<p>Even though I didn't SIR yet. The lady , Amy was awesomeand EXTREMELEY awesome.
No helpful calls from DAvis have been forthcoming.</p>
<p>I think subconsciously I have been leaving the option open.</p>
<p>I was on the fence and then decided that Davis would be fore me.
However, for my personal situation, Berkeley has been more supportive and down to earth.
CALso is around the corner and I am still onthe fence. </p>
<p>Okay. I have avoided the "CAl is so perfect" threads but now I am open. PLEASE tell me why Cal is freaking awesome so I can convince my parents that it is not the crime-infested hell hole that they remember. I feel bad for this but I am going to need all of the help I can in convincing my parents that I won't be in danger living in Berkeley.</p>
<p>Thank you and I appreciate any help with convinving arguments.</p>
<p>most people got calls, don’t feel special, he treatment doesn’t stay like that after you get there.</p>
<p>if you go to cal, go there for it’s environment and the academic opportunities, not because they care. They don’t.</p>
<p>Ahh. I have a different situation because I have a child and their is MORE support overall. I am not saying I am special, but there are more available resources and things while at Davis there aren’t. I am talking very useful resources here (less debt, child care, etc.).</p>
<p>My parents don’t think that Berkeley is where I should be thinking of going, but from I can see I won’t even be living in Berkeley, but in a nearby town called Albany. I can also apply for a program that makes 8 units a fulltime student status. That alone would help my situation. My parents would be more supportive ($) if they didn’t think I would be moving to a bad environment. Academics, which is a good argument, isn’t helping my case because they are more worried over my safety. </p>
<p>We have lived in the East Bay and I don’t remember it being a safe place… It would be fine if I were by myself but I am not :/</p>
<p>My BIG question is: is Berkeley a bit different, safety wise, from the surrounding environments?</p>
<p>I haven’t lived in the city of Berkeley so most of my judgements are based on the crime infested areas I lived before.
Is it safer overall?</p>
<p>you have an interesting situation. I unfortunately haven’t done much research on berk in general. I aimed low and got low(UCI) though I might’ve had a shot at UCB or LA if I applied… all i know about is irvine and that’s because I live right by it</p>
<p>The east bay is very safe if you have the money. Same probably goes for places around Berk.</p>
<p>The proximity to Oakland makes it look worse on a map than it really is. I lived there in the 90s, and had no problems. In fact, I’ve heard that the area has cleaned up since. The cost of parking is the greatest crime inflicted upon the populace there. In general, the key to living in Berkeley is the farther north or east you can go, the better.</p>
<p>Thank you^^
When I looked at the map of the village, it looks pretty safe. Basically, I will be surrounded by university students. It appears that I will live close to the bay North of Berkeley. The housing looks really good to be honest. Last time I visited, the housing looked really, really, bad-in fact the old housing for transfers w/kids were barracks remnants of WWII (from what I remember). I find it somewhat amusing that the housing is a town away from the campus, but there is a bus that goes directly to the campus so that isn’t too big of a problem. I hear you about the parking. I paid $6.00 for 1.5 hours of parking :(</p>
<p>Aww…you know what she said? “I started Cal as a struggling single parent but a couple of months after I graduated I instantly became middle class. People spoke to me differently, I got treated better, etc.” </p>
<p>I wonder if that wasn’t hyperbole? Do Cal students emit different pheromones when they graduate 
?</p>
<p>Or did she “Cal out” like I’ve seen before (Cal stickers all over the car, alumni plates, sweaters, etc.)
It was something to think about though.</p>
<p>Albany is a slice of heaven. Most perfect place ever. Super safe.</p>
<p>It is the best place to raise kids. How old is your son or daughter?</p>
<p>She is 5 yo</p>
<p>My dad, who I just talked to, said that Albany is different than the Berkeley area.
The housing at the villages is sumptuous compared to other family housing I have seen at other UC (more focus on improving residence halls). Goodness and the bay is practically down the street.</p>
<p>edit: Oh lord! He became excited about Albany because of the race track. Goodness.</p>
<p>Not because I got accepted to Cal.</p>
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<p>17 elements were discovered at berkeley. enuff said</p>
<p>I don’t know, I don’t particularly think the “17 elements” argument will be enough to convince a parent. Besides that, I don’t understand what the big deal is with discovering new elements. Almost all of the recent ones aren’t even stable enough to exist past one micromillosecond, so you really can’t do anything with them.</p>
<p>In terms of safety, yes, it’s safe, but only during the day. My friends (both male and female) who go to Cal tell me about how they’re absolutely terrified of going out after the sun sets. While they may be exaggerating, it just takes one bad incident to scar you for life. Make a lot of friends and make sure that you always have someone to go home with. Buddy system. (I don’t mean to scare you or anything).</p>
<p>The Village is in Albany and it’s a different world there. I agree I don’t think one should be walking around Berkeley alone after dark (although I did it many, many times during my youth), but the Village and Albany in general is totally safe.</p>
<p>@flwrgrl</p>
<p>As a fellow parent-student, I would advise you to choose Cal. The resources and support available to parent-students at Cal is amazing. Cal has been the pioneer UC as far as accommodating parent-students…in fact, the girl that heads the comparable program at UCLA told me that they model their program after Cal’s.
Since I live in the bay area, I have stopped by the TRSP office several times this past month and they have helped me tremendously. Alice Jordan, in particular, is incredible. She has helped me every step of the way in order to get childcare (those who have no knowledge of what it takes to get subsidized childcare cannot appreciate what a huge task this can be).</p>
<p>As far as safety…like other posters have mentioned, the village is in Albany and it is a utopia. Have you visited? I was shocked the first time I visited there. It seems like a wonderful place to live if you have small children. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s because I live in the bay area…I just don’t understand why people think Berkeley is such a dangerous place. It’s true you shouldn’t be walking around alone at night, but that can be applied anywhere. Common sense tells you it’s probably not a smart idea to do that no matter what area you are in…crazy stuff can happen even in the safest areas. Also, there’s a resource called BearWalk (I think)…you can call them and they will walk with you. </p>
<p>Anyway, feel free to PM me if you have any questions. If you do decide to go to Cal, we should definitely keep in touch. We’ll be neighbors at the village after all! =)</p>