<p>My friend won a roundtrip ticket anywhere southwest flies. I wone a lava lamp. Stuff like that, and waterbottles, food, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah the prizes ranged from cheap to good. Last year I won an ipod. YAY!!!!</p>
<p>Man, I wanted that IPod. unlimitedx, I'll trade you one Google lava lamp for the IPod. Eh? Eh???</p>
<p>Wow you won a google lava lamp???</p>
<p>Yes sir, I did, indeed.</p>
<p>What I got from Caltopia last year:
* Caltopia T-shirt
* Berkeley-Oakland map from AAA
* Cal Summer Sessions poster
* Free smoothie sample
* Issue of the Daily Cal
* Lots of other flyers, ads, and random junk (90% of which I later threw away)
* A bottle of soft drink and a popsicle
I didn't win any sweepstakes.</p>
<p>do you buy books during the welcome week?</p>
<p>Many, many people do.</p>
<p>so does anyone think welcome week is actually fun/exciting/worthwhile as a freshman? Cuz I was psyched about it before reading this forum...but now I'm not so sure.</p>
<p>You should know this forum is not representative of the student body at Cal. Sometimes I feel students who are about to attend Berkeley spends way too much time here for their own good, esp. during the <em>most carefree</em> summer ever :p</p>
<p>if you're a freshman, you really should go to welcome week. it's a chance to meet people, make some friends, get to know the campus, settle in, and have some fun. this isn't to say you won't meet new people after welcome week, or that the people you meet during welcome week will become your lifelong friends necessarily but it's nice to know a few people to at least call up and have dinner with your first few weeks/months.</p>
<p>the reason behind spens-black triples being bigger is that those triples were actually meant to be triples, meaning bigger rooms and a closet for each person. if you're living in a unit 1 triple like me, we're probably getting converted doubles, which means they just threw in a bunkbed/desk thing.</p>
<p>I didn't read the previous posts, so I don't know if what I'm about to say has been covered- but I did not go to welcome week, and I wasn't any worse off. I mean, sure, it might take you a TINY bit longer to make friends and all, but think about it- YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE YEARRRRR to party, make friends, study, and do whatever it is you want. You'll be in the thick of things within the first 2-3 weeks...just be social.</p>
<p>Now, I have to admit that it was a tad bit easier for me, due to the unlikely luck of having a dude I befriended at calso live right next to me. Talk about coincidence, ey? Anyway, long story short, we became great friends and lived happily ever after (in our respective dorms! hahaha)</p>
<p>The best advice that I can give is to build a strong core group of friends. The first month of school consisted of me hanging out with my two best friends, and that core quickly expanded to include more and more friends. Everyone brings someone in, and before you know it you're being turned away from parties because you show up with 20 people, lol.</p>
<p>Anyway, if given the choice between going to welcome week and not going- I would definitely choose to go. There were circumstances beyond my control both last year and this year that prevent(ed) me from going to welcome week....but am I worse off because of it? No. Although, I should note that I was looking forward to experiencing welcome week this year (but can't make it once again)....so......</p>
<p>In a nutshell, go if you can, but if you can't don't stress about it too much.</p>
<p>Go Bears!</p>
<p>Frat parties. That's all I have to say.</p>