<p>I agree with gobama that if he wants to transfer, he can transfer.</p>
<p>It's not our choice, but it's his choice. He can stay at Berkeley, which he will have to do. He will learn to like the campus or still want to transfer. </p>
<p>I'm somewhat biased because I still want to go to an East Coast university (got into NYU, but didn't want to deal with 35,000 tuition and fees) and personally, I might transfer or definitely, only apply to grad schools out east and a couple backups in CA.</p>
<p>As a SoCal native, who has lived in both LA County and Orange County (sometimes people call it the OC), I'm still not used to hella. Then again, I've never used any form of slang term in my vocabulary.</p>
<p>thanks tastyb33f and nhsharvard. and i'm a she not a he <- i had to say something.
tastyb33f: i'm confused. do you go to berkeley or ucla? if you go to berkeley, how are you able to do research at ucla?</p>
<p>I'll be a 4th year at Berkeley. I'm doing summer research. I came down to LA a day after finals ended...it kinda sucked. So I was here for a few weeks while they were still in school.</p>
<p>I agree wholeheartedly with tastyb33f's post.</p>
<p>A word of caution: while it's calming to know that you can transfer out if you don't like it, do NOT start your time at Berkeley with that on your mind. It will probably make you more sensitive to negative things that would otherwise not make you want to transfer. Do try to make the best of your time there before even considering transferring.</p>
<p>Awesome post b33f. Very informative. My cousin got accepted into both UCLA and UCB, and he was pretty torn b/w the two. I of course wanted him to go to UCB so we could kick it together there. He came pretty close to choosing UCB but then backed out last second and went with LA. He said he was worried about the "hardcore-ness" of Berkeley or something along those lines lol.</p>
<p>He just went to orientation a few days ago and talked about how nice and roomy the dorms he was staying in were, each with its own bathroom. Then I thought about my double in Unit 1... lol</p>
<p>Hmm as for my story...
When I first applied to the UCs, I actually planned on getting rejected from Berkeley. So I was pretty bent on going to UCSD. The whole environment there just seemed so appealing to me - nice socal weather and almost every dorm had a walk to the beach. I still had my fingers crossed for Berkeley and when I found out I got in, I was ecstatic. Well that wore off after a few hours and I started freaking out about the two. In the end I chose Berkeley partly because of prestige and parental pressure(lol). But then after reading about Berkeley's cultural diversity, social activism, and that quirkiness to it, I was hooked. I'm not really that into urban type environments, but I think it's good to throw yourself into something new. Like volleyball dad said, "if you don't stretch yourself to the fullest, you won't grow to your fullest".</p>
<p>As for UCLA sometimes I wish I had gotten in(I got rejected) and I think that I might have gone there actually, but it's no good to have those thoughts now. I think I'd like to go down to socal for graduate school though, just to switch things up a bit.</p>
<p>Wow this ended up really long... lol
As for the OP or anyone who's having regrets: it's all about your attitude. I agree with kyledavid80 that it's not good to have that bog you down the whole time when you start at Cal. Always look on the bright side of things and try to make the best of it. If you still feel it's not for you, then by all means transfer. Just remember: college, and life even, all depends on you and what you make of it.</p>
<p>Hope this unnecessarily long post helped.</p>
<p>P.S. "hella" is a commonly used word in my vocabulary, so I'm guessing it's a norcal thing?</p>
<p>BUT, i chose UCLA. I was actually so undecided that I SIR´d both schools in order to have more time. I finally ended up choosing ucla (gorgeous campus, someplace new) but still felt a strong sense of regret. I decided to see things through a bit, joined a sorority, ski team, got super involved in school and ended up content... </p>
<p>Come sophomore year application deadline to transfer schools and I was distraught, I mean a real mess. I hadn´t firmly decided on a major so it was impossible to cobble together a meaningful personal statement. The deadline slipped by but my feelings about Berkeley grew stronger.</p>
<p>I went abroad fall of my Junior year and it was there that I decided to transfer. I sent my application off from Peru. I managed to keep my units low enough and instead of giong back to UCLA, i got a job in my home town, made some money, finished my GEs at a community college and waited to hear. I got in, and I couldn´t be happier. Currently i´m using the money I made to backpack Europe before I move in to the ihouse next week.</p>
<p>So UCLA was doable, my needs were met, I had some good professors, and still have some amazing friends there. For me, however, it never felt like a place I could call home. It´s too sterile and mainstream. I agree with b33f´s conclusions about the area. It was fun, dont get me wrong, but not quite right. Further, I dont regret going there because it has given me a stronger sense of what I want out of my college experience and life in general for that matter. </p>
<p>hope this opposite case scenario helps a bit.</p>
<p>UCB > UCLA nuff said. I chose UCB cause of its prestige and its excellent econ department. I don't look back and say "damn, i should have gone to UCLA" because if i were to go to UCLA, i would probably say "damn, i should have gone to UCB"</p>
<p>I gotta tell you tho, Los Angeles > Berkeley =)</p>
<p>HLS thanks for the post!! it's nice to hear that an undeclared could still make the switch even if it was in the opposite direction, AND you even got study abroad in! what major did you apply under?
oh, and i submitted two sir's too. that was hairy business...</p>