Can anyone start "Some tips for succeeding at Cal"?

totalcaprice
Tue, 29 Apr 2014 23:47:15 +0000

Don’t just study study study. There’s more to life than just studying. Plus, if you keep turning down friends to go study, then you’re not going to have many friends. Though, maintain your grades. Yes, my gpa is 3.45. Could it be higher? yes, but do I really want to sacrifice my social life to get a 4.0? Not really.
You are probably a top student from your high school entering UC Berkeley; so is everyone else. You may or may not be the smartest anymore, and that’s okay. You’re going to meet very inspiring people who just seem to be able to balance so many things at once. Don’t compare yourself to them, and just try your best. You are not a “loser” if you can’t do as well, everyone is unique and different. You can’t compare oranges to apples. And you can be amazed at what you can learn from your peers who come from different backgrounds.
When you start school, try your best to get to know people. It gets harder to make friends as the semester drags on. Go out to eat with your floormates to get to know them. Introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you in class and make small talk. Go to calapalooza, which is on the 1st thursday when school starts, to walk around tables to see what clubs you are interested in and join them. Be active in one or two, and apply to be in a committee/family. Being a general member won’t let you get close to people as being in a committee or family. Get people’s numbers if you want to be friends, arrange dinners with your floormates.
yes, ^jeweinst1 knows it. Try things you never did before. Go apply for Berkeley’s Alternative Breaks program, or the Cal Externship program. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
If you are pre-med or pre-Haas, the environment is going to be a little competitive. Yes, there’s going to be some ■■■■■■■■ who think they are the best and that they only took 1 hour to finish a problem set. Just ignore those people, they just like to see the panic on other people’s faces, and they do not represent the whole student population for the major. Haas is actually very cooperative for example, and many are very nice.
Use your breadth requirements to try new subjects you were interested before. Curious about forestry? Take the forestry class if it fulfills a breadth requirement.
If you know what you want to do for a career, join a club that is related to whatever you want to do. It will help you in the long run. Apply for research positions when you qualify, and do internships as early as possible. You need to start building your resume. When you graduate 4 years later, you will be glad when you apply for jobs, or when you need to apply for grad school.
Take a language class if you have the space. Berkeley’s language programs are very demanding, but also very rewarding. I took Chinese for only 1.5 years, and I can hold conversations pretty well. I can even write in traditional. I was actually surprised by my progress. The language classes are small, and you get to know your classmates. They are also stress relievers for people since they are fun