Scared of Berkeley?

<p>sakky- It is not "like that." I am in no way implying that you should not be allowed to express your opinion about Berkeley. THAT would be censorship, which I disagree with. Think what you want about Berkeley, and waste as much time as you want proving your point on these boards. </p>

<p>I am merely saying that everyone here knows what you think, because you have repeated yourself about it a million times. Youve put alot of time and effort into complaining about a school you supposedly attend, then looking up obscure statistics to support your views. It just seems repetitive and unnecessary. If you really hate it as much as you say you do, leave. Thats why people transfer all the time. Or, if you really care about these issues, try to change things.</p>

<p>But, by all means, continue to complain about Berkeley. No one here is saying you shouldnt. All Im saying is that nothing you say here is going to change anything.</p>

<p>"Hence, all the people who go to Berkeley and enjoy it should be allowed to post freely about their positive experiences, but people who go to Berkeley and dislike it should not be allowed to say anything, is that the deal? In other words, censorship."</p>

<p>sakky, why did you choose Berkeley? was it initally your first choice? did you get rejected from HYPSM? do you wear a lot of red? whats your GPA? I bet since Cal is just soooooooo inferior, you must have like a 4.0. And if you don't, I think you're a bit of a hypocrite since you spend countless hours on these boards mocking Berkeley students for being lazy/unproductive.</p>

<p>I don't think Sakky is mocking the students, but rather the functions of the institution.</p>

<p>Oh I've seen him mocking students many times before, particularly transfer students. If not on this board, then on the old one. (Yes, he was bored back then too.)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?8/79011%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?8/79011&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Sakky's point is correct, and it applies to all grade deflation schools, including the likes of Chicago, Swathmore, Cornell, Wake Forest, [fill in your favorite]. Instead of just viewing it as Berkeley vs. Stanford, consider it grade deflation schools vs grade inflation schools (Stanford & all Ivies, except Cornell). Indeed, kids who go to Cornell face the exact same issue as is being discussed here. Moreover, it's potentially worse bcos Cornell has an app pool nearly similar to the other Ivies (ignoring the special state school components who purposely flunk kids out). </p>

<p>The simple fact is that a 3.5 at a grade deflation school MAYBE compared just as favorably as a 3.6-3.7 at a grade inflation school (assuming MCAT/LSAT =, AND recommendations were equal), but no med school is gonna accept a 3.0 without a special hook, such as working on a current nobel prize winning team. Thus, an A at Stanford (or H, P, or other grade inflation school) is an A, period. It is vastly superior to a B at any other grade deflation school for purposes of grad school apps. A similar argument could be made that a 4.0 at UCR easily trumps a 3.0 at Berkeley for nearly every app (again, test scores and recs being equivalent). Nevertheless, I'd recommend Berkeley over UCR anytime, bcos its a better undergrad experience; all UC's have similar problems to the ones Sakky points out.</p>

<p>btw: I would submit that it is also likely to receive a better recommendation from a private school, bcos the student faculty ratio is much lower than the state flagships, and, thus, easier to get to know faculty, but just my assumption.</p>

<p>Easymack63, you worry too much about me. Why? You're not my father. If you think that I am just wasting my time by posting here, well, that's my problem, not yours. What is it to you? What do you care? You may be doing things that I would think are just a waste of time, but hey, it's your life, and you can live it the way you want to. I too can and will live my life the way I want to. If I really am wasting my time, then that's nobody's problem but mine.</p>

<p>
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...whats your GPA? I bet since Cal is just soooooooo inferior, you must have like a 4.0.

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<p>And if I do (or close to it), then what would you have to say then? </p>

<p>Believe me, there are a LOT of people who do very well at Berkeley who also point out Berkeley's faults. Calkidd, for example, did well enough at Berkeley to get into grad-school at Harvard, and yet, let's just say that he's not exactly Berkeley's biggest fan. The same could be said for several other people on CC. The fact is, Berkeley has a lot of *<strong><em>ed-off students and alumni, including many who have done quite well. And that's not just because of bad luck. Berkeley has done a lot of things to *</em></strong> them off. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Oh I've seen him mocking students many times before, particularly transfer students. If not on this board, then on the old one. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/...how.cgi?8/79011%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeconfidential.com/...how.cgi?8/79011&lt;/a>

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</p>

<p>That old post has nothing to do with transfer students, except in passing. </p>

<p>However, it you are talking about me mocking students, once again, I would point out that I am not mocking ALL Berkeley students, but only certain ones. And not to be overly harsh, but I will stand my ground and say that those students deserve to be mocked. Look, the fact is, Berkeley really does have a lot of students who don't want to study, don't want to work hard, don't want to go to class, and basically don't want to do anything at all. Anybody's who been to Berkeley should know what I'm talking about. If you don't, just go walk down Greek Row during the middle of the regular semester and you will see students who literally haven't stepped foot in class for weeks and who have been doing nothing but party and drink. Hey, don't get me wrong, I like to party and drink too, but the purpose of college is to educate yourself, not to go on a month-long alcohol binge. Berkeley needs to do something about these lazy students.</p>

<p>And don't come back with the refrain that "other schools have lazy students too". So what? Just because other schools have lazy students, does that mean that Berkeley should too? Look at it this way. If Berkeley fixes its problems and other schools don't, then Berkeley will be better off than those other schools.</p>

<p>And now, finally, to bluebayou, what you have stated is exactly what the thread SHOULD be talking about. The fact is, there is no evidence that people from grade-deflated schools get any serious compensation from the adcoms at medschools or law schools. The date that does exist, in fact, strongly points to the opposite conclusion. A lot of people want to believe that adcoms will know that Berkeley's grades are difficult to get and will compensate accordingly, yet these people have not seen the data, or, in some cases, do not WANT to see the data. The data indicates that adcoms want to see high grades, and they don't care that certain schools are more difficult than others. </p>

<p>It's a tough pill for some people to swallow, I know. But to them, I would say, look at the data. Look at who is getting admitted to law/med-school and who isn't. Look at the kinds of grades that Berkeley prelaws and premeds have historically needed to get into top law/med-schools. Then you can determine for yourself what the truth really is. Don't take my word for it, don't take anybody else's word for it, just look at the data and figure it out for yourself.</p>

<p>Sakky: My attitude towards Cal is practically the same as your's.</p>

<p>I would like to work less, but that means I'd have lower grades. And Berkeley does not get compensated for it's difficulty. Was it worth going there? I'd say, it is a tentatively definite yes. But just barely. And that's only because I hear from my friends at USC and UCLA who are getting better grades than I do in harder majors for less work and it makes me a bit bitter and resentful on some days, especially Friday nights when I'm locked in my room working on that 10 page paper that some sadist professor dumped on me and decided to make due on Monday.</p>

<p>I guess it's all about sacrifices though. I'm just tired of having these life-changing decisions dropped in my lap every week. Do I do the paper and get an A on it, or do I blow it off and get a B and possibly go to a worse grad school/get a worse job? I hate giving up time with my friends and loved ones because I have to make those decisions.</p>

<p>Just to add: Because of Berkeley, I'm not really looking at Grad School. I'm sick of school and ready to work.</p>

<p>Uh, what exactly is a "tentatively definite yes"?</p>

<p>andrew: sorry, but your friends at UCLA need to work just as hard bcos it is NOT a grade inflation school -- dunno about 'SC</p>

<p>I doubt USC is very tough. I'm sure LA is right up there with Berk.</p>

<p>USC is not a walk in the park. It didn't earn a top 50 spot for nothing.</p>

<p>sakky: Tentatively definite yes? ...I haven't graduated. Don't have a whole package to base it on, but so far -- yes, it was worth coming to Cal. </p>

<p>Also: I'm sure the kids at UCLA work very hard... I've just heard they don't work -that- hard (or as hard as Berkeley). There is probably some justification why year after year they get rated highly in the 351 Best Colleges in "Students Never Study."</p>

<p>UCLA kids are notorious for not studying. This is something I've seen, and have heard from professors across the board.</p>

<p>Who wants to study when you're that close to Malibu, Santa Monica, and other great areas? :p</p>