<p>Hey, so it's winter break, and I'm fairly bored and I remembered how much I used this forum when I was in the process of transferring and I thought "hey, let's see if I can give back in any way." I was accepted to UC Berkeley last spring and just finished my first semester there. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability (assuming that I'm able to answer them at all).</p>
<p>What was your major, ec activities, gpa before you transferred? How was your first semester there? (social life, course load, ups/downs, were your expectations met?)</p>
<p>Where do you live?
Was it difficult meeting people?
What’s your major?
Is the rigor of your field too…rigorous?
After being accepted to Cal, did your swagger drastically improve?</p>
<p>@360atoms My major is Environmental Economics and Policy and im doing a triple minor. My ec’s are pretty long, but they included student gov, holding positions in like 5 clubs. I transferred with a perfect GPA. First semester was fine, honestly Cal is not that difficult, don’t let people fool you into thinking its crazy hard or anything. Socially it is a bit more difficult as transfers, since people have already formed their own factions by the time they are in their 3rd year (don’t be discouraged by this, just hit up a few parties and talk to the people sitting around you in class, and you’ll be fine). As far as expectations go, I was a bit let down, cuz I thought Cal would’ve been more of a challenge, and berkeley as a city gets pretty boring after a week, I honestly found myself doing nothing at all a lot of the times (I took a “full load”). The only down is that Cal students are pretty ******y, but they can’t hold much to you when you have a better grade than them in class hahaha.</p>
<p>@redoplease: read the above for some of your questions. I live off-campus (trust me, it’s better than on-campus (a bit harder to make social connections tho, but not by much)). As I said earlier though, just talk to people and you’ll find yourself making friends; the student body is highly diverse and you’re bound to find people that you enjoy being around. According to my major adviser my field is rigorous, but first semester went fine for me, however it’s only been one semester, so I can’t accurately gauge the difficulty yet. Also, my swagger has not changed in the slightest (it’s been at the highest level possible since the day I was born =P).</p>
<p>wow it screwed up d o u c h e y</p>
<p>@360atoms: i forgot to say that I had a few hundred hours of volunteer work and 5 awards, but honestly I went overkill on it</p>
<p>ty for answering my questions. It helped a lot. Which schools did you apply to and why did you pick Cal.</p>
<p>How are student’s political views? I have been to Telegraph, and it was a little too liberal/ socialist for my taste. Coming from Santa Cruz, I’m used to that, and it won’t affect my choice to go there if I get accepted, but I’m hoping my peers will be a bit more moderate than my impression of Berkeley locals.</p>
<p>Did you take 2 years to transfer? Are you going to finish your coursework at Cal in 2 years?</p>
<p>Wow, all those ECs yet still ending up with a 4.0 GPA! No wonder, dude. They’d have to be crazy if they didn’t take you in. Anyway, I’m hoping to do the same thing as you did too but I’m not exactly renowned for my time management skills. Haha. I’ve been working on it though. I have a job right now and I plan to take some volunteer work + club activities next semester. </p>
<p>So uh on average, how many units did you take per semester? How were you able to effectively balance academics and ECs? lol It’s so personal and subjective, I know. I’m asking because I’ve never really worked and studied at the same time until this year and work definitely consumes a considerable amount of time that could be allotted to schoolwork. Next semester’s really gonna be a challenge for me…what with work, volunteer work, club activities and all.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>@360atoms: I applied to UCB, UCSD, UCSB, UCD, I only applied to schools which I would be willing to go to (except Davis, idk why I applied there). I chose Cal, cuz it’s close to home, the weather (i love colder areas), and above all, because of that fact that it’s Cal (you’d be surprised how far a name can carry you).</p>
<p>@santacruzstefan: For the most part it’s fairly liberal throughout campus, however, I have noticed that EVERY SINGLE history major that I’ve met (about 15) has been fairly conservative to extremely conservative, but I wasn’t too surprised by that. I’ve also noticed that the poli sci majors that I’ve met are either extremely liberal or extremely conservative, I did find that to be a bit strange. Also, you shouldn’t be surprised that almost all the students in CNR are liberal. Honestly, I feel the same way that you do, and I have no problems here, so you should be fine.</p>
<p>@goingmeta: Yes, I transferred in 2 years and I will be out in 2 years.</p>
<p>@archereon: message</p>
<p>Thanks for doing this! </p>
<p>Can you give some insight into how feasible it is for us transfer students to spend a semester abroad? Would it be advisable given that we only have two years there? On a similar note, would you know if we can study abroad with EAP the summer before we (hopefully) start Fall 2011? And how convenient is the public transit? </p>
<p>I don’t know if you can give an answer, but I really appreciate you extending your services. :)</p>
<p>@BostonCrmPie: Yeah no problem. For transfers studying abroad is really difficult given that you only have two years to complete your required courses, and a lot of the courses at other university don’t articulate very well into classes that you would need for your major. According to my major adviser it is highly discouraged for transfer students to study abroad UNLESS they figure out a plan where they can finish everything in 3 semesters (but you have to keep in mind that you may not be able to get into classes that you have planned for, and the times of the course may vary as well). I can’t answer the EAP thing, cuz I don’t even know what that is off the top of my head, and I don’t want to misinform you; if you’re really looking to study abroad, I definitely suggest calling your adviser as soon as your accepted to the school of your choice.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch. Is it possible for transfers to take summer classes to complete the requirements then?</p>
<p>ETA: If it matters, I’m a Cal anthro hopeful.</p>
<p>@BostonCrmPie: Your welcome and yes it is. I don’t know how the other UCs work, but Cal has like 6 different summer sessions, but you have to careful because some of them cover an entire semester in 3 weeks, and A LOT of courses aren’t offered during the summer sessions. Also keep in mind that for summer sessions you pay per unit (like ~ $1300/unit or something; don’t quote me on that).</p>
<p>Were you in Berkeley TAP?</p>
<p>How mathy is your major compared to regular econ? Does the math part seem difficult?</p>
<p>Oh, and are haas students really hot **** on campus? Heard they were bastards who think they own the world.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>@Billionaire: my major is an amalgam of econ, environmental science, bio, chem, and political science; econ is pure econ. They are both “mathy” my roommate is econ, and so far it seems as though I had more math work than he did, but it’s only been a semester so I can’t say for sure. The math part is the hardest part of my major classes, but it’s nothing impossible, it’s mostly just partial derivatives, but again, it’s only been one semester. And, yeah Haas students do act like they’re the ****, even though they are seemingly the dumbest kids on campus. Haas students are really lucky though, because the classes they need to take for their major are really easy (I know 9 people in Haas VERY WELL, and 2 of them are my best friends, and even they agree with what I’m saying right now, and I’m not nearly being harsh enough on them), I mean Non-mathematical micro economics, really? Really? My best friend also told me that one of her teachers got fired because there were complaints of the teacher being “too easy,” I am not sure how much truth those rumors hold though, but I mean my friend did add the class like 4 or 5 weeks late, and only went to about 1/3 of the lectures and still managed to get 100% on the midterm (the class average was 101%). Now, I’m just ranting out of jealousy (of the ease of their courses, not the major; I LOVE my major).</p>
<p>oh and yes i was TAP</p>
<p>Didn’t the TAP people make it seem a little TOO guaranteed that you’d get in cause of the program? They “recommend” you is what they say.</p>
<p>Your major seems really cool though, now i’m jealous that i’m just regular economics.</p>