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

sheepsgobaa
Thu, 01 May 2014 22:20:13 +0000

Kind of a side note; these advices are more catered towards living in Berkeley rather than the academics part of Berkeley. I guess knowing these things ahead of time can help with succeeding in Berkeley?

The dining commons are… not the best. It’s actually quite infamously bad for a city that emphasizes on good food so much. Maybe (and hopefully) that has changed over the years…


Other than dining commons, there are also cafes, markets, grab-and-go food places on campus as well. Try out Qualcomm Cafe in Sutardja hall (they have these made to order wraps for lunch) or Ramona’s in Wurster (made to order paninis). Most of these places have a Peet’s attached and i THINK they accept meal plan points.
There are no major supermarkets that are very close to campus. Closest would be two Trader Joe’s, one on University and MLK Jr. Road and the other on College, the Safeway near the Gourmet Ghetto (there’s a Safeway on College, but it’s under construction), Whole Foods Market on Telegraph and Ashby, and Berkeley Bowl on Oregon and Shattuck. However, there are a lot of corner stores (overpriced though) and marketplaces in the dorms (Cub Market, Bear Market), which accept meal plan points but are also quite overpriced. Not that you would need to cook in the dorms, but if transportation to grocery stores is an issue, there’s this new service called Instacart that deliver groceries straight to your door, although with a service fee.
Berkeley time: Berkeley classes start 10 minutes after the listed time. For example, a 10am-11am class would actually be 10:10 - 11:00.
People’s Park is a small to mid-size park near the Units. There is a basketball court and grass and trees … and it is also a place where hobos live/gather.
Speaking of hobos, they are actually usually quite polite or at least they won’t bother you. You don’t have to interact with them if you don’t want to, but most people come into Berkeley having these irrational fears about hobos. Yes, some of them are crazy and talk to themselves, but I’ve personally never had a real problem with them. If you are walking down the street and this crazy person is yelling at you (and that is not too unusual in Berkeley), just keep walking. You should be fine.
If you need to walk home late at night and you feel safety is a concern, you can use Bearwalk (they send someone to walk with you to your destination) or the Night Shuttle for longer distances. the phone number for these services are on the back of your Student ID.
Buses are a nice way to get around in Berkeley. Berkeley students get to ride the AC transit for free; you just need to pick up a bus pass sticker at the beginning of the semester at the Cal 1 card office. Some routes that go near the campus are 51B, 49, F.
If you have a bike up in Berkeley, take extra precautions in locking up your bike. Bicycle thefts are very common in Berkeley. Use U-locks (no cables that can be easily cut off). And register your bike in case it gets stolen. http://police.berkeley.edu/prevention/bike.html
If you want to go to SF, you can take the Bart (closest station is Downtown Berkeley, but I sometimes take Rockridge as well). Tickets are around $7-$8 roundtrip from downtown Berkeley to downtown SF, ~$19 roundtrip to SFO, and $5 roundtrip to OAK (although if you are going to OAK, you’ll also need to pay an extra $2 for the airBart shuttle that takes from Coliseum station to the airport). Follow Google Maps public transportation directions, then you should be fine.
If you can afford to spend more on transportation, Uber and Lyft are also pretty convenient ways to get around.
If you are musically inclined, there are practice rooms open to all students in the basement of Morrison Hall. Most have upright pianos you can play on. Also, some common areas in the dorms also have pianos.
Gym admission for the semester is $10. I believe you can also access gyms of other UC’s as well. Other than the main gym (RSF), there are also a bunch of other smaller gyms, pools, tennis courts you can use around the campus/city area.