Sorry forgot to add that, yes, switching majors helped a lot. Rausser has been much easier to navigate.
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That is my daughter’s planned major - we have generally heard good things about Rausser, although we don’t have much first hand experience with it, so we’re hoping it’s a relatively kinder environment.
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My daughter has found Rausser to be a supportive environment. She says Rausser students tend to be less competitive with each other and the Rausser administration has been more responsive to her than her experiences with L & S.
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That’s really good to hear! That’s exactly what we’re looking for.
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as a cal alumna and parent of a current second-year in a high-demand major (media studies), i gotta concur on all points! huge public universities and small/private/elite/liberal arts institutions are apples and oranges, and UCs in particular – and cal most of all – are the most extreme manifestations of some of the differences.
it’s true that nobody holds your hand at cal, but there are tons of opportunities for the ambitious and self-directed.
wrt to high-demand majors, pushing the competition, impaction and hassle to the front side of enrollment will help a lot. (without said, each semester has been an exercise in persistence, assertiveness and to no small extent tactical warfare in my daughter’s experience…yet she got through it and declared this semester…and is - should be! -proud of that fact! it was fun to watch.)
i can speak to my own experiences as an alum. i went to both cal and davis, my siblings attended UCSB and my parents UCLA, plus friends at pretty much all the UCs and many CSUs, so i have some basis of comparison among CA schools. everyone seems to suffer at cal, yet it inevitably becomes one of the formative – and bonding – experiences of your life. cal may not provide swanky legacy networks of the type you would see at the ivies, back east or at the elite liberal arts colleges, but it opens doors. it cements bonds. everyone who did it knows the gauntlet that honed you. it’s like a secret society that prompts you to raise eyebrows, amused, when others are going on about the travails of princeton or harvard or reed, and you look at the other cal grad present and, together, think, okay, so you wrote four 45-page papers in 10 days and pulled three all-nighters while working at the chemistry library, but did you do it whilst fending off a pantsless dude who kept invading the library shouting ‘rare!’ whilst surviving on 1 slide of blondie’s per day? thought not.
you just meet so many amazing humans there.
another thing about alumni and networks…i’m actually mentoring a current third-year student as part of a new alumni mentoring program. the administration is putting a lot of resources into it and it’s been fantastic from my seat: mixers, mentees choosing mentors in fields of interest, mentors meeting and networking with each other. at the initial meet and greet, i met an architect and double cal grad who graduated in 1969, the year i was born! he was spry and vital – a total uc berkeley type. i was also very impressed with the recent grads who’d come back to participate – cal is actually doing A LOT more to nurture first-gen students/transfers/freshmen than it did in my era – and the mentees themselves (who seemed, to a kid, nothing short of amazing and inspiring).
they illustrate that, often, what cal lacks in frippery, it more than makes up for in raw talent, passion and energy.
more info on the program:
https://berkeley.peoplegrove.com/
so…ymmv at cal or any UC?
p.s. class size and contact with profs seems to vary a lot by major. and most of the GSIs are excellent (compared to other schools). my media studies kid has managed to secure mostly small classes (i mean under 25!) either through the main lecture or discussions, and has found all her instructors in media, poli sci, global studies, art practice, film and the breadths to be quite accessible.
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Yes, let’s hear it for the GSIs!
(I say as a former Cal GSI 
)
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Appreciate you sharing a deeply personal experience. This is exactly what played out with my friend’s daughter as well. Not that I am sure my daughter will get in, but these inputs are definitely helpful in setting our expectations and hopes.
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If a graduate stays in the Bay Area, the region is so saturated with Cal grads that it’s a de facto alumni network, though informal. Loyalty to the institution remains strong among alums decades after graduation.
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I have a niece (from New England) who is attending Cal and complains about the following (1) you never get the coveted courses because of the large class size (2) crime in the vicinity (3) long lines to get poor quality food! I hope it is worth going there OOS and pay such high fee instead of a private college - say CMU or Rice!
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I’m an alum and have a child at Cal. We both have had amazing experiences, and generally got classes we wanted (he’s only not gotten one class that he really wanted). There are so many choices, and if you are flexible - it usually works out.
I personally would say the weather at Cal beats CMU or Rice by a looooooong shot, but I am a Bay Area native so maybe I am biased. 
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What classes was your niece trying to get in? Even the lower division courses in competitive majors (CS, DS, EECS etc.) are fairly easy to get in, with a little bit of planning. If anything, the large class sizes make it easy for people to get those classes, and also find your own peer groups within each class since the group is large enough to offer a lot of diversity.
Another thing - many students do not even go to the lectures. My S22 doesn’t go to any of his Math or CS classes, and the large class sizes doesn’t impact in any way. Most of the action happens in discussion sections which are pretty small (~30).
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thank you for sharing your thoughts. you have highlighted some important aspects of cal culture. i think the differences in culture across departments/colleges cannot be overstated; it’s important to know yourself and choose wisely (and not be afraid to make changes if life leads you in other directions!). semesters can also feel long and tiring compared to quarters (though, conversely, you have more time to ease into classes and/or play catch-up). my d25 is in L&S but has many friends studying MCB and engineering. women in engineering in particular face a sometimes oppressive, male-dominated culture that is somewhat resistant to change. STEM and business majors seem to maintain an almost perverse pride in grind culture. (case in point: last year, my daughter’s two dorm roommates routinely left the light on all night, studied all night and rarely left the room! eventually, talks were had and boundaries set wrt to lights, sleep and guests. results imperfect but survivable and a learning experience. my D vastly prefers apartment life! the weird part is, they weren’t really working harder, they were working dumber; they hadn’t yet learned to manage their time effectively during the day. strange.)
re: crime. i would never try to normalize street crime or poverty. berkeley has always had a level of street cray that is a bit OOT. some of it is harmless and can be chalked up to local color. some is unpleasant for everyone. some is dangerous and unacceptable by any standard. berkeley is an urban environment, NOT a suburban or rural campus. factor that in. also, be sure to research actual crime statistics as part of your college search if that is a concern. (for example, UCLA is worse on crime than Cal, and many of the private schools simply refuse to reveal this data, which tells you something.) i have noticed that kids from cities – who grew up in grittier urban areas – tend to adjust more easily to cal’s street feel. we live in san francisco as do a handful of my daughter’s cal friends. every time something bizarre or frightening occurs, i ask if they feel unsafe there in general, and they say no. mind you, they are used to public transport, walking at night in groups, street poverty and addiction, avoiding mentally ill people who seem dangerous, etc. i wish they didn’t have to be, but it’s part of life in SF and berkeley. i did buy my D a hand alarm to hold at night that dissuades attackers and we encouraged her to always travel in groups and use bearwalk escort service if she must be alone at night. we’re also bringing her a bike with an LED helmet for night travel (as a woman, i always felt safer riding briskly home at night rather than walking, and now that most of the city has been green-carpeted and traffic-calmed, it’s even better!)
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deleted since @grableca made the same points much more comprehensively and eloquently.
this is so well said. I grew up in a suburb, but took the the urban feel right away - maybe because I spent a good amount of time in SF, and I loved the vibrancy that surrounds the campus. I didn’t want to comment on the crime because I wasn’t sure how to articulate it - you said it perfectly.
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I am a Cal alum. My spouse and I attended UCs for both undergrad and grad school. My oldest attended UC Davis. My second is at USC. It is our first experience with a private school and it is a completely different experience than at a UC.
For in-state residents, the cost savings might make up for the large classes and bureaucracy. However, for an OOS student, paying 70K+/year, my personal opinion is that it isn’t worth it.
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Agreed. If I was OOS I wouldn’t go to a UC unless it’s for a specific major like EECS and even then only if my IS options are not great.
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OOS not worth it.
is there an expected decision date for UCB? i’ve seen both march 24th and march 30th
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It’s March 30th, they sent out an email confirming that date.
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I know this topic may have been discussed before. Would you guys recommend Freshman to get accommodation off campus? If not, why not? Please advise.
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