<p>Eh. A fifth year is not always a bad thing. Especially if you want to study abroad or do an internship or something like that.</p>
<p>Besides, you shouldn't go straight to grad school anyway.</p>
<p>oh, i know i can't go straight to grad school...</p>
<p>but it's just another 20k+</p>
<p>$20K? How on earth, if you are a California resident, can you imagine that Cal will cost you $20K? </p>
<p>I mean, I lived far above a pauper's lifestyle, and accrued $10K debt TOTAL at UCLA in the course of five years.</p>
<p>i dunno...whenever i look at the little charts for how much cal costs, it comes to around 20k if you live on campus...is that overestimated?</p>
<p>And you're going to live on campus all four years? It's not like you're going to be jobless the whole time, right?</p>
<p>Financial aid?</p>
<p>what financial aid? Cal gave out tons of loans, and hardly any grants. it will cost 20k if she stays another year.</p>
<p>^ If money is an issue to you, you will have no problem graduating in 4 years, and I known many students to graduate in 2-3 years. </p>
<p>But if money is not an issue to you, I believe that the "Berkeley Experience" is something that most people do realize later on that it was the best time of their life.</p>
<p>YOU can graduate in four years if you plan ahead, don't change majors, keep up, consider 8:00 am and Friday classes. Kids who whine about not getting classes, are really whining about not getting the classes they want with hot professors at times they prefer.</p>
<p>Also, the UC's have been raising tuition significantly over the past several years....many folks work PT to pay the bills, so, with the $$ increases, they have to take less classes. So, it not exactly fair to compare the 4 year graduation rate against a private univ.</p>
<p>ARGH, this is so stupid. If the UCs don't get their collective acts together, they're going to lose so many students.</p>
<p>Anyway, yes 4 years can be done (I did it at UCLA, even, and the Cal fanboy said we were on the whole too stupid too.)</p>
<p>I agree with the previous poster. You really have to sometimes take classes you're not interested in. However, don't let a four-year plan deter you from going abroad or studying in Washington, DC or any of that. You still need to do stuff to enrich the experience, or school just becomes a dreadful place.</p>
<p>^ Cal was not a dreadful place. Even if I lived in a dungeon at Cal, I would still have luved the place...</p>
<p>Well, I'm going to assume you were engaged with your education, no?</p>
<p>Imagine someone just doing it "to get it done."</p>
<p>^ I loved my major and everything I studied. But I can't imagine someone going to school, just to "get it done". that is weird...</p>
<p>Didn't hang out with "pre-laws" much, did you? :-P</p>
<p>^ Did. My ex-gf was one. So were some of my other friends. They seemed to love their classes. I remember my ex-gf talking about this one class she had, some class about Confucian interpretation of Law, and she loved it. </p>
<p>Lets just say that I had a very very unusual life of partying and finding myself, and I feel very very lucky to be where I am at today... hehe =)</p>
<p>My experience with a lot of people at both schools was one of, "get done, get to work, make money."</p>
<p>Bah.</p>
<p>^ yeah, thats what a lot of people at UCLA and Haas say. For some reason, everyone around me didn't want to leave. Some still live at Berkeley even thought they graduated a long time ago...</p>
<p>Part of me wants to live in West LA my whole life, but....</p>
<p>I figure it's more fun to travel the world and do stuff outside of my bubble anyway!</p>
<p>^ Yeah. I went overseas to do that. International and interdisciplinary is the wave of the future, IMHO. </p>
<p>BTW, bubbles is all about perspective. Some would argue that US is one big bubble considering how unpopular the US is right now.</p>
<p>Well, my plan involves teaching abroad in Japan and maybe China, so I'm definitely leaving any bubble I've established.</p>
<p>^ Thats good. UCLA has a good name in Asia.</p>