned ;)</p>