The University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley is big, it is a great acedemic institution, it is a cool place to be...
once you get used to it that is.
It has one of the most recongizable name in the country, if not the world. That means that anywhere you go, europe... china... or whatever, a Berkeley Degree will open doors. It's reputation is universally known.

However, like many people have said before, this is really a sink or swim place. Professors expects you to work hard, the work load is insane in ANY major (yes i know the EECS guys often brags and waine about their EE stuff, but even as a Poli Sci student I have about 400-500 pages of heavy reading to go through per week on average, more sometimes) And because everyone in your classes are bright, hard work is what counts here, if you don't put in the effort, you won't do well in class, that's a fact. I guess this is why Berkeley prepare you for real world so well, it instill into its graduates a sense of self sufficiency and good work ethics. Couple that will good brains, you have a proven formula to a successful life.

Campus can be very overwhelming, people in general are superfacially friendly, in my opinion it is very hard to make good friends at Cal, mainly because so many people spend so much time studying and worrying about their grades. You'll find a general sense of school pride and arrogorance, lot's of people here geniunely think they're smarter then kids at just about every other universities.

As for social life, there is some, but you have to actively go out and find it. Because it is such a big campus and meeting people can be challanging, a lot of folks though social life don't exist, which is not true. Acedemically rigious or not, it is a college and people party and do the college thing. On the girls issue... yes, most girls are ugly, but some are pretty hot, although the hot ones are usually bitchy and/or have boyfriends that are way older or somewhere else... but hey, if you're at Cal, you probably don't have time for a serious relationship anyway. Furthermore, going out to shops and resturants are great here, there are a lot of small and unique places to go, however, Berkeley by in large is an expensive place: Rent is sky high, there's no place to park and stuff cost more in general. So be prepare to fork out some dough if u want an eventful life.Still, all in all, Berkeley is worth it, it really is. It's not a place where you can chill and mellow out and things and support will come to you. But then again, what part of life is?

1st Year Male -- Class 2004

Education Quality: A, Scholastic Success: B-

The people here take you in as you are. There aren't many cliques and we understand that you got in because there was something "weird" about you. That's why if you're weird, we like you more. The competition here is really cutthroat especially among Molecular/Cell Biology majors and prospective Haas Business School undergrads. Other than that we're really supportive of each other. Personally I love my political science department. When you think about Political Science at Berkeley, a very liberal image comes to mind. But they are very non-partisan and fair in looking at politics as a whole. And I'm a conservative, so you can take my word on it.

For those of you that are looking for a good athletics program, Cal has an awesome one. We beat co-national champion USC and Virginia Tech at the Insight Bowl in football this year. We have an invincible rugy team, a fairly good basketball team, 2nd ranked Softball team, and much more.

And finally, for those of you that may have heard that Berkely is full of hippies. I would like to let you know the truth. There are no more hippies at our school. People still might sell tie-dye t-shirts, but that's really no big deal. And there are homeless people there too but they really do no harm.

There's only one Cal, and it's in Berkeley!For those of you that get in, I bid you welcome.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2006

Education Quality: A+, Innovation: B-

Berkeley is a wonderful place to be. Creativity, independence, and self-awareness are all encouraged above busywork. It's a diverse environment in which anyone who wants to become engaged in the world will thrive.

1st Year Female -- Class 2007

Useful Schoolwork: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: C