<p>I'm an OOS (east-coast) EECS admit and am still a bit undecided about Berkeley. I had always <em>thought</em> Berkeley would be the place for me (I visited a couple of years ago, seemed really cool), but now everyone keeps putting thoughts into my head about whether or not I want to go that far, go to that big of a school, etc.</p>
<p>Point is, I would be willing to take another trip out west for Cal Day if it's worth it. The website makes it seem like it's the bee's knees, but I was just wondering if anyone here went and how much it had helped their decision.</p>
<p>Cal Day IS the bee’s knees.
I went in '08 (when my brother was admitted) and '09 and both years were fantastic. The crowds and amount of activities can be overwhelming, but if you plan your day in advance you can get a lot out of the experience. Campus tours on Cal Day can be somewhat abbreviated, but the opportunity to talk with current students and faculty at the event more then makes up for it.<br>
With all of the lectures and tours going on throughout the day it’s easy to separate from parents/family with different interests so you can have time by yourself to determine if you would be happy at Cal. </p>
<p>Cal Day was definitely what made up my brother’s mind on going to Cal. </p>
<p>I wish I could go to Cal Day! I’m also an east-coaster, and unfortunately can’t make the date All I gotta say though is don’t listen to all of those people’s dumb questions - Yea, Cali is far from the east coast, but it’s freaking AWESOME! If you want to chat you can private message me and I’ll give you my facebook link or something haha :)</p>
<p>It’d be a good experience; I’d advise anyone to go visit a school they are seriously considering before they submit their SIR. Also, plan ahead! You might get lost (like I have) and there are sooooo many people. It’s worth it - you should go :)</p>
<p>If you are considering Berkeley you should definitely visit before sending in your SIR. Make sure you like the campus and be sure to have a list of questions you’d like to ask students. I think HKN holds a student panel talk and there are some general talks by the department about EECS and engineering at Berkeley. A lot of it is just sucking up to the admits (“you’re so great” blah blah blah) that every college spews out but talking to current students is one of the best things you can do. I thought the HKN panel was pretty good, and go around and see what students giving demos and presentations have to say.</p>
<p>Do be sure to look for solid pros and cons about Cal and filter out the “stanfurd sucks!!1!” noise that you might get. Look beyond rankings and prestige because you don’t want those to be the main reasons you choose Berkeley. but… if you like Berkeley a lot I think you should visit and have a ton of questions ready.</p>
All I gotta say though is don’t listen to all of those people’s dumb questions - Yea, Cali is far from the east coast, but it’s freaking AWESOME! If you want to chat you can private message me and I’ll give you my facebook link or something haha :)</p>