Friend admitted for spring, please help

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>a friend of mine got in to cal for spring 06, (i’m in for fall), and he is really really worried, because there a few disadvantages of spring. I would really like to help my friend out but I’m not sure if you can appeal for fall, plus he is now considering schools that would be less than perfect for him (he loves cal, but this spring admittance…).</p>

<p>Okay,</p>

<p>Spring 06 admits are basically out of the loop when it comes to the social scene within dorms, because you miss the whole bonding time between your floor/room mates. Everybody else has already met everybody else, and has been together for a good while, but you just show up on their floor, and are a little bit segregated because of that initial lack of bonding. Of course, if you are a pretty outgoing person, this wouldn’t matter, but still, you would not have the same amount of time with your roomies/floor mates, because once spring is over, most of the people will leave, while you will probably stay in the dorms for the next fall semester. You could stay for another year in the dorms (since housing is guaranteed for 2 years), but again, a lot of the people you have already met will probably have moved away, and you will be within a majority of freshmen. Plus, dorms are expensive, and the reason many people pay the ridiculous price for dorms is because they are able to make friends that are with them for the next 4 years, if not their entire life. If any of you have gone to summer camp halfway through, I’m sure you have experienced this “out of the loop” feeling.</p>

<p>second disadvantage. Sports. My friend wants to be on the freshman crew team, but how can he if he is a spring admit? he will not be a freshman in fall 06, so he misses a semester of the sport, which then points to the question “why even try to join the sport at all?” He basically can’t do crew, but he really really wants to.</p>

<p>third disadvantage, you will be graduating at a totally awkward time unless you try to graduate early.</p>

<p>Any tips, suggestions, anything? any previous spring admits want to chime in?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>I was accepted to Berkeley for spring as well. One thing is to enroll in the fall extension program for freshman. you can still live on campus and you'll be taking 3-4 classes so you wont graduate late. It's a really great program. it's going to be a little bit more expensive, but fin aid is available. Tell your friend they should do it. i know i am.</p>

3

<p>isn't there the housing problem with fall extension though? for example, you go into the specialized extension dorm, and also there is a lottery system for housing?</p>

4

<p>I know someone last year who got admitted Spring, appealed, and got admitted Fall. It's difficult, but I do believe it's possible.</p>

5

<p>fall housing is by lottery too. fall extension has a lottery after fall does.</p>

6

<p>no, i meant that fall extension doesn't guarantee that you will get housing, is this not true?</p>

7

<p>that is true. they said that they'll most likely find somewhere for you to go, so that kinda sucks</p>

8

<p>I just read about that actually on the FPF site, but they also say on the site that generally FPF students can NOT participate in fall sports..</p>

9

<p>Ok i got in Cal spring as well, along with several people i know from my school. Also, ive talked to a couple people who have gone thru the spring program as well as friends who know people. My understanding is the following: 1) As far as dorms, no, spring admits are not guaranteed housing, but they typically get it anyways. You end up living in the same place as the Fall admits. 2) No he will not be able to join crew in the fall since he technically is not a student. But if your friend really enjoys the sport then i wouldnt let that stop him from participating in the future. Sure that sucks but just saying "Well i didnt get in Fall '05 i better not join at all" certainly isnt the right approach. If they like the sport then train like crazy and join the next time around. 3) The entire purpose of the FPF is to make it as seamless as possible to assimilate back into the normal class after the first semester. You take the same type of classes as a regular fall admit would, and recieve credit for having taken them, they simply dont count toward the cumulative GPA (a good thing IMHO) just as classes at a community college wouldnt. One class, the R&C (writing basically) unless you test out of it, is actually held on campus while the others are near campus. In the end a spring admit who goes thru the FPF program should follow the same timeline as a typical Fall admit. Im definitely still going to keep looking into it, but ive already signed up, and i would encourage your friend to do so as well, as theres only 600 spots for 1200 spring admits.</p>

10

<p>thanks for the help, any other comments would be appreaciated.</p>

<p>the thing about crew is that my friend tells me that it would be nearly impossible for him to join the varsity team, because they are just that good. but the freshman team would not be as hard to join. Do you think he could talk to the coach or are the rules regarding team members strict?</p>

<p>also, what do you mean by near campus? i know the berkeley area pretty well ( i live there ) so if you could name some streets that would be cool.</p>

11

<p>Well honestly i dont know what more your friend could do about the sports team, it would be like someone at Chabot asking to be on the Cal crew team. But certainly he should get over to the campus, make some calls, talk to the coaches, whatever, and make it known that he has a desire to be part of the team in whatever way possible. Worst case scenario: he has to wait until next year to tryout for the team. Uber worst case scenario: he cant get on either team. In the end if he has for it he should just keep trying if its something he'd honestly like to persue on a intercollegiate level. About the proximity of the classes, i honestly dont know more than that theyre supposed to be close. Ive been looking trying to find if theres actually a permanent building for classes. Ill keep looking but if any alum of the program or anyone in general knows where classes are at that would be helpful.</p>

12

<p>thanks for the help, I will pass on as much of this info as possible.</p>

<p>I think another thing that scared him about the FPF, is that although you are in the dorms, you are not taking the same classes as the people on your floor/room/whatever, and classes are in a way connection builders, if you know what I mean. </p>

<p>Any other comments would be appreciated.</p>

13

<p>Your friend don't have to worry. All the clubs in Berekely will welcome the Spring admit with open arms. Just get himself involved and he will be connected.</p>

14

<p>i hear fall extensions prefer it cuz its a nice way to come in and i hear some fall pple wish they were spring admits to do extension</p>

15

<p>Mehmet,</p>

<p>Check out <a href="http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/fpffaq.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/fpffaq.html&lt;/a>. The FAQ has some info on sports participation for students enrolled in FPF:</p>

<p>Q. What campus organizations and activities can I join?
A. You are welcome to participate in all student activities and join sororities and fraternities, with the exception of participating in UC Berkeley athletic teams. However, some teams will let students work out with them, in preparation for the spring semester.</p>

<p>For my S, it was a pretty smooth transition to CAL as a Spring Admit. He was in the dorms (check out the Theme houses as a possibility), and he met people in his classes in FPF. There are plenty of housing opportunities - Telgraph Commons, the Coops. </p>

<p>The classes through FPF compare well with the ones he has had this semester - some good, some ok. I do think the bit about grades not counting is an advantage, in case you are off to a slightly bumpy start. </p>

<p>The classes are on the southside of campus. Here's a link to some teacher profiles <a href="http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/fpfinstructors.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/fpf/fpfinstructors.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<ol>
<li><p>is it absolutely necessary to go to the Fall extension?</p></li>
<li><p>what are the chances to get to room with other friends that got admitted fall semester?</p></li>
</ol>

17

<p>freshmen are only allowed to row on the freshmen boats anyway. even that may be difficult to get into as a large portion of them are recruited from canada, serbia, yugoslavia, etc. the crew guys also have their own house...</p>

<p>a lot of freshmen actually do lightweight, a club team i'm pretty sure extension people can join. they're still pretty hardcore. waking up at 5am... ehhh... good luck with that, haha.</p>