<p>I read the stats on crime rates at Berkeley from ten years ago. I’m certain things are different now but 10 years ago Berkeley had the second highest crime rate in the state. This is true. Now Westwood, on the other hand, has a very very low crime rate. Rapes are at about national average, and so is property crime, but murder and violent crime and car theft is all waaaaaaaaay below national average, in fact, auto theft is almost non existent.</p>
<p>@vintij- I can’t verify your claim, but I can say that there is a lot of crime in Berkeley, even in the nicer parts. I live on northside, which is where a lot of the professors live, and right now we are getting a lot of “don’t be stupid, don’t go out alone” alerts because of all of the armed robberies going on. I’m sure that in North Berkeley though, waaaay up in the hills, there isn’t that much crime. Good luck finding money to rent one of those places though…</p>
<p>@janethedoe- I don’t know anything about anthropology, but unless you have financial reasons or family obligations that require you to stay in LA, I would really advise against going to the same school for undergrad and grad. Not only to get a more balanced education (and a refreshing change of scenery), but one of my professors told me that he was advised against staying at his undergrad school because people who do are often thought of as the department “pet” and looked down upon by their peers, who believe that their work/abilities must be subpar since they already know the faculty well. In other words, they’d equate you to that rich girl whose daddy bought her admission to school.</p>
<p>thnx for your comments CantabilenApathy…i wouldn’t want to be looked down on as the privileged one…although…i sometimes wish i were a rich girl! and had a daddy, hahahaha.</p>
<p>but yeah i don’t want to be considered a pet by any means. and i have been thinking that going to the same university for both undergrad and grad would not be such an attractive idea…cuz i would benefit from going to two different institutions…too bad Harvard Anthropology and Stanford Anthropology are too good for me.
to intern at the Peabody museum is just a pipe dream </3</p>
<p>argh i hope i get into Berkeley now…cuz i really love UCLA’s Institute of Archaeology.</p>
<p>@ jane: I also have the exact same conundrum! I want to go to Cal for either undergrad or grad school. I know I probably can’t have both though :(. UGH! lol. I want Cal grad school more…but I want Berkeley soooo bad now lol.</p>
<p>How weird would it be if you ended up going to Cal and I went to UCLA so that we can get into the opposite schools for grad school?! lol Now that would be the opposite of what I would have predicted.</p>
<p>idk im gonna try for both undergrad and grad…UCLA is just too f-ing awesome. i have concluded.</p>
<p>idk idk idk idk idk idk idk idk</p>
<p>Berkeley is too awesome! :). </p>
<p>Yet…I won’t be able to go to grad school there then UGH!!! lol.</p>
<p>The only thing bad about berkeley is the area… I duno… I’m from one of the cities w/the highest crime rate myself, but i don’t like the idea of being by myself next to oakland.</p>
<p>“right next to Oakland” isn’t that big of a deal. Plus, not all of Oakland is bad; many people move to Oakland after awhile because its so much cheaper there. There is a lot of crime, but all of the incidents I hear of are alone-late-at-night incidents- something you should be wary of wherever you live.</p>
<p>eh… Cantabilen, i’ve never had to be wary when i’m alone late at night where I live. At least i’ve never felt scared. The cops are so bored here its funny. </p>
<p>Actually I take that back. I do have to be wary… of the Cops. Seriously, a couple times i was just going for a walk at night time in a public park and was apprehended by cops. It took 'em half an hour to figure out I wasn’t drunk or getting into mischief. They seemed disappointed. They’re seriously desperate.</p>
<p>@pigsyy-
Oakland is actually quite gentrified as of late. Richmond, on the other hand…</p>
<p>@absurdmike- yeah, I definitely don’t get nervous walking at night, but I do hear a lot about armed robberies so I’m fairly cautious.</p>
<p>@CantabilenApathy
Thanks for the infos. It’s funny to hear how the co-ops try to scare off the students. When I visited the houses (Cloyne, Stebbins and Kingman) on Cal day, I wondered how can they left the place so dirty for tours ???</p>