<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Just wanted to share my CalSo experience with you. </p>
<p>I went to CalSo on Thursday, 6/28/12. They told us to arrive at 7:20 in the morning, but we actually didn't start CalSo until 8:30. You do get breakfast, just FYI (pancakes, bacon, tater tots, etc.). </p>
<p>My CalSo session had approximately 350 people. One thing that I noticed was that in my session, there were a lot of Southern California transplants. Anaheim, Santa Ana, etc. There was also housing available for people who stayed overnight the night before CalSo, for an extra $30. </p>
<p>There seemed to be a lot of white people at my CalSo session. Personally, I would say there were probably about 50% white people, 30% Latino, 20% Asian (of these Asians, most of them were international students). I could get flamed for saying this, but from what I saw, there were literally less than 5 African-Americans there, so even though we think that race may not play a factor in admissions, who knows...it is "holistic review" after all.</p>
<p>Most people were around 18-24, with about 100 or so people being 24+. I noticed that a fair amount of people had previous college experience (about a year) prior to attending CCC, with some names being Kansas State, UCI, Brown, etc. There didn't seem to be that many UC-to-UC transfers that I met, but my major advisor (Economics) did indicate that UCB gets a lot of UCD to UCB transfers. </p>
<p>Also to note: the parents that did come (about 50), seemed to just hang around with their specific group leader. They did not get to accompany their children around doing the activities, so just keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Anyways, this is how the schedule broke down (and I'll include my comments in parenthesis):</p>
<p>8:30 Morning Address (They teach you a Cal cheer, and basically welcome you to Cal).</p>
<p>9:00 Meeting with Counselor (You get grouped by majors, and your group leader is a counselor with your declared major. </p>
<p>9:35 College Overview (For me, they informed me on what the graduation requirements for the College of Letters and Science are).</p>
<p>10:35 Major Advising (Here, you actually get to meet your major advisor. They just give you a general overview of what courses you need to graduate, so it's nothing that can't be found online. Bring questions specific to you to ask here, because this is when you can potentially get that 1 on 1 advising). </p>
<p>12:05 Lunch (Lunch is catered, just sandwiches and chips. No hot food).</p>
<p>1:00 PowerPoint Presentation (I'm not too sure what this presentation was about. To be honest, I fell asleep. I do remember the presenters talking about the CalSo session's students' statistics, but that's about it. </p>
<p>1:30 Random Activities (For this one, you can go to a bunch of different workshops/events, like Financial Aid, Studying Abroad, the Tower Tour, or just have free time. I slept in the library, haha.)</p>
<p>2:40 Health Presentation (Basically, this presentation said that laptops and bikes get stolen a lot, there are walk-home services available [people that can walk/drive you home at night], and told all the girls to carry pepper spray with them).</p>
<p>3:10 First Year Experiences (Two transfer students shared their experiences with us. One guy was talking way too fast, so I barely understood what he said, while the girl that spoke was great and audible).</p>
<p>4:00 Cal Card/Class Registration (This is the important part of CalSo. You get your Cal Card, which is great! You also get to register for classes [finally], but you only get to register for 10.5 units. This sucks because most classes are 4 units a piece, so unless you're planning to take a PE class or a DeCal [class taught by fellow student for 2 units] class, then you can only sign up for 2 classes.</p>
<p>6:10 Closing Ceremony (I didn't go to this. My small group [about 10 people] basically all went home. You're tired, irritated, and the only reason to stay would be the dinner provided to you after at Crossroads Dining Hall, which I've already had 10+ times when I visited UCB the past year).</p>
<p>Anyways, that was my CalSo experience. Hope you guys found this post informative, and if you have any questions, feel free to post below!</p>