I'm a 3rd year at Cal, and I'd love to answer your questions :)

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

<p>This forum was really helpful for me during my college admissions process, and I'd like to give something back.</p>

<p>So, about me:</p>

<p>I'm a 3rd year EECS major at Cal, a school that has changed my life in more ways than I can count.</p>

<p>I am focusing on Computer Science, and my primary goal is to found, or take an active role in, a start-up consumer web application company. I will probably be getting my Masters degree in CS from Cal in 2009, and I hope that my MS research will aid in the development of a start-up idea. In addition to my courses, I am involved in undergraduate CS research and in theater.</p>

<p>I can probably help you out if you are wondering about life at Cal, dorms, food, EECS (courses, EE vs. CS, the workload, the people, etc.), engineering in general (classes, life, choices in major, etc.), undergraduate research, theater, Jewish life on campus, entrepreneurship courses, Cal vs. other schools, etc.</p>

<p>So, in the spirit of that other sticky thread, ask away :).</p>

2

<p>Something I've wondered for a long time... how long does it take to get a masters? A PhD? I know it varies from major to major, but what's usual? Do you know about linguistics/psychology? I can't seem to find much on Berkeley's site, either.</p>

3

<p>A Masters' usually takes a year or two, a Phd, depends on field of study and thesis, 3 to 4 years on upwards to 8 on the more extreme end</p>

4

<p>i'm an international student (Canada) applying for L&S... is it really as hard as I've heard to get in? My counseller told me that I had a better chanceo f getting into HYPMS than berkeley.... he's been wrong on quite a few occasions so I don't fully trust him lol.</p>

5

<p>11% acceptance rate for internationals</p>

<p>I was from Canada too. Let me know if you have questions</p>

6

<p>As for a question for Calstudent86, could you provide a little desciption of the dorms and life at Cal (including a bit about jewish life, i am also jewish)</p>

7

<p>Cool, I have the same academic interests as you do... but after OHP (stayed with an EECS major) and all that I don't think I have too many questions.
Although, I guess I am curious - what is the best way to succeed in EECS with a focus on CS?</p>

8

<p>kyledavid80:</p>

<p>At Cal, an MS in engineering takes 3 or 4 semesters. The 5th Year MS program that I will probably accept involves taking graduate classes the second semester of senior year, plus an extra year. A PhD in engineering takes around 10 semesters. I can't tell you about Linguistics or Psychology, though.</p>

<p>mathtastic_nerd:</p>

<p>If you could be a little more specific, that would be helpful. I'm not sure what you want to hear about the dorms, as I don't know what you already know.</p>

<p>Regarding Jewish life, there is an active Hillel (<a href="http://www.berkeleyhillel.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.berkeleyhillel.org/&lt;/a&gt;) on campus, with barbecue dinners every Wednesday and Friday night services + dinners every Friday (and you can skip the services if you aren't religious). There is also a program called First Year Students at Hillel (FYSH) that has dinners every Thursday, among other activities. Hillel is a great place to meet people. On the order of 100 to 200 people show up for dinners. There's no shortage of Jews at Cal!</p>

<p>SQL:</p>

<p>The best way to succeed in EECS is to stop focusing on your GPA. Focus on enjoying the material, and if you don't enjoy it, leave the major as soon as possible. I can give you more information if you're a little more specific.</p>

9

<p>A few questions:</p>

<ol>
<li>What is the typical EECS student's first semester schedule like?</li>
<li>How available are research/internship opportunities to EECS students?</li>
<li>How available is wireless internet around campus?</li>
</ol>

10

<p>grapesoda:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>My first semester, I took Math 53 (Multivariable Calculus), Physics 7A (Mechanics), and a linguistics class. This is considered a very light load at 12 units. Many students take an introductory CS class their first semester.</p></li>
<li><p>It's hard to get involved in research before you've taken your lower division courses. I started the summer after my sophomore year. After you've taken your lower divs, you're a lot more equipped to do research. At that point, opportunities are available if you seek out professors, and you are motivated to do work that you aren't being graded on. No one will hand you research on a platter, but it's definetely there for you and I highly recommend it. It's great to be a part of a lab, and I'm not interested in academia at all.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>As for internships, once I did research over the summer and had completed my lower division courses and some upper divs, it became much easier to get interviews for internships. There are a lot of summer internship opportunities in the Bay Area; as for working during school, I know less about that, but I'm sure there are many opportunities.</p>

<ol>
<li>AirBears, the wireless network, is available in a lot of the buildings on campus. I am normally able to access the Internet wherever I am on campus. It's less available near and in the dorms, but you can always just buy your own router and hook it up to your in-room connection.</li>
</ol>

11

<p>Wow, so to get a PhD in engineering, it takes ~11 years?! @_@</p>

12

<p>kyledavid80:</p>

<p>Don't add up BS + MS + PhD. You would spend 4 years getting your BS and ~5 years after that for a PhD.</p>

13

<ol>
<li>Is EECS as cut-throat as the rumors say it is?</li>
<li>Being an EECS, do you have time for a social life? If so, what are some of the things you're involved in?</li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks calstudent 86 =).</p>

14

<p>CallMeGoose:</p>

<ol>
<li>It's hard to get good grades in EECS. There are a ton of smart students, and very few A's given out. To give you some actual numbers, here are the grading guidelines for EECS professors:</li>
</ol>

<p>"A typical GPA for courses in the lower division is 2.7...A class whose GPA falls outside the range 2.5 - 2.9 should be considered atypical...A typical GPA for courses in the upper division is 2.9...A class whose GPA falls outside the range 2.7 - 3.1 should be considered atypical."</p>

<p>Many professors are nice, and try to set the average at 2.9 or 3.1, respectively. But that's still not very high.</p>

<p>That being said, I would not call it cut-throat. EECS students work together all the time, and there is a real sense of community. The grading is harsh, but it doesn't foster a competitive atmosphere. It fosters a "Holy crap, we're all so screwed!" atmosphere :). And that can actually be fun at times :-P.</p>

<ol>
<li>There is no time to take a heavy courseload, do well, sleep, and have a social life. If you take two technical classes a semester, which is what I started out doing my first few semesters, the load is extremely manageable. I was able to do this because I fulfilled a lot of my requirements with AP credits, but I soon realized that I better start taking a heavier courseload for fear of looking like a slacker.</li>
</ol>

<p>You also need to realize that it <em>really</em> depends on the class. Many classes (Math, Physics, some EE classes, some CS classes) have about 4 to 8 hours of problem set work a week, which is completely reasonable. I took one class that only involved a couple hours a week. Then there are project classes, which can also be reasonable, but it depends on the class. Last semester, I took EECS 150, which is considered one of the most work intensive classes at Cal, period. The workload is comparable to taking about 2 to 4 other CS courses. Both my partner and I spent 260 hours on our project (520 hours combined) in a period of 7 weeks, amounting to absolutely no social life whatsoever. In fact, I had to neglect the homework and exams for that class, and my work in other classes, in order to complete the project. But <em>don't</em> let that scare you. CS 150 is a ridiculous exception, and <em>you don't have to take it</em>!</p>

<p>I've matured quite a bit over the past three years, and I only recently (in the past year or so) became very interested in an active social life. The annoying thing is that, in the same timeframe, I starting taking a much heavier workload and getting involved in research. It's been hard to balance the two. I go to parties every so often, but not as much as I would like.</p>

<p>As for what I'm involved in socially, I act in a theater group on campus (we put on student-written comedy shows), go to Hillel every so often, and I just hang out :).</p>

<p>You can take a minimal workload and have a pretty active social life, but if you want to be an academic stud, it'll cost you time with friends. I suggest trying to achieve a good balance, and that's a good life skill that you can pick up here. School is important, but life is about being happy, so it's alright to effectively lose a few GPA points in order to have some fun :).</p>

<p>Disclaimer: Many EECS majors have no lives at all. I don't really like to spend time with most EECS majors for that reason (other than when I am working on projects), and the great thing about Cal is that, with such a diverse campus, I don't have to!</p>

15

<p>Are you disadvantaged when applying to grad school or a job if you sacrifice a few GPA points in order to have some fun? You seem to have the balance all figured out. What is your secret =p?</p>

16

<p>Do you remember your stats coming in from high school?</p>

17

<p>Are the girls really that ugly?</p>

18

<p>CallMeGoose:</p>

<p>GPA is a weird thing. If you're applying to med school or professional school, I've heard that it matters a lot.</p>

<p>For engineering grad school, a bad GPA will get you rejected but a great GPA will not get you in. Once you get past the bad GPA realm and into the good GPA realm, your actual GPA won't matter all that much, so there's no need to obsess over it. You're much better off getting involved in research and building connections with professors than you are getting straight A's.</p>

<p>And remember, losing a few GPA points is not good for your GPA. A good GPA can only help you, so I'm not here to tell you that it won't matter at all. The question is, <em>how much</em> will it matter? You need to learn that life is about priorities. It's alright to avoid spending your life studying, even though spending your life studying <em>will probably benefit you in some way</em>, if you acknowledge that doing something else will be more beneficial to you in the long run.</p>

<p>When I was a freshman, I did obsess over my grades. My GSI had this to say: "Try to understand what I am saying. You could be much better off than all the grade monkeys in the world and all of their 3.99997s. Many of the people who got As won't go far, because they don't really understand what they are learning, they are just grade monkeys. Don't be one."</p>

<p>Fun is an important part of college life, and you will regret it if you don't have any :). I truly don't have it all figured out by any means. I need to focus a lot more on my social life, but it's hard given all my current commitments. You'll figure out how much of a balance you need to be happy.</p>

<p>kmass:</p>

<p>I don't remember my GPA or anything, but I vaguely remember my SAT score. It was a good, but not phenomenal, score.</p>

<p>LaxAttack09:</p>

<p>There are a ton of not-so-good-looking girls and a ton of good-looking girls. I guess there might be more of the not-so-good-looking girls than the good-looking girls, but there's no shortage of pretty girls.</p>

19

<p>Hi
1) how do we know a course is "project course" or not, does it say in the course description?
2) And can u explain the five year program for BS+MS degrees? when do we sign up for those kind of program? Only EECS offers the five year program or does other engineering majors do the same thing too?</p>

<p>Thanksssss</p>

20

<p>eddie1988125:</p>

<ol>
<li>The catalog descriptions will typically say that a course is a project course. For EECS 150, it says: "Formal hardware laboratories and substantial design project. Informal software laboratory periodically throughout semester."</li>
</ol>

<p>The official list of upper division design courses (project courses) is:</p>

<p>Computer Engineering: EECS 150, CS 152
Computer Software: CS 160, CS 169
Computer Systems: CS 162, CS 194
Computer Applications: CS 184, CS 186</p>

<p>Integrated Circuits: EE 140, EE 141
Communications: EE 122, EE 142
Semiconductors: EE 143
Signals and Systems: EE 192</p>

<p>Some of these are much more demanding than others, and some of them don't actually have substantial projects.</p>

<p>As for lower division courses, CS 61A, 61B, and 61C all have programming projects, but there is no large semester project. EE 20N and EE 40 don't really have projects.</p>

<ol>
<li>Don't worry about the 5th Year MS program right now. I mentioned it to give you a feel for who I am, but right now your focus should be on succeeding in EECS. For people who start out at Cal as freshmen, applications for the program are due in February of your junior year. It's a very new program (this is the third year), and it is both selective and very self-selective. This year, between 2 and 4 people got admitted for CS, and I'm guessing that about 20 applied. The numbers are similar on the EE side.</li>
</ol>

<p>My best advice for having a chance at getting into the program is <em>undergraduate research</em>! Get involved in a research lab, and get to know a professor in the lab. That's how I got in; I don't have a crazy GPA by any means. For more information, see <a href="http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/FiveYearMS/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/FiveYearMS/&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>Regarding other majors, I've heard of the BS/MS program for ME (<a href="http://www.me.berkeley.edu/new/undergrad/BSMS/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.me.berkeley.edu/new/undergrad/BSMS/)&lt;/a>, but I don't know anything about it. I'm not sure about the rest of the majors.</p>