<p>Hi everyone. I’m currently trying to decide between a few colleges, Cal included, and have a couple of questions. </p>
<li><p>Is the area around the campus really that bad? I’ve been there multiple times, and it seems OK to me. But then again, I’ve only been a couple blocks down Telegraph.</p></li>
<li><p>How common is it for an undergrad to take grad classes? One of my main motivations for possibly going to Cal is the caliber of their professors, but I heard that most only teach a few grad courses.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>1) It's a wonderful place for a college student! Food is great here. Since you visited yourself, now you have a feel the environment instead of thinking whether that guy who posted on this forum is telling the truth or just exaggerating.</p>
<p>2) Students are able to take grad courses, in fact my cousin took one last semester, but I heard you need and OK from the professor(?).</p>
<p>Also, lovelines, I had a history seminar course last semester through the Freshman/Sophomore Seminar program ( <a href="http://fss.berkeley.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://fss.berkeley.edu/</a> ), which was taught by a full professor. She usually teaches graduate seminars or upper-div. classes in special topics, but she was very approachable and just made the class amazing. It also only had 13 people in it. Some of the seminars are only 1 unit and mostly just for fun, but my history seminar was 4 units and can be used as a pre-req for declaring.</p>
<p>The area could seem really bad to one person and seem completely harmless to another. It depends on how you judge areas. As for professors, you don't need to take grad classes to meet amazing teachers.</p>
<p>Well, to be honest, I was specifically thinking of Judith Butler, who is kind of my hero, and I want to see if it's possible to get into one of her classes. =)</p>
<p>She's teaching an upper division rhetoric class this semester(amongst other things), a requirement for the major, but very popular as she's the professor for it (and is famous and popular). She has official appointments in three departments, rhetoric, comparative literature, and art history. She usually does only teach graduate courses and classes for seniors, but she sometimes does teach undergraduate courses. It's possible for undergrads to take graduate courses, even during the freshman year. It generally happens for seniors and juniors, but if you're capable and ask, they might (and often do) allow it. The procedure is generally to e-mail or talk to the professor beforehand. and then you'll find out from there. It's kinda cool seeing Judith Butler around campus, or attending a lecture and happening to notice you're sitting behind her or whatnot. And you could always try talking to her during her office hours, but academic celebrities of her level can be hard to get a hold of if you have little "important" business to discuss (as I hear she's constantly busy).</p>
<p>BERKELEY IS A VERY INTERESTING PLACE! HAVING GROWN UP HERE MY WHOLE LIFE I HAVE POSSIBLE EVERYTHING! FROM HOMELESS WOMEN GIVING BIRTH ON THE STREET TO DRUG DEALERS GETTING ARRESTED, OH AND TONS I MEAN TONS OF TOURISTS! IT'S ACTUALLY A PRETTY COOL CAMPUS. ONLY BEEN TO A COUPLE FRAT PARTIES (WHILE I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL). BUT THE CO-OPS ARE WHERE IT'S AT. IF YOU ARE COMING FROM A SMALL OR SUBURBAN TOWN YOU BETTER GET READY. IT CAN BE SCARY WALKING DOWN SHATTUCK OR TELEGRAPH LATE AT NIGHT. ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE HOMELESS MEN YELLING AT YOU. BUT THEN AGAIN, THERE ARE SOME VERY, I MEAN VERY BEAUTIFUL PLACES UP BY CAMPUS. IT'S ALL ABOUT WHERE YOU HANG OUT AND THE GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU ASSOCIATE WITH. aMAZING SCHOOL AND THERE ARE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE BERKELEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS!</p>
<p>berkeley's tight. the homeless people are mostly harmless, if that's what you're worried about. otherwise, the campus merges seamlessly with the city, and there is a very strong cultural flavor about it.</p>
<p>Not only are the homeless people harmless, but Berkeley has quite a few weird celebrities of its own.</p>
<p>Happy Happy Happy Guy, for example. He's an old man who wears a straw hat and stands on a bucket right outside Sproul Plaza and holds up huge signs about how our government sucks and stuff, and all he says is "Yeeeeah, happy happy happy!" over and over. His signs are pretty deep.</p>
<p>Triangle Man. He's this Asian guy who wears these wrap-around shades and has a ridiculously buff upper body. Seriously - there's a reason why he's called Triangle Man. His upper body is an inverted triangle. You can spot him sitting outside GBC or the benches of Dwinelle Plaza. I've even seen him in Moffitt library once - not studying, just...sitting there.</p>
<p>Dr. Jokemon - oh, what a delight he is. He's found on Telegraph, holding his "JOKES FOR FREE" cardboard sign. He's a real hoot.</p>
<p>The old Chinese man playing the Erhu right next to Sather Gate. I'm all for him doing what he loves to do, but the thing is...he's TERRIBLE at the erhu. It gets pretty annoying after a while.</p>
<p>The hat lady right outside Smart Alec's. I've talked to her a couple times - frequently she'll have a flag of Israel draped about her shoulders. She makes lots of hats, all different designs and colors. They're warm - I bought one =)</p>
<p>The hat lady really, really likes Brad Pitt. Ask her about him some time. And has anyone seen that guy who does some kind of prop comedy show outside of Dwinelle? He has a rubber chicken and he's really loud and he screams at people walking by. He's bald, and the hair he has died weird colors. Has anyone seen this guy?</p>
<p>lol all of your descriptions amuse me. a friend of mine at cal talks to ALL the homeless people, most of whom seem nice but a few who start yelling at him. yeah. </p>
<p>and i'm excited that undergrads can take grad courses, even if it's mostly juniors and seniors. i'll plead my way in. :)</p>
<p>I just happened to notice this thread. If you do not mind my $0.02...
I have not been to Berkeley, and have certainly heard third hand dismissive accounts like others have. BUT, just about everyone I have spoken with who has attended or even visited Berkeley had positive experiences. BTW, speaking of characters, I seem to remember hearing about "naked guy" who walked around campus and attended classes, well....naked. It was late 80's or early 90's. Anyone else remember this?</p>
<p>As for Judith Butler, while well-known professors usally have a reputation for being too busy to meet with undergrads, this is not always the case. It may or may not be for Dr. Butler. I agree with DRab, just swing by her office hours. Academics are always pleased to speak about their work. Enjoy your time there!</p>
<p>Oh, naked guy. He was actual on transfer from Santa Cruise in the inner UC term elsewhere program, where he actually went. No one likes to remember that part of it- it's just less fantastic that way.</p>
<p>yeah stoney!! although i don't think he's homeless... (he's the guy with the routine just outside of dwinelle, right?) and the old guy with the er-hu.</p>
<p>Me, too.
I haven't been there yet but have heard really crappy things about the area as great as the school is. </p>
<p>The crime rate is pretty bad, I heard. True? I mean, it's near Oakland, which is one of the top ranked cities with crime. What do people normally do there during weekends? Places to go nearby?</p>