Admissions

- Berkeley is a noisy place, even at night. Get yourself some ear plugs if you're not a heavy sleeper.
- The professors do actually care about you. Even if you're in a 400-person lecture hall, don't be afraid to ask questions.
- Don't drive yourself crazy studying. Get up and talk to people every few hours. Walk around, get a frozen yogurt. Then get back to work.
- Lastly, UC Berkeley is what you call the academic, research-oriented campus. Cal is the fun, sports-winning, spirited side of campus. Don't go to a football game and yell GO UC BERKELEY!

There are so many great things to know about Berkeley that you will experience on your own, but here is just a few things:
- Your professors care about you. If you are unsure about things, be sure to go to their office hours and ask questions! You will stand out AND know the material better. Also, your professors are usually bored out of their minds in office hours. They HAVE to be there and no one ever walks in for help.
- Berkeley is its own culture so there are certain abbreviations and slang that you will discover around the school. Asian Ghetto, Gourmet Ghetto, CARS, and VLSB are just a few to name. But you will catch on fast so no worries there.
- When going to student orientation, they will have you pick your first round of classes. At Berkeley, we call class-picking Telebears. You do everything on-line. There are 2 phases, Phase I and Phase II (simple). In each phase, you get an appointment time to pick your classes. Always make sure you know what classes you want to sign up for first because you are competing against other students to get into the good ones. REMEMBER TO PICK DISCUSSION SECTION TIMES TOO and factor them into your schedule. These are supplemental classes to lecture that you must attend and they are usually taught by graduate students.
- Even if you are on a waiting list, you probably still have a pretty good chance of getting in (especially if its a class of 500 - 600 students)
- Comegetused.com and Pickaprof.com will probably be your best friends when the new semester comes around. Many people don't know about them but they're very beneficial. Comegetused.com is only for Berkeley students and you can buy books from students who were in the same class in the past. You can usually save about 50% off of your books and the other student could probably make more than if they were selling their books back to the school. It will save a ton of money when you have books that cost over $100. Next is pickaprof.com. It's a lot like ratemyprof...

Apply for scholarships. Don't freak out. Make friends. Eat at the Asian Ghetto at least once a month. Visit (so you fall in love with the place). Wear good shoes (it's hilly). Bring fancy shoes (for ballroom dancing and/or for randomness).

Study, study, study! Depending on what your major is, you will have more or less time to party and hang out with friends on weekends.
Definitely learn to budget your time because socializing is a HUGE part of the college experience, and you don't want to study all the time.
Make sure to join some clubs. Find something that you are really interested in, and get involved. It's a great way to make friends.
Go to professor's office hours. Most of them are really helpful. Sometimes the professors themselves aren't very social and won't help, but if that's the case, then make sure to talk to your GSIs. A third option is to go to tutoring. I found that VERY helpful for Chem.

Numbers don't tell the whole story. My GPA was only a 3.56 and my ACT score was 30 (pretty average for a Cal Student). What secured my spot in the class of 2019 was my essay, where I wrote about my language learning ability, describing not just how it allowed me to learn 4 new languages other than my 2 native toungues, English and Mandarin, but also the process that I used in essentially desciphering the gramar and vocabulary of Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Norwegian. When it comes to addmissions at Cal, prioritize your intellec of grades. Anyone can grind out a 4.0 GPA if they try hard enough, but grades won't mean a thing if your mind has no intelectual value. If you are good at writing stories, write away. If you are good at playing the violin, play away. If you are good at painting, paint away. Show those in charge of admisions that you can bring something that is intelectually sound to the table instead of a report card.

Don't just worry about grades. A lot of the students I know who got in had incredible extracurriculars, but only so-so grades. I had pretty good grades, but it hardly gave me an edge. Focus on personal growth, not just competition--so many people do and it's really not good for them or for getting the best out of their educational experience.

Don't stress out too much about housing before you arrive. All campus dorms are close to campus, with the Clark Kerr resident halls being the furthest away yet still walking distance. Similarly, don't freak out about first semester classes your freshman year. Take classes that interest you, might knock out some requirements, but that, most importantly, will help you best adapt to college life. Berkeley academics are tough, but very very doable! Lastly, explore the city of Berkeley! Campus is fantastic and so beautiful, but the city of Berkeley itself has so much to offer.

Firstly, know what you're getting yourself into. Don't take ~20 or more units your first semester, for instance, because each course is going to take a LOT of your effort and time. Also: as a student, remember that if you don't study and others DO, the curve (overall, as well as on midterms, finals, etc.) will be against you. The same goes for attending office hours the professors and GSIs provide- use your resources! Finally... don't forget to do something you ENJOY doing, be it taking a course in Peace and Conflict Studies, or joining a cooking club, or getting involved in a fraternity/sorority, or getting an internship with a business firm, or practicing playing the cello in a music room. Have some fun! College is supposed to enrich your life, not depress it (entirely).

Be willing to work hard, but don't be afraid to ask for help as there are plenty of resources for undergrads. There is also an incredible number of opportunities for undergrads, so be prepared to seize them. Be prepared to keep an open mind as well.

There's not always a guarantee. The only reason I decided to apply here was because it was a UC. I live in So-Cal, so I grew up hearing the name UCLA a lot.. so much that I was brainwashed into believing that I HAD to go there. Berkeley was always a highly prestigious school way up north that was in league with Stanford. I was positive that In no way possible was I going to get in. It was absurd! A geeky girl like me? No siree bob! But I still applied ( I had a glimmer of hope). And thank God I did! I was accepted and utterly stunned. My scores were good, but not great. My skills were mediocre at best. What I believe put me through was my powerful essay. So don't wait until the last minute! Work through it! Re-read, re-form, re-check! And overall, don't count yourself out of the running! I don't know where I would be if I didn't apply to Berkeley. Nothing is certain! Berkeley has a wide spectrum of students, you might just be the lucky one!