My child was fortunate enough to be accepted to Berkeley. We have visited twice, but the atmosphere around the campus, particularly the homeless situation, makes her feel it’s not a good choice for her. She is very strong academically. All the parents and former Berkeley students from our area have only said good things about the school and Berkeley itself, even in light of the urban issues, but my daughter isn’t convinced.
How do kids who come from manicured suburbs adjust to the environs of Berkeley? Are her concerns enough to not attend, or is it something that all the kids adjust to? I’d hate for her to dismiss such a great school.
I came to Berkeley from a suburb in SoCal that was seemingly void of homelessness. I personally haven’t had any trouble adjusting to the school’s urban setting. I was pretty uncomfortable my first week or two here, but I adjusted
to the environment fairly quick. Also, most homeless people are pretty respectful in the area, so I don’t think prospective students should be worried about them.
If your daughter wants to avoid any homeless people for the most part just have her stay at the Foothill dorms. Problem solved.
Most urban campuses good or bad are going to have homeless people around. Many are walking distance to high crime areas, those are the ones to be more leery of quite frankly, not places where homeless people are more welcome. Yale and USC and University of Chicago come to mind.
Our S struggled with the same concerns a few years ago. In the end he did not go to Cal but a good friend of his did. His friend is thriving there after what he called “a few weeks of acclimatization”. So, IMO it’s not a big thing, but it is a thing.
Thanks for all the replies. What about crime? Is that a concern on Telegraph and the surrounding streets? @ProfessorPlum168 , can the student select Foothill as the dorm or does the school choose for you? I know you have to apply for Bowles Hall, but what power does the student have in selecting the desired dorm?
@LMK5 For dorms, it’s a lottery system. You choose the dorm building (eg Foothill, Unit 3, etc) and configuration (single, double, triple, etc) as your choices. You are given 5 choices. If you wanted say Foothill, you would choose that as your first couple of options, for example, Foothill double and Foothill quads. For Bowles, it sounds like a separate bidding system. I was under the mistaken impression that it was only for Regents candidates and the like, but apparently anyone can apply/bid. You probably have a good chance of getting a Foothill bid, since that’s usually more the domain of engineers, so the dorm probably isn’t as popular as the more social south side dorms.
From what I can tell, most of the homeless hangouts would be on the south end, going down Telegraph past People’s Park. 95% of them, you just leave them alone, they don’t bother you. A few seem to enjoy engaging in philosophical and political conversations with themselves or perhaps with other people. I’ve rarely seen any try to panhandle. In reality there’s really not that many homeless people, I think the “icky” part is more the mess that is left behind on the sidewalks. Crime is probably around the same as any urban campus. Students do have a notification email system about any crime that is committed within the UC-Berkeley vicinity.
Kids adjust well, but what are her alternatives? Every urban school will have homeless nearby. She can avoid Telegraph Ave by moving off campus to Northside, which is much quieter.
OTOH, there are plenty of suburban colleges with manicured lawns.
What is your daughter’s intended major? For engineers, math, or physical sciences majors, the Foothills/Stern (women only)/Bowles residence halls are pretty close to their home departments. After first year, she can find an apartment north of campus (more $ though) in a more residential area if she chooses.
Northside apartments are still cheaper compared to a cost of a dorm though. You can find 1 bedroom apartments suitable for 2 people for $2500 a month on Northside, 2 or 3 blocks from campus.
@billchu2 , her intended major is either history, business, or economics. Also, she is an EOP student. Does anyone know if that status grants priority registration for classes or housing?
@LMK5 through Berkeley Student Coop (BSC), she might be able to get additional housing availability via EOP. Some of the housing is on the north side, some on the south side. I would call and ask.
Foothill and Stern houses all kinds of majors, not just STEM majors, so I wouldn’t worry about that too much. Generally speaking, the choice for dorms revolves more around quiet/less social (Foothill/Stern/Bowles) or more social/less quiet (Units, Blackwell). Another choice, maybe a really good one for your daughter, that I didn’t mention in this thread for a dorm is Clark-Kerr, which is also very nice and passing through very nice neighborhoods, but you either have to trudge 20 minutes to school or take a bus. The sorority housing is all in very nice neighborhoods as well.
Vanderbilt is culturally (politically and economically) very different from the other three schools. In 2017, the New York Times published an article comparing number of students in the top 1% of household incomes (> $630k) vs. the bottom 60% (< $65k). Your daughter’s accepted schools are listed below. The third column represents the percentage of students in the top 1% of income. The fourth column is the percentage of students in the bottom 60% of income. The first column represents the rank out of all colleges of the ratio between the 3rd and 4th columns.
@billchu2 , thanks for the article. Vanderbilt definitely gives off some of that preppy vibe. We were there for a recruitment weekend and it sounded like she liked it. Unfortunately in the end they decided not to throw any merit or aid dollars her way.
If she wants to pursue business at Cal, she will have to apply to Haas near the end of her sophomore year (GPA, specific classes) - about a 30-ish% acceptance rate for Berkeley undergrads. So, it’s not something she can just switch into once she’s in.
That aside, we are from a suburb in Northern California, and D learned how to navigate the area pretty quickly, from all perspectives (geographically, safety, socially, etc.), and to be more confident in a world that isn’t always going to be manicured lawns and clean streets.
Also from suburbia. It was illegal to panhandle in my hometown, so I never met homeless people until I came here. Berkeley got me out of my bubble. Yep, had a few philosophical discussions with homeless people.
Units and Blackwell are closest to homeless people.
Most crime consists of people stealing laptops from Cafe Strada.
Your options are all acceptable options. IDK. I feel like Vanderbilt has to be more prestigious to be worth the price, so I’d personally be between Santa Cruz and Berkeley. So then it’s whether she’s more of a stereotypical Berkeley person (not the competitive one. The not competitive, just driven one) or Santa Cruz person.
Coops are more of a sophomore thing, but you get priority if you’re EOP. Plus EOP people get separate advisors and are also one of the groups that get free food periodically, and company trips. My roommate says it’s cool.
But not on-campus housing or class priority. Only Regents and sports people get priority, but it’s not super hard to get into your classes.
Bowles is completely separate, like only marginally affiliated with Berkeley. Their application isn’t on a UC Berkeley website.
All apartments are cheaper than dorms, but always stay in dorms freshman year for the experience.
@LMK5 Tell your kid homeless are people too, nothing to fear (I am not trying to be snarky at all). Tell her to stop by and say hi the next time she sees a homeless person, ask them how they are doing, maybe even buy them a sandwich, or give them a buck or two. The interaction will help her getting over the fear/discomfort of homeless people.
Yes. I feel like Duke is better than Berkeley, probably still not worth the price, but that Vanderbilt and Berkeley are on the same level, but with opposite connotations to random people who might read your resume. I’m not too much of an expert though. Other people might say differently. Still 60,000$ a year. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/15/703940202/buying-a-college-degree-did-aunt-becky-overpay
Might say that the Return on Investment isn’t worth it.
Also https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/palaces-for-the-people/
Epitome of Berkeley.
Berkeley Project cleans up abandoned areas owned by the city and parks one day a year, hundreds of people do gardening and upkeep projects.
Starbucks has a pretty low homeless person tolerance, but McDonalds has a pretty high homeless tolerance.
We have a lot of libraries in the city of Berkeley
There’s homeless people, but on the southside, near Clark Kerr, are mansions (separate from the frats), so it’s a mix.
The Suitcase Clinic provides health service to homeless people, washes their feet, cuts their nails.
Telegraph ambassadors always seem to be cleaning the streets of Berkeley.
Mailmen walk on foot.
