University of California - Berkeley

UC Berkeley holds high prestige as a world renowned university. Although often compared to UCLA, UC Berkeley has a deep and rich history and many accolades when it comes to research, discovery, and achievements. When I first joined UC Berkeley, I was especially proud to be a part of a community of hard working, intelligent students. However, with extremely smart students comes extremely high standards set by both the school and its professors. Known to have grade deflation, UCB's classes were mostly... Read More set on a curve and students had to work hard to maintain a high GPA. Some professors are just researchers and are not natural born teachers. It pushed me to be a better student and I was motivated by my peers. Unfortunately, my education at UCB has not made a huge impact on my career. However, that is not UCB's fault. The changing landscape of the job market due to AI has impact many people and unless I pursued an education with a technical/STEM background, all jobs are at risk.

I attended University of California, Berkeley for computer science and the experience was extremely challenging and often exhausting. The coursework was very rigorous and required a huge time commitment. I frequently found myself staying up very late to finish assignments and prepare for exams, and lack of sleep became a common part of the routine during heavy workload periods.

Despite how difficult it was, the program pushed me to grow a lot. I improved my problem solving skills, learned how to manage... Read More stress better, and became more disciplined with my time, even if I was not always perfect at it. The environment was competitive, but it also meant I was surrounded by highly motivated and intelligent peers, which made discussions and group work very enriching.

Overall, the experience was painful at times because of the intensity, but it was also very rewarding in the long run. It prepared me well for real world engineering work and gave me a strong foundation in computer science concepts.

I did have a nice time at Berkeley overall, but I felt at times that it was unnecessarily difficult. A lot of academics focused on weeding people out, and on focusing on the tiniest irrelevant details as opposed to general high quality learning. It felt like a large part of attending was suffering for the sake of suffering. The admin really does not care about the student body, who is largely mentally unwell. Everyone I know experienced drastic mental health improvements upon graduation. Despite... Read More this, I look back on my time fondly. The campus is nice and I made some wonderful friends, and there is no question that the name carries prestige.

Although my time at UC Berkeley was impacted by COVID-19 (resulting in my sophomore year being online and my junior year being a hybrid), I genuinely enjoyed my time there. While Berkeley has a stellar repuation for being one of the top (arguably, the top) public university in the world with a powerhouse roster of distinguished alumni, some prospective students are put off by its notorious reputation for being competitive and cut-throat.

In full transparency, the rigor of many classes (especially... Read More the lower division pre-requisites) were challenging and the school did attract some high-strung, but extremely motivated students. However, it is truly one of the best universities in the world for academic and networking opportunities. For example, I was able to conduct scientific research for a semester abroad in Japan due to the university being well-connected and well-regarded in the scientific community. Likewise, I was very well-prepared to enter the workforce due to the coursework and internships I chose to pursue during my time there.

Similarly, I had a great social life in Berkeley because I chose to spend time with people who value work-life balance like myself. The university has a student population of over 30,000 students, so you are bound to find your community! Many Cal students and alumni are very proud of attending Berkeley and community events are always lively. Even years after graduation, I still talk and meet up with friends I made there. I definitely recommend going to "Cal Day" and experiencing the beautiful campus and all the wonderful opportunities Berkeley has to offer before making your choice.

UC Berkeley's English undergrad program is not as well known or appreciated as its graduate program, but it is a place with fantastic opportunities, interesting classes, and students will get out of it what they give to it. The honors thesis program is useful and interesting, and I would recommend students pursue it.

The lower-division, larger lecture-style classes such as the 45 series are tedious and students that take them are definitely not completing the reading load required, but the lectures... Read More themselves are interesting. The upper-division seminar classes are where the program truly shines, and allows for closer student and professor connection than I thought possible at such a large school. I'm satisfied with my education at Berkeley.

UC Berkeley provided me with a strong academic foundation and numerous opportunities for research, internships and networking. The professors are knowledgeable and passionate and the campus environment encourages collaboration and personal growth. While the workload can be intense, the skills I gained have been invaluable in preparing me for my career in environmental policy and sustainability. Overall, I highly recommend this school to anyone looking for a challenging and rewarding college experience.... Read More