<p>My home is just about 40 miles from Cal, so I was thinking of going home every weekend or so to eat real food, hang with old friends, and do laundry. My dad works in San Francisco so it would be seemingly easy to hop BART to SF on fridays. </p>
<p>My last class on Friday ends at 5, I live at Bowles, and would have a bike. SO i am thinking this would be really difficult: going back to my dorm, packing up, then walking (I dont know if I could ride my bike with all that, could i?) all the way to the bart station.</p>
<p>Does this sound reasonable, or would it be more of a hassle? I would stay all weeknds, but I got the smaller meal plans, so i'm afraid eating on the weekends at Cal would destroy my points. Also, seeing as how I would be reaching the Bart at around 6:30, is it safe to walk there in the early evening, or is it a high-time of mugs and robbery?</p>
<p>I doubt that would be any hassle at all, considering that I will have to ride BART every day to and from Berkeley. Yeah, doesn't sound cool, does it.</p>
<p>Right now, it sounds great to go home every weekend, but once you get on campus and make new friends, you won't want to go home as much as you think. And bicycling when it rains and during commute hours may not be that convenient. BART can get really crowded.</p>
<p>Depending on your Friday schedule, why not pack Thursday night, take your bike and stuff to your last class, and go directly from class to BART. It would save a lot of time.</p>
<p>I read in the "resources for new students" that Cal Students can get discount Bart tickets at the Transportation Office, or something like that. How much of a discount?</p>
<p>Everyone always start out with a grand notion of coming home and mingling with old friends and the parentals, but you will soon find out that much of campus life (beyond the classroom) occurs on the weekend. If you do go home, you will be missing out on a lot. From my experiences, girls tend to go home on the weekends more than guys and when they do, there is a tendency to fall out of the loop. Make new friends, keep old friends for the summers. =T</p>
<p>In answering your question more directly, it shouldn't be much of a problem getting to BART. Taking a bus is a good idea, and leaving Bowles before 6:30 is even better (since the last day shuttles end service between 6:30-7:00pm). I sincerely hope you're not afraid of any "muggings or robberies" at 6:30pm in the evening, because there's always 12:30am for late night food and 3:00am for parties.</p>
<p>I also love Bart and agree with much of what has been said. However, I would say more than enough real food will be available in Berkeley, although it may not be your mom or dad's home cooking.</p>