Social scene at Berkeley?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I know this may sound silly, but how is the social scene at Berkeley?</p>

<p>I'm not talking about drug use, or how hot the guys and girls are.</p>

<p>I mean, as a big school, is it hard to meet people, and make friends?
Is it hard to meet girls/guys?</p>

<p>I always thought sororities were stupid.. what are ways you can meet people?</p>

<p>Will people come up to you at lunch? Do people in your classes get to know you?</p>

<p>Do people get in relationships there, or are more people just sailing the single boat?</p>

2

<p>I think one of the best advantage of Berkeley being a big diverse school is that you will almost certainly meet people that you can get along with. There are countless clubs and student organizations designed around meeting people like "<nationality> Student Association" or the "<major> Student Association". If you live in the units, your dorms should also be pretty social. There are also endless social events like social dance classes where you can meet people that you don't see in classes.</major></nationality></p>

<p>The people at Berkeley are in general really friendly and relatively tolerant. It is pretty common for a total stranger in your class to try to strike up conversations with you. </p>

<p>As for relationships, if you are looking for one, it shouldn't be hard to find it (unless you are a guy in Engineering). Lack of girls is a serious problem for College of Engineering but then this applies to Engineering departments everywhere except for schools like Wellesley.</p>

3

<p>A good friend of mine goes there. She was a bit quiet and artsy in high school, but she aboslutely loves it! She doesn't like the campus- she thinks it's pretty but the surrounding location is pretty SKETCHY. However, you find all walks of life at Berkeley. She has a great group of friends and has met all sorts of fascinating people. The people there are definitely down-to-earth and genuine. She has had more than one person come up and sit with her at lunch :) Best of luck! I think it's a great place to meet people, from what I've heard, and there are opportunities to do so every day.</p>

4

<p>Would you say it would be easier then for me to find a relationship if i wanted one, considering I'm planning to go into Engineering? (I'm female, btw)</p>

5

<p>Haha, it really depends on what kind of a guy you're looking for. But in general I'd say your prospects are good. There are some guys in Berkeley Engineering who are trolls that play video games all day in their caves but a lot of the engineers are actually quite social, thoughtful and in my opinion less shallow than the stereotypical frat socialite.</p>

6

<p>Looking for a sweet, creative, smart, cute guy, that has a good personality and can make me laugh. Someone i can be dorky around sometimes. I'm not lowering my standards haha.. trust me, I've tried.. didn't work out. =/ (it didn't work out because the guy always ended up doing stupid things or wanted more)</p>

7

<p>I made 3 friends in each of my classes (I'm a first year). Plenty of clubs, you get to meet a LOT of people, but how close you are with them depends on you, that person, and chance.</p>

<p>
[quote]
sweet, creative, smart, cute guy, that has a good personality and can make me laugh

[/quote]

I'm pretty sure if you really get to know people well, almost everyone has those qualities. But the cute part is debatable.</p>

8

<p>I think it's pretty great.</p>

9

<p>I'm not a student (Porsepective, like you), but I know several people from Berkeley already, due to their ties back in their home town. If they're any indication of the overall population, its totally easy to meet and greet, so to speak. (haha, I rhymed) I've also been to Berkeley a lot and I've struck up conversations with random people nearly every time. </p>

<p>To summarize: Berkeley People = Cool</p>

10

<p>I'm not going to lie, it is (in general) harder to meet people and build friendships at Berkeley (and college in general) than in high school. People operate on different schedules, have different classes every semester, and it takes much more effort to keep in touch. The problem with a school as large as Berkeley is networking. Often, you'll be friends with this person who is friends with other people, and you'll know them from another class or something. It's a network. But at Berkeley, very often you'll meet someone once and never see him/her again. That's simply because there are too many people at Berkeley. Sad but true.</p>

<p>I find it easy to meet people if you really want to. Sit next to someone for lunch at the dinning commons. Strike up a random conversation in line, or at a party. Sure, most people don't do this, and some people might think you're weird, but you certainly can do this, and some eccentricity is generally accepted at Berkeley. The problem is, how do you go from meeting people to developing deep friendships with them. And that's the tough part. It's really tough. Some people get lucky and they get along really well with their floormates, and they just keep hanging out throughout college. But what if you're not one of the lucky ones? You'll have a tougher time. Of course, it also depends on the person you are. I would say, generally the friendships you make will depend on these factors:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What kind of person are you? Do you get along well with most people or are you more selective? (note that the latter is not a necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it more difficult for you)</p></li>
<li><p>What kind of opportunities are you giving yourself? Are you joining clubs? Talking to people in your class? Striking up random convos?</p></li>
<li><p>Luck. A lot of meeting the right people and building good friendships is just luck.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>So, if you're outgoing, does that guarantee that you'll enjoy a great social scene at Berkeley? Not necessarily, especially if #2 and #3 are not working in your favor. Or if you make a lot of effort, joining clubs, and meeting people? You still might have a lackluster social life. Some people do this and don't see results, and they think they're doing something wrong, or they blame Berkeley for not having a "good social scene", when really it's they who are not noticing the other factors.</p>

<p>As for finding a relationship, what I've said above mostly applies. If you are a woman and not that picky, it is relatively easy to find a relationship, especially if you present yourself in the right way. If you're a fella, it will be tougher, because most fella are after the same few girls, so competition is much tougher. That's life.</p>

11

<p>Hm, well I am not totally sure on this, but I would conjecture it's a harder social scene in <em>college</em> overall, as opposed to high school, unless you're all in a tiny, very closely knit community.</p>

<p>Then again, as I many times say, Berkeley is a large school....will many subcategories. Quite a few engineering majors just know each other. I mean, if you talk about just the EECS majors, I think there's plenty of just bumping into the same people, which helps when you're likely to see someone just once, and never again [like the above says]. </p>

<p>"The problem is, how do you go from meeting people to developing deep friendships with them."</p>

<p>Well, persistence. I think a great way is for instance to study with someone consistently..at least that paid off for me [met someone over two years older than I am, and are now good friends].</p>

12

<p>I think it really depends on what kind of person you are. I've met so many different characters at Berkeley that I would never have met back home. There are some really cool you can meet but you have to check out the clubs and organizations on campus, there's also the frats and sororities if you're into all that. I've also met some people I classify as squares, some who sit around all day and study and do nothing but school, which is a good thing but a social life is healthy. I have friends at UCSB and I go visit all the time. In comparison to there Berkeley parties and social events aren't as apparent/fun, but you can definately enjoy yourself here. Make the most of it. I like to believe that if you get bored here at Cal, then you're just boring. There's lots of stuff to do you just have to look into it and put some effort.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
"The problem is, how do you go from meeting people to developing deep friendships with them."</p>

<p>Well, persistence. I think a great way is for instance to study with someone consistently..at least that paid off for me [met someone over two years older than I am, and are now good friends].

[/quote]
</p>

<p>But it's not just persistence. Many people at Berkeley simply are not actively looking for new friends. They have their cliques and they're happy with them. Even if you make the extra effort, sometimes they just don't respond to it. Or maybe you just don't get along with certain people. Or they already have their own study groups, etc. etc. That's why I say luck is also pretty important.</p>

14

<p>"Or maybe you just don't get along with certain people. Or they already have their own study groups, etc. etc. That's why I say luck is also pretty important."</p>

<p>I am quite certain this is true of almost any group of people! What you say is true, I just omit it given I assume we're discussing things unique to succeeding in making friends at a large university. The key I see is to take advantage of the fact that you'll eventually find your niche within your area of study...and potentially in other less academic areas around. </p>

<p>"Many people at Berkeley simply are not actively looking for new friends. They have their cliques and they're happy with them."</p>

<p>Just because someone is not ACTIVELY looking for new friends doesn't mean he/she isn't open to new people still. I can say I'm not actively looking for new friends myself, but I'm still very open to them. </p>

<p>My point about going from the acquaintance to deep friendship stage holds...modulo most phenomena common to any group of people.</p>