<p>I just finished my first semester at Berkeley as a transfer.</p>
<p>Some things are harder, some things are the same. I wouldn’t say Berkeley is “harder” per se, but definitely more intense.</p>
<p>It was intimidating at first. Moving here was a hassle and a half, and the pace starts fast from the first day. All the kids in every class are very smart, at least in comparison to CC. The kids that have been there since freshman year have a slight advantage because they understand the rhythm of the school.</p>
<p>My professors were incredible, which was also intimidating. They were the people on the cutting edge of my field doing the primary research that would become textbooks for HS and CC. The first 8 weeks beat me up pretty bad between academics, finding my way around the school, and just trying to get used to the change. By the 10th week I still did not have any grades for my classes because it was all lecture and midterms. Most of my classes were midterms, finals, and a writing assignment. The biggest change overal had to be how much more reading there was to do as opposed to CC. In my major, Anthropology, the reading we had to do was a huge jump. The density of the articles was like nothing I had really dealt with before. Some of the articles were so hard to grasp conceptually it took a few read-throughs and entire class times explaining articles. No real textbooks here at Berkeley. Just journal articles and primary source books. No scantrons either, just bluebook essays. And those bluebook essays were not graded like they were in CC. In CC you just write as much as you know about a subject and regurgitate as much as you can. At Berkeley, you have to formulate your bluebook like a research paper rough draft, and present a well structured essay that analyzes the prompt and the material. I thought I wrote the best bluebook essays ever for my midterms. I got a C, C, and a B+ (curved from a C). Worst grades I have ever got on midterms and I studied harder than ever before.</p>
<p>The upside was, this place is incredible. I feel so challenged. I did not have 1 boring lecture all semester. Every lecture delved hard into amazing topics. Just meeting with my professors in office hours was such a great learning experience. My brain grew and changed so much in just one semester. I became such a better writer, because the GSIs would not let me ******** on ANYTHING and demanded good writing when grading. Just being part of such an amazing academic community is part of the reward here. The students for the most part are all driven individuals who have a desire to learn and do well. That aura can be infectious. During Dead Week, I had never seen anything like it, thousands of students all studying so hard all day and night (24 hour libraries) on their “week off.”</p>
<p>Over the course of the semester I figured things out fast. I learned how Berkeley worked and what you have to do to survive here. My hard work and persistence paid off though, because my final grades this semester was A, A, B+ finishing with a 3.76. Knowing what I know now, and having a semester of experience, I should do much better with grades from here on out. </p>
<p>My advice for an incoming transfer is:
- Keep up on the assigned reading. Do not think you can “make it up” later or over a weekend. Even if you just skim the readings, you are much more prepared. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Form study groups. I would have never done well at all on any of the exams without study groups. We divided study guides and had review sessions. </p></li>
<li><p>Take time to rest/have fun. You need to here. It is easy to get caught up in the “i am going to study all the time and do so much and try to be as smart as everyone else!” Because it is easy to feel like you are behind everyone here, especially coming from CC where you were most likely a superstar. Don’t buy into the hype. It just seems that way because most people have experience here and are already adjusted. Your first semester at Berkeley is going to beat you up, but after that 1st one things are fine. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I covered a lot here, but if there are any other questions I’ll be happy to answer them.</p>