<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>I am excited that I got accepted into Berkeley this year, but one thing that I've come to take into account is the lack of funding for California state schools. There are budget cuts every year for education, and there isn't going to be any improvement for another 5-6 years. I've already heard that its really hard to get into classes and that's even common for people to graduate in 5 years. </p>
<p>I plan to test for haas, which isn't a guarantee. Also, with less money every year, haas's mandate that all its students graduate in 4 years isnt all a guarantee as well.</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone can give insight on the impact of thr financial crisis. I really want to go to berkeley, but it seems unstable</p>
<p>Four year graduation rate was around 70% in 2009.</p>
<p>Actually, it has been rising over the years since the early 1990s, despite the budget cuts since then. Increased in-state tuition likely has a lot to do with providing more incentive to not take extra semesters.</p>
<p>The budget cuts haven’t had any effects at all. The fees have gone up so some people are upset about that, but financial aid has also improved.</p>
<p>Ignore the statistics about the graduation rate. Apparently if you took a summer class, it’s counted as an extra semester. Most people end up taking at least one summer class, just because summers are 3 months long and can get pretty dull if you do nothing.</p>
<p>It’s not that hard to get into classes. People mostly complain about being waitlisted, but so many people drop during the first few weeks that you nearly always get into the class. I have plenty of friends graduating in 3 years or double majoring and graduating in 4. The only people I’ve heard of who are staying longer are people who switched majors really late or are triple-majoring. None of them are even upset about staying longer.</p>