Your first semester experience at UCs

passionate · 12-17-2007, 12:52 PM

Any transfer students last year want to share your first semester experience at the UC school you're attending. I know most people at UCs are either having finals week or done with finals by now.
I have one more final this Thursday. I see people at Cal are leaving the dorms/apartments with their luggages, and this really makes me want to go home. Apparently, I'll be the last one in my room to leave. Cal isn't as bad as I thought of it before. It's a lot of work and very challenging, but it's doable. I am not in danger of failing any class I took, and I'm pretty sure that I did well in some of my classes. Again, I'm a transfer student from community college, but that's not an excuse to suck. For those of you who are going to transfer to a UCs, I hope you all will get in the schools you want. Getting accepted is just the beginning; there's a long bumpy road ahead at UCs.

Torrancecali · 12-17-2007, 03:35 PM

how is Cal?! haha im so interested~!! wat's ur major?!

dragondawg · 12-18-2007, 10:16 PM

so can you talk about some of the bumpy roads

passionate · 12-19-2007, 02:18 AM

I can't speak for all the UC transfer students, but I'll give some of my opinions about my first semester at Cal as a transfer student from community college.
I live in Unit 1, and I get along with most of the people on my floor. My floor mates and I have dinner/lunch together occasionally. Dorm life isn't as bad as many others say, at least it is a fun experience for me personally.
My classes are doable for me, and I do have time to rest/relax. The myth that you have to work hard to get a "C" at Berkeley doesn't apply to me. I work hard, and I'm gonna get "Bs" and hopefully "A". I spend much more time studying than I did in community college. I did extra problems for my two math courses and tried to finish whatever readings that were assigned in my History class.
I was lucky to have very helpful and understanding GSIs. They are brilliant, and they did help me a lot. Before coming to Cal, I happened to see lots of bad reviews about the GSIs. However, my experience with the GSIs have been positive.
I came to my math professors' office hours. This is something I never did at community college. I did read the textbooks, and I barely did this at community college. The classes I had are much more demanding and challenging than those at community college. The good thing is that my professors grade on a curve. However, the professors' grading is harder than those at CC.
My recipe to survive/succeed the first semester at Cal:
1) Go to lectures even if your classes are webcasted. This is a good habit to avoid being lazy.
2) Go to your professors' office hours if you don't get something in lectures or struggle with the homework.
3) Go to your GSIs when you need help with homework.
4) Go to the writing center if you are not a good writer and you're taking a class which requires writing essays. I went to the writing center twice this semester when I needed help with my two essays. Guess what? I got 2 A- on both papers.
5) Study, study, and study.
6) Go to a movie/party, watch a movie, or do something fun every weekend.
7) Be self-confident. Tell yourself that you're as good as the students who came to Cal their freshmen year. You can even do better.
That's all I have to say for today.

@Torrance: I'm a math major.

dragondawg · 12-19-2007, 02:38 AM

thanks for sharing your experience, i know its probably a whole new and different world at a UC than CC

Birchum2 · 12-19-2007, 03:41 AM

thanks for the skinny...

Torrancecali · 12-19-2007, 06:43 AM

thx for your school experience... i am not ready for Cal yet though haha

strongergodzilla · 12-20-2007, 03:45 AM

my first quarter as a 3rd year transfer at UCLA was amazing. Im living in a residential plaza, and it was just as social as any residence hall that I saw during my visits to friends who went to universities right away. my floor had "open door" contests, floor dinner nights, game nights, movie nights, etc the list goes on and on. almost everyone on the floor was very social and a group of 10 of us on average would go to eat every night. a lot of us are meeting up over break, there is talk of maybe a snowboarding day trip and dinners etc.

if you feel like you missed out on the whole "college" experience, if you can help it, live ON CAMPUS! no one thinks twice that you're a third year or a transfer! almost all the people i knew who transfered and lived off campus all said the same thing, that they couldn't seem to make new friends. in class there is no time to talk really, and after class most people don't really stick around. they are usually rushing to the library, to eat, to SLEEP (probably the most common), and they almost always have ear buds in and their ipods on. if you want the traditional social aspect of college, live on campus if you can!
there really is a gigantic mix of people, as to be expected, so if you feel like you don't fit in, trust me, there is a place for you at a university. there were probably 40 different nationalities represented on my floor alone!

the classes were definitely different. i'm a history major and in community college my classes were pretty similar in that they consisted of a few term papers, 6 or 8 multiple choice quizzes, and a midterm and a final, both multiple choice and short response with one long essay response. very "highschool". UCLA on the other hand...

one class required two 5 page papers, one 8 page paper, 1 research based 10 page paper, and two 3 page papers (all of my required page counts include double spacing, for anyone who might wonder?). this was all over a 10 week period, and while at the end it was a little much, it was very doable. the same class also had 6 books to read, mostly historical novels on the period.

another was lecture based, one mid term, one final, all essay, no multiple choice. very "college" stereotype.

my language class was nothing new really, it really depends on the language you take. if its any consolation, im white, took vietnamese, and got an A. its all what you put into it.

experiences may vary. i.e. most of the engineering majors on my floor were usually very preoccupied, but everyone had time to do their own thing. my roommate is chem engineering and he still found time to go to clubs and play video games, etc.

dragondawg · 12-20-2007, 03:32 PM

well i have one more semester of community college which would make it 3 years that it took me to transfer, even though i'm only taking 1 class and a PE class, hope it doesn't make a difference, i'll probably be hanging with people who graduated high school in 06 and maybe some in 05. I never understood the point of writing so many papers that takes so much time and research and then i guess one person just grades it.

alansda · 12-20-2007, 06:04 PM

thanks a lot stranger and passionate for the insight, particularly on the social and academic aspects.

Newton · 12-21-2007, 03:37 PM

@strongergodzilla, I'm also a transfer to UCLA and i must say that i really envy your social life. I wanted the dorms, but they gave me the apartments. i know quite a few other transfers who got the dorms even though they wanted the apartments. so ucla gives u what u DONT want!

"almost all the people i knew who transfered and lived off campus all said the same thing, that they couldn't seem to make new friends."
pretty much sums up me and my roommates. I at least tried a few different clubs and tried to make friends in my classes. I dont think my roommates joined ANY clubs, and 1 of them is actually a social guy

even though i did very well academically, i must say that there certainly was a difference in academic ability between the sophomores and junior transfers in my classes. the sophomores were aiming for A's while the transfers just wanted to pass.

Malishka31 · 12-23-2007, 01:54 AM

I hated most of the time i spend at UCLA. It just was not for me. UCLA does not cater at all to adult students. They have no night classes. I support myself, i had to work and it was really hard to enjoy any of it. I lived far form campus too.... .i guess it would be great if you dont have tons of bills and can just enjoy the academic and social aspect of it.

Torrancecali · 12-23-2007, 11:45 AM

wat?! they dont have night classes? that's lame...

Malishka31 · 12-23-2007, 11:49 AM

they have some night labs, but not like lectures and so on. And not in math. Most math classes were like at 8am or 11am

I never saw a lecture at 7pm or even 6pm

usdenick · 01-11-2008, 02:34 PM

Do most students work? I would like to transfer to Berkeley and am expecting to work part-time during my time there. Is this realistic?