<p>Just simple, naive questions that I am sure all of us novices would like to know:</p>
<p>How do spend your days, how often are you studying, how early do you wake up for morning classes, what days do you have classes during the week, how long are your classes, how much time do you spend in extracurricular activities, what do you do on the weekends, what are the best places in the Bay area, the Calgary Flames rock, what are your most memorable moments?</p>
<p>Please try to answer any of these questions or any question you feel answers the topic. Quite frankly current Bears, you could say anything...</p>
<p>dont miss out on football games, I really enjoyed the free tickets as a freshman. haha
um, weekdays other than class, its studying, eating with friends, hanging out. Fridays are usually time off and some fun/hangouts. Weekends varies, usually do laundry, sometimes gym, and have something planned later with my fellowship (i.e. san fran outing, dinner, ect..)</p>
<p>But i think the extent to which you can pursue activities outside your academics will ultimately depend on your class schedule and time management skills.</p>
<p>It seems like time management is a key factor. I have an interest in joining Cal mock trial and the ASUC, does anyone have experience with those?</p>
<p>I have class Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays from 1-4pm and Tuesdays & Thursdays from 2-5pm. Don't really spend that much time doing homework/studying since I'm only taking 12 units and all 3 of my courses are technical courses (CS61A, Math 53, Math 54). I'd say I spend on average 30-60 minutes a day outside of class doing homework, except when it is midterm/final season, of course.</p>
<p>Be sure to take advantage of welcome week; it's going to be the most fun you'll have for a full week without worrying about work. It's like summer camp! Hit frats, party, play pool, meet new people.</p>
<p>Your questions are all relative btw. I don't think there's a standard schedule for a Berkeley student. However, if you're pre-med, hard sciences, engineering, or pre-business, life won't be easy. Pre-business may be easier to "slack" or handle heavy ECs, but the other mentioned majors aren't if you want a good GPA. My roommate (Mech-E) gets up early every morning (8-9am) and studies until classes/lunch, then studies some more until dinner, then studies some more until 12:30am, when he goes to bed. He may talk with some friends over problem sets or fool around on youtube, but that's about it. This applies to weekends as well. If you're a hard worker you'll need a similar regiment; if you're a genius you won't, and I see many geniuses spend nights drinking and partying on weekends. Of course hard workers need to have fun too, but it isn't easy maintaining grades at the same time (unless you're a hardcore gunner).</p>
<p>If you're humanities/certain social sciences, there's much more room to slack off and you merely need to do the work. As a Polisci or Comm. major you'll have plenty of time to join frats and whatnot. I know a few pre-meds who pledged frats last semester, but it really took a toll on their health; they look older from many sleepless nights, and I believe their grades suffered. But hey, unlike other graduate/professional schools, it's worth going to any medical school, even the bottom. If you're pre-med and can accept that Harvard Medical School isn't necessary to become a doctor in a desired practice, Berkeley can be a lot less stressful than rumor has it.</p>
<p>This is a long rant, but I hope it helps somewhat.</p>
<p>I spend a majority of my time socializing in the dorms (Unit 1). I skip lots of class even though I start at 11 on most days and I have friday off.</p>
<p>I joined a fraternity and I'm a member of ASME (I'm a MechE major). Weekends are usually filled with trips to SF or hanging out at my fraternity.</p>
<p>My roommate is a model student whereas I am a slacker to the core. I always see him studying. </p>
<p>Your college experience is really what you make of it.</p>
<p>Let's see, the way in which I spend my days depends to a large degree upon what time of the year it is. Most of the clubs I'm involved in are competitive and inter-collegiate, so some weekends involve travel to other universities and so on.</p>
<p>I have class M 8-1, 3-4; T 12:30-8, W: 8-1, 3-4, 5-6, Th: 12:30-8 and F: 8-10, 12-1, 3-4. So that takes up quite a lot of my time. I enjoy my classes greatly though, once of the truly brilliant things about Berkeley is the academic freedom that you're given to challenge yourself.</p>
<p>Extracurricular activities and such are, as I said periodic; I work on a magazine that involves quite a lot of time during the production cycle. Weekends involve getting together with friends, visiting some of Berkeley's brilliant restaurants and so on.</p>
<p>I try and catch a concert every couple of weeks, Cal Performances attracts some exceptional talent, and rush tickets are easily worth it. </p>
<p>My schedule's a bit at the far end of things (I'm taking 4 technicals, 1 humanities and 2 seminars = 20.5 units), but I still have plenty of time to really enjoy Berkeley. It's been a good semester :).</p>
<p>foryou42 - I took CS3 in the Fall (I had no programming experience) before taking CS61A and I think it really prepared me for 61A (which is a LOT easier than I expected it to be from all the stories I've heard). If you have absolutely no programming experience, I think taking 61A right off the bat may be more difficult than it should be.</p>
<p>I spend a majority of my time socializing in the dorms (Unit 1). I skip lots of class even though I start at 11 on most days and I have friday off.</p>
<p>I joined a fraternity and I'm a member of ASME (I'm a MechE major). Weekends are usually filled with trips to SF or hanging out at my fraternity.</p>
<p>My roommate is a model student whereas I am a slacker to the core. I always see him studying.</p>
<p>Your college experience is really what you make of it.
[/quote]
Does your slacking take a toll on your grades much? I want to have fun in college, but at the same time I really want to get into Haas :(</p>