<p>This thread is mainly for students that had already transferred to Cal, but it’s not limited to anyone. Please post your ideas, comments, and/or opinions.</p>
<p>Question: Cal students seem to be VERY well spoken and very eloquent. Does this apply to all? Do transfer students feel out of place and how well are you able to make friends since the continuing students already have a group?</p>
<p>I better ante up my communication skills, so I won’t look like an a$$ if I get accepted. (I’m thinking ahead of myself…eh)</p>
<p>BTW, to all the CC’ers, don’t take offense to the title. It’s an attention grabber. I’m sure it doesn’t apply to all. Just the majority from my standpoint.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the average Cal student is that eloquent, nor do they have much to be eloquent about. I guess one thing is that CC stigmatizes overachievers, whereas Cal does so for underachievers–to an extent of course, and this is just my observations.</p>
<p>Honestly, the fact that the modern American student is so unaware of global events does not help much at all.</p>
<p>I know quite a few people that go to Cal and trust me they are not very eloquent. But I am sure there are quite a few eloquent people at Cal just like there are quite a few eloquent people at my CC.</p>
<p>“Honestly, the fact that the modern American student is so unaware of global events does not help much at all.”</p>
<p>yay, i was the official politics and global events awareness winner in my dorm last year. not that im good, but everyone else just doesnt know anything about the world.</p>
<p>i think the engineering students would not be eloquent.</p>
<p>Yeah I’ve been stationed in Germany for three years. Looking back I am shocked by how little I knew about the world at large before I got here. </p>
<p>Maybe if students were taught about other cultures in school instead of that “America’s the best and pretty much the only important nation on Earth” crap, we’d be a lot better off. Newsflash teachers: Some countries do things better then us. That isn’t a bad thing. This isn’t a zero-sum game.</p>
<p>I use to live in Germany as well and I remember a paticular instance when we took a juant down to Italy. We were driving through a tunnel in the German influenced part of Switzerland. There were about five workers painstakingly trying to fill in a small crack in the wall. They had cones and flashing lights to warn cars; to them it was this huge venture that was approached with complete professionalism. However, as we continued to drive we reached the Italian border and passed through another tunnel. It was a complete mess. Mold was growing on the walls, the concrete was falling apart, and two guys were standing around smoking some ciggarettes and drinking cappuccinos. People were honking and yelling becuase the guys had the cones in the middle of the road but weren’t doing anything. </p>
<p>Wait, I think I missed the point of this thread. Sorry, but MOS25V10 made me nostalgic.</p>
<p>You don’t need to be intimidated by the students at Cal. At first I was intimidated by students at really all the UC schools I visited. But really it is just the atmosphere that they been living in for awhile. When you transfer and you are in the same type of atmosphere you probably will become just as eloquent. Think about the forensic students at your CC and how many of them just seem amazingly knowledgeable and eloquent. It is not because they are so intelligent it is because they have been exposed to that type of atmosphere of discussion and stay on top of current events.</p>
<p>You don’t need to worry about a thing. I used to go up to Cal every weekend (I used to date someone who went there), and I have to tell you, for all their 4.0+ high school GPAs, the Berkeley students I hung out with were surprisingly…well, obviously not unintelligent, but not the most fascinating conversationalists, either. I really don’t mean this in a condescending way, but I think the students at my CC are a lot more interesting, probably because of the diversity of their life experiences. It’s a minor thing to worry about, so don’t. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, everyone. (including off topic discussions)</p>
<p>I guess what I really want to know is how are the class discussions compared to a CC class. Do the professors discriminate? </p>
<p>I’ve read about transfers feeling out of place, so I was wondering if it was THAT BAD to make new friends. I’m just hoping that it wouldn’t be like the CC’s. I’m sure everyone knows what I’m talking about.</p>
<p>Hmm… how could the professors discriminate? It’s not like we’ll all be wearing giant, scarlet “T”'s on our foreheads during class discussions. ;)</p>
You mean how current events means knowing all of the local bars, that we should support the troops because it’s the American thing to do, and so on?</p>
<p>Lackofsense - yes, that’s a question. You asked if the professors will discriminate against transfer students during class discussions. I’m asking you, how would it be possible for the professors to know that you are a transfer to even begin to discriminate? Unless you broadcast to the class that you are a transfer, then no, they shouldn’t discriminate because you will be just as “eloquent” as the 4-year Cal students, am I right?</p>
<p>That’s what I meant by the scarlet letter joke…</p>
<p>einna: I thought you were being sarcastic. </p>
<p>I’m not talking about discriminating against transfers. I’m referring to students that doesn’t seem to be “at their level.” </p>
<p>Take William Hung, for example. Howard Stern nailed him for not knowing anything about his major. Will professors be like hard on students that are a bit slower? Can someone from Cal give me a definite answer?</p>
<p>Lackofsense, at UCSD, there are students who have their cell phones out as well as laptops.</p>
<p>One thing that you’ll find more in the math/science majors at Cal is that transfers might be behind more often. I know this isn’t always true, but in humanities, it’s very possible to be left in the dust. Possible reasons might include the fact that freshman applicants usually have quite a few AP tests under their belt, and can start major work earlier than transfers, who sometimes are unable to complete much of their lower-division at a CC, let alone upper-division work. </p>
<p>I’d like a source or something more concrete, but I’d say that personally, I’d feel a bit uncomfortable being a junior taking introductory real analysis and algebra. It’d be worth it, but from what I’ve heard, their analysis classes are filled with freshmen.</p>
<p>The last thing you want to do is be nervous about your ability to articulate thoughts and opinions. You’ll find that self-doubt leads to hesitation which leads to loss of oppurtunity. Sometimes you have to put yourself out there, and yes, sometimes you will sound like a complete idiot. Believe me I know, not for Cal specifically, but I currently attend a 4-year institution and you’ll find that teachers will discriminate in your favour if you contribute to class discussions.</p>