yayarea510

i have a serious concern about dorming. are your chances good for housing? i do not want to live at home or commute and i definitely dont want to miss out the dorming experience.

i know it may sound stupid but i rather go to ucsd instead if i cant live over there.

yayarea510

Is it difficult to get in the fall extension program by the way? i know it's first come first serve basis but would it safe to say it be too late by next week to sign up and get in?

lilacsnake

So, are your chances for getting into a dorm if you request (and they also agree) to room with someone who is a fall admit? And when do you sign up for housing anyway? I've looked at lots of spring admit threads, but they're not really specific about it. Can you only sign up for housing (for spring admits) after you agree to go there, or after you get into the FPF program? I saw the screencap for the acceptance letter for fall 2007, and there was a link that said something like "apply for housing", but that link was replaced with "enroll in the FPF program" on my spring admit letter..

Also, any advice on the different dorms and stuff, i still dont know which ones would be the best ones to apply for..

vicissitudes

If you're just going to take the BART to Berkeley everyday I would imagine that it would get expensive. I think most people who commute just drive there. If you don't get housing there's always nearby apartments or themed housing (which is in the dorms).

I don't want to scare people with the 250 / 650 FPF students getting housing. First, that was only the initial number of housing spots offered. I think there was a waiting list and many people eventually got in. Also, there are other options like nearby apartment or Tau House (it's like a mini-dorm) or themed housing. Some FPF students got into the dorms in the spring. Keep in mind that you can still live in the dorms your second year. The years prior to last year, almost all FPF students were offered housing, so they may have adjusted to last year's aberration and will offer more housing this year. Very few people last year actually had to commute. Those who commuted generally chose to.

yayarea510, I don't know how many spots they're going to give to FPF students this year. If it's not many, then (I'm guessing that you live in the area) it's possible that you may not get housing in the dorms. It's hard to say your chances of getting housing.

I think if you are seriously considering FPF, you should send in the deposit as soon as possible. If you choose to not go to Berkeley all you lose is $100. I think last year the program filled up around 12th of April but it may be even faster this year.

vicissitudes

I think you have a pretty good chance of getting your roommate if both of you request each other. They're usually pretty good about that kind of thing. As for when you apply, I don't remember the exact dates, but I think FPF students apply later than fall admits, and I'm almost 100% sure you apply for housing after the deadline for your SIR, which means you will have already decided to come to Berkeley by the time you apply for housing.

I would recommend the units. Most freshmen stay in those. Unit 1 and 2 are pretty nice and unit 3 is a little old but it's decent. We can always start another thread in this forum about dorms.

lilacsnake

thanks for answering my post, but also,
If spring admits apply for housing later than fall admits, would the applications be processed later (then how would they handle requests)? And if the requesting a roomate thing didnt work out, it wouldnt lower their or my chances of getting housing anyway right?
Oh yea, and i plan to turn in my FPF deposit in person on monday. Thats still plenty of time right? (i was kinda worried cuz April 12 is just over a week away) and please dont let there be tons of ppl who sent it in by mail over this weekend; would those be processed first? Hopefully there wont be a long line to turn it in or anything when i get there.
Yea, i realized im so obessed about not making it in time, partly because i submitted my UC app at like 10:30 pm on the last day (contributing to my paranoia that maybe im a spring admit cuz my app was one of the last ones looked at and they couldnt decide? pretty much unfounded, but i still dont want anything to go wrong now)
Anyway, after that long tangent,
A seperate thread about dorms would be good, also with a FAQ?

LeftistHominid

so wait theme housing is near guaranteed right?

vicissitudes

Yeah I believe the housing apps for the FPF students are processed later and you'll be contacted with an offer later. If you end up not getting the roommate you requested I don't think it would lower your chances of getting housing (their housing is guaranteed).

I hear it's not that hard to get theme housing.

julirides

thanks, vicissitudes, for all the great info. Can Spring Admits participate in the overnight visits in April? If so, how do you go about signing up?

avoidingwork

My S who is currently a 3rd year was a Spring Admit. vicissitudes' info posted here has been spot on. From what I've observed:

1. FPF is a good way to start at CAL. Small classes and small overall group. If you are considering it, I suggest you sign up as soon as possible. Worse case, you lose your deposit if you decide to do something else. No one knows when the slots will fill up, so just do it.
2. One strategy to housing is to apply to a theme house. S got housing this way.
3. If you are in FPF, they provide some info on housing possibilities
4. The Spring Admit stats are NOT included in the stats CAL publishes.

Oh, and did I say that S was on the Dean's Honor List last semester? (shameless parent bragging). Spring Admits are in no way 'lesser than'. It is what you do at CAL that matters, not your HS record.

For those who were admitted to CAL this year as Spring Admits, congratulations on your acceptance. Good luck with your decisions and planning

yayarea510

what's theme housing? can you apply for both theme housing and dorms?

Waffles?

I read on their website about the FPF program requirements....There is a minimum 2.0 GPA requirement in order to enroll for the fall. Does this mean that, with the heavy curving at Cal, if you dont get those grades, you dont get to continue @ berkeley?

Isn't that almost like gambling then? Isnt there the possibility that your grades don't quite make it, then you have no choice but to try to transfer to another school....and the other school probably isnt going to cut you any slack on those bad grades simply because you came from cal?

I'm so confused!! ><

mofmog

I thought curves were for weeder and impacted classes. What reason would they have for purpouse failing 10% of the class in gen req classes?

Waffles?

What? I thought they curved every class in the UC system...except for maybe the lower UCs

zeropatience

i got accepted into spring

i was wondering how hard are the classes in the extension program compared to the real classes at cal?

also im planning to apply to haas, will there be the UG prereq class at the extension program? will it be just as hard as the real class at cal since its a weeder class?