<p>It’s not hate; it’s more along the lines of pointing out flaws and trying to make the school a better place.</p>
<p>There are many dissident views on what exactly a better place is, but at least people here discuss the flaws. If you know the flaws, then at least you can make a conscious effort to avoid them or change them. If you simply chose to attend a school without knowing its flaws, then you’re probably in for a huge surprise.</p>
<p>I knew about these flaws when I chose Berkeley and I am completely fine with them. These flaws don’t outweigh the things that I look for in my college experience. I’m glad that students on this forum actually bring into light the flaws that the school has rather than have people find out when it’s too late.</p>
<p>Here’s what I would say to each of those points:</p>
<p>*…competition is fierce, that classes are insanely difficult</p>
<p>Only in certain majors is this true. Berkeley also has a large fraction of classes that are quite easy, often times egregiously so. The difficult courses tend to be concentrated in the technical disciplines, especially engineering. </p>
<p>*…that the town sucks</p>
<p>I have to profoundly disagree. The town of Berkeley is one of the most dynamic and interesting towns I have ever encountered, and the proximity to Oakland and (especially) San Francisco combine to make the area even more flavorful. As far as desirable college towns go, I think Berkeley’s only serious rival is Cambridge Mass and perhaps Austin TX, and I would argue that even against that level of competition, the town of Berkeley would still win. Without a doubt, the town of Berkeley is far more interesting than, say, Palo Alto, although that is admittedly a rather low bar (as it’s not that hard for a place to be more interesting than Palo Alto). </p>
<p>*…that many students are dissapointed with dorms+food</p>
<p>I think there actually is quite a bit of truth to that, which is why I would say that dormlife is something you should do for only 1 year - just to establish an initial social network - before moving offcampus. The town food, as opposed to the dorm food, is excellent. </p>
<p>*…that the professors aren’t approachable</p>
<p>In some cases, yes. In other cases, it’s merely a matter of working up the gumption to approach them, while also having something intelligent to say to them (which is not that easy). </p>
<p>What is true is that many profs are difficult to simply access due to sheer unavailability, rather than being unapproachable whenever they are available. Many profs, especially the big-name ones, have highly limited office hours that are in great demand by other students. Simply getting on their calendars may therefore take a lot of work. But that’s not the same as saying that the profs are unapproachable.</p>
<p>^^ Amen on the points about dorms + professor approachability. Well, except I’d say to avoid the dorms altogether if you can, though that’s hugely biased from my end, since I didn’t like the dorms at all, and am way happier in off campus housing.</p>
<p>Depends if you’re gonna live with friends or not in that triple. If strangers… what a loner :(</p>
<p>Anyhow, people browsing thru this forum needs to put what they read on this forum in perspective. </p>
<p>If you’re turning down admission to Berkeley based on some negative posts on this forum by people you’ll never meet in real life, then you are insane.</p>
<p>Cal’s quality of education is not going down. It’s average SAT has gone up considerably and the range will probably be 1300+ -1500+, higher than any other public and not too far behind most top privates considering berkeley doesn’t superscore. The acceptance rate has went down, the Engineering school is now ranked #2 in UG, up from 3, Haas is number 3, both Law and Business schools have gone up in rankings and are putting considerable money into expanding and improving. Also the rest of Berkeley’s programs are still ranked in the top 5 in all categories covered by US News graduate survery, a feat achieved by no other school. The school has raised 1.4 billion already in its endowment campaign. Now I won’t say things are perfect, Cal is facing difficulties like all schools but Cal will survive. Hell some of the privates are in bigger trouble than Cal right now because they are so dependent on endowments and they have fallen 30% or more. Also Cal’s athletics are definately on the upswing. So basically I love Cal and it has its challenges but it will overcome them just like every other school will…hopefully ;).</p>
<p>PS- Many Berkeley professors are in the Obama administration…Berkeley received 115 million the other day for research and Pell grant increases will help Berkeley out more than most schools because there are so many recipients here.</p>
<p>damn straight i’m a loner. i got put in hillside in the smaller dorms (if that’s even possible). and it’s difficult making friends in classes when they all live in the units and i’m way too lazy to wait for the bus/walk down there. (besides, i have an injured leg, which gives me more reason to not walk lol)</p>
<p>thing is next year, i wanted to live in hillside. got units instead. stupid school. <em>Charlie Brown argh</em></p>
<p>living in the dorms again isn’t a bad option. if you live in the units I heard they have room draw night, and people tend to clump together into 1 or 2 floors so you’ll meet other people from your year.</p>
<p>Making friends from classes is hard until you start taking upper division classes in your major. Another venue is to join a club that is for students of your major.</p>
<p>Excellent point – why not jump on it! That’s what I did, and didn’t regret it at all. Made some very good friends, and moved out of them doors, feel healthier and happier :)</p>
<p>Plus if you want to move out of the dorms, you can always move out with people you know. I live with 4 others, for one thing. We have our own rooms, yet we also have company pretty much whenever we need it.</p>