I'm an out of stater who is not familiar with the Bay Area.
I plan on applying for junior level transfer to Berkeley after two years at a California community college. I am looking at a school in the city of San Fransisco however I am not quite interesting in finding a housing situation in the heart of the city ( Sky-high rent is not at the top of my list, if you catch my drift).
Does anyone know how long the usual commute is from S.F. to Berkeley? I imagine the bridge is backed up with cars during "rush hours" (Much like it is here in Boston on I-93). Is it possible for one to use public transportation to and from S.F. from the Berkeley area? Possibly even ride a bicycle?
For a college student looking to go to school for the first two years within the city of S.F., does anyone have any pointers on location of affordable housing within reasonable distance?
Go to craigslist.org Click on SF. Then click on real estate.
You can take public transportation from Berkeley to SF. How long it takes depends on where in SF you are going. Driving a car, it takes between 25 and 50 minutes depending on where you are going. (Unless it is commute time).
I haven't done the BART trip (public transportation) in a long time so I don't know how long it takes, but that is the way to go if it works out.
Housing is not cheap in the bay area. If you are going to City College or SF State, renting a room in a house in the Sunset (near 19th ave.) or the Monterey Blvd. area makes sense.
Berkeley is a great place for a college kid to live. You might not need a car if you live there (which will save you money).
Yes. The Sunset is full of middle class housing. Do you want to be surrounded by college kids? Then go to Berkeley. I went to school at both City College and Berkeley.
I can't remember if there is a Bart station near City College, but I believe there is.
Correct. I want to make the move from NH to California before the Spring 2007 semester begins and I am just looking at the cost of living the various areas around S.F./Berkeley.
As a former City College student who has successfully made the transition to Berkeley, do you have any pointers for me? I am saving up the necessary funds to make the move possible and my parents are assiting me in the housing situation as well, but with rent prices the way they are, I am really interested in the bare minimums for my two years there
I was thinking of trying to find a cheaper place in Berkeley rather than in the heart of S.F. as long as the commute would be feasible.
I figured I could save a few bucks each month and it wouldn't hurt to be in the heart of the college town of the school that I am trying for (Maybe driving by the campus each day would serve as prime motivation for my first two years and remind me of why I moved 3000 miles from home in the first place).
Here is a sample Bart schedule. It takes about 35 minutes from downtown Berkeley to Balboa Park. I think the walk from City College to the Bart station is about 10-15 minutes. It's about $3.55 each way.
As for advice, it's been a long time since I went to those schools. Many people make the transition from City College to Berkeley successfully, so just do your homework. Also plan out your classes in advance so you know what you need to take.
As for where to live, that is a personal choice. The Sunset is quiet.
The area around the Haight is more interesting. The Marina area is probably the best area to live, but it is far from City College. You can probably get to City College faster from Berkeley than the Marina. It is expensive.
At first glance, I saw that City College of S.F. sent 140 transfer students to Berkeley last year while Vista sent 68.
After analyzing the student body ratios however, with City College having a student body close to 14,617 and Vista being closer to 1560, I realize now that I may have been overlooking a better opportunity for my own situation.
I must admit, when I saw that City College sent close to 140 students to Berkeley last year, it almost over shadowed my opinions on the other CC's in the area. I should have taken into consideration the size of the student body and what not.
Poor judgement on my behalf and thank you. I am putting serious consideration into Vista after this.
