I’m in a bit of a predicament, albeit probably the best one I’ll ever be in. I was accepted to UCB’s class of 2021 which I’m very excited about, but I’m worried about the location and crime rate. I’m from a small town in VA, so I think Berkeley would be a huge jump. I have average common sense, but I don’t have any family over there. I was also accepted to UVA, which makes my decision that much harder. I love UCB, but I’m worried about living on the opposite side of the country and my family in a not-so-safe environment. I’d like to tour but it’s hard to get over there (I’m 17).
I was also waitlisted at NU and UChicago, so I’m also afraid of committing to UCB and then getting a spot at NU or UChicago. Thoughts? Advice? Any UCB student relate to this when you applied?
Not to rain on your parade about the WL, but don’t count on getting in. That being said, you should look at the cost of attendance. Can you afford OOS tuition at Cal?
Yes
We welcome your $100K OOS tuition in CA. Sure you won’t get anything from Cal that you won’t get at UVA; we have the same large classes and lack of attention. But go for it anyway!!!
Stay out of Oakland. Several friends have been mugged and burgled there. Paying OOS tuition for Cal over in-state UVa is not a responsible use of your parents money. Just wait until you hear back fom Northwestern and Chicago, or May 1, whichever comes first.
@TooOld4School my parents are the ones pushing me to choose Cal, so it’s not about the money honestly.
If you are going to do computer science or engineering, there is a large difference between Berkeley and UVA. Though Berkeley is a very competitive place with grade deflation, so be ready for that. I doubt there is enough of a difference between two schools outside of engineering and computer science.
Well, I have family that lives in Berkeley and another relative that attends Cal now. And I have a few other relatives that graduated Cal. I’m in City of Berkeley a bunch. What crime? Yes, when some conservative (Milo) came to speak, there was some crime, but it wasn’t the students. The possibility of crime in either Oakland or Berkeley wouldn’t concern me one bit in the least. Oakland is vibrant city with an outstanding new-ish Mayor, new police chief and has been on the rise for a few years.
For me, Chicago would be far more worrisome.
You will be fine in student housing. It’s more an issue with apartments a bit away from Campus. If you are speaking of the recent protests on Campus - who knows? The issues with overbooking of classes at Cal can be a real problem however.
Is there any particular reason that you want to make a decision before you hear back (e.g. housing) from the other schools? It may be only a few more days. Under worst case, you withdraw from Cal and lose your deposit. By any objective measure, UVa (or VT) make more sense for a Virginia resident, unless you are in engineering or CS perhaps.
You’ll grow a lot going to the other side of the country and have all new experiences. Plus, UCB is a great University. Crime is not really much different than most campuses. Use reasonable judgement and you’ll be fine with that.
Thanks for the responses everyone!!! I’m still thinking about it… a lot. I’m going to tour UCB before May 1st and then make my decision
My son is graduating this year and has never had any issues. He lived in Foothill dorm his first year and since he and his suite mates always forgot their keys so they never locked the door and never had a problem. He lived in an apartment on south side for six months and although he never had a problem, his roommates bike was stolen and a neighbor had her car broken into. Since then he has lived on the north side which is quiet, mostly families and very safe (look at a crime map of Berkeley). He and his roommates are back to not locking the back door.
Since he came from a small town on California’s central coast, I worried he would lack street smarts but he picked some up. When he and his friends return at 1am from San Francisco on the BART train, they pay an uber $5 to take them home from the station rather than walk 20 minutes from downtown in the middle of the night. The campus seems to make a lot of effort to keep students safe, such as escort service at night for students walking across campus.
Probably the crime risks that new frosh at residential colleges tend to underestimate are:
- Theft of unattended unlocked items. Lots of new frosh from low crime areas prop open the main door to the dorm building and leave their room doors unlocked when leaving their rooms, or leave valuables unattended in the library or other places. (Surprised that the student described in #11 has not had anything stolen.)
- Assault (both fights and sexual assault) in situations where peoples' judgement has been compromised by alcohol consumption. New frosh whose first experience with alcohol is at a rowdy fraternity party are particularly vulnerable, since they may not know their limits (and, in terms of sexual assault, may be naive about how predators practice rape-by-intoxication).
Long time Berkeley resident. Posts 8, 11 & 12 are very accurate. There have been incidents near campus, but, if I were your father, I’d be more comfortable with you going to Cal than Chicago. [I’ve lived there too.] If NU is Northwestern, it might be a closer call. If money is not an issue, the Foothill dorms are very nice, but it can be a long walk uphill.
Comment#4 sounds like it comes from someone who has never actually been to Oakland. There are parts of Oakland that are significantly safer and more expensive than Berkeley. Rockridge, Montclair, Piedmont are all rich areas. Temescal is also an up and coming area, and so is uptown oakland. I’ve lived in Oakland for over 10 years. Stay out of east oakland and the lower part of west oakland and you should be fine.
I also lived in Berkeley and went to school in Berkeley and my gf graduated from UC Berkeley so if you have any questions about the area you can ask.
I will agree that lately there has been some assaults on/near cal campus that have been worrying.
Berkeley is not dangerous. The worst thing that ever happens to 99 percent of people is getting panhandled every once in a while.
As an aside, UChicago is not nearly as dangerous as people make it out to be either. The entire area around the university has been on an upswing for decades.
Definitely true. Neither me nor my gf have had anything terrible happen to us except once my car window was broken but I had left the corner of my ipod showing so it was partially my fault anyways.
Let’s look at USA today’s 10 most dangerous cities, Chicago doesn’t make the list, Oakland comes in at number nine. As the article says these numbers aren’t likely to change much year over year, having said that, this should be way down the list on choosing a college, otherwise who would ever go to USC? b-(
True, isn’t USC in a super-iffy area?
Never been there though, full disclaimer. I hate going to LA lol.