<p>Thank you. whew, I was worried there for a bit. I don’t anticipate that I will get straight A’s in college, it’s very difficult and I’m fine with that. I’ve been told to expect my GPA to drop about one point in college. The main reason I aimed for straight A’s in HS was to get into a great college, and since I will already be, there isn’t as much pressure to get a 4.0.</p>
<p>I just want to be able to get GOOD grades and still have fun, but you guys make it sound like it’s possible, so I’m feeling a little more confident about Cal. I’ve been pretty good about knowing when to focus on school and when I can go out and party. I’m loving the idea of Cal more and more.</p>
<p>I was wondering about Greek Life. How difficult is it to get a bid for a sorority? What are the odds/chances? What type of things should you do to really try to get a bid?</p>
<p>As far as getting a bid? There are some houses where its tougher than others. I’ve been so out of the loop for so long and haven’t really bothered to check in, that I’m not sure where the houses stand. Usually, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi were desirable houses when I was there, with Delta Gamma and Alpha Delta Pi coming in close afterwards. I’m not going to do rankings or say anything about the houses themselves. </p>
<p>As far as rush for Sororities goes, it’s a lot more formalized than the men’s rush. (Men’s rush, you kind of go around, eat their BBQ, get to know the guys, hang out and decide if its a fit.) Women’s rush is a bit more complicated. If I recall correctly, it entailed going to a few ‘cocktail/punch and hors d’ouveres’ type parties which were really just mixers that lasted about 15-30 minutes(? - if it’s changed, please let me know.) where you got to meet a few of the women and they got to know you on a basic level. From then on, they would decide to give you a pref bid or something to invite you back. You would continue to go to events at houses where you were invited back. </p>
<p>Anyway, I think I really rambled off topic here. To get a bid, I would absolutely suggest being yourself. Don’t try to put on airs to get into a top tier house where you wouldn’t fit in. Wear nice, appropriate clothing and light makeup (generally a light bit of foundation, and a conservative/natural color of mascara and lipstick). Usually a sun dress or a nice outfit works well. They’ll tell you the dress code. Keep the conversation pleasant and light, but enough so they can know where you stand and who you really are. And by the way, I’ve become very liberal socially in my old age and working in the real world for awhile now, if I find overly done makeup and a hoochie dress offensive, you can bet your bottom dollar the women who will be rushing you will as well. In other words, walk in looking like you have some class and not like you belong on the Ho Stro on San Pablo in Oakland.</p>
<p>To summarize, I cannot overemphasize the following points if you decided to come back to my long rambling post:</p>
<ol>
<li>Be yourself. I cannot stress this enough. They can smell fear and phoniness.</li>
<li>Don’t let image pressures get your heart set on a house you wouldn’t fit into. Find the house that you feel like you belong in and go with that. </li>
<li>Dress appropriately and conservatively. I’m not talking show up in something that hasn’t been fashionable since the 1950s, but like above, a nice sun dress or cute ensemble will suit you well.</li>
<li>Don’t overdo it on the make up. You want to look like you have some measure of class and breeding.</li>
<li>Do not discuss sex, politics, or religion even if you are asked. Gracefully deflect the conversation and steer it to more suitable topics.</li>
</ol>
<p>Andrewtdx, i’m currently a sophomore in high school and I’m interested in computer sciences. cal seems to be one of the best options for this major, because it has high rankings and I think I should be able to get accepted. my current GPA is 3.917, but i’ve only taken half of a weighted class, and plan to have about three next year. I’m sixth in my class, but that will hopefully get better as well. As far as standardized testing, my school takes the ACT, but I haven’t taken it yet. I usually do very well on standardized test, so this shouldn’t be a problem. As far as awards, I know it sounds silly but in eighth grade i received the American Legion award, along with other leadership awards. Hopefully I’ll obtain more by the time I graduate. What do you think my chances are of getting in? Honestly, please don’t blow sunshine up my ass. I also wanted to know if you still think I should declare my major as “undeclared”.</p>
<p>I’m not even considering Cal - international needing FA, the kiss of death - but just out of interest, is Berkeley really so much tougher than the other top-ranked schools of its caliber? It’s just that there seem to be so many more threads on ‘surviving’ Cal then there are on other schools.</p>
<p>Somewhere in this forum, I dare not search back for the quote, I read that there is a difference between the reference of Cal and UCB in regards to that campus itself. </p>
<p>Or wait, maybe that was another forum -_-</p>
<p>Forgive me, I’ve been hooked on these forums all night.</p>
<p>Hehe, but anyways, would someone mind elaborating?</p>
<p>I would like advice on transferring to Berkeley. I kind of screwed up my sophomore year in high school, for many reasons, so there’s no way I will get into Berkeley. And so my plan is to spend my first two college years at Humboldt State, do well and transfer into Berkeley for my junior year. Do you think that’s a good plan? Would I be looked down on as inferior because I went to Humboldt? Would it be difficult for me to make friends and feel comfortable at Berkeley if I transfer in after two years? Is there on campus housing available for juniors? I am shy and have a hard time making friends in general.
But I am pretty intelligent and capable of getting good grades. And once I meet people I get along with I am fairly good at socializing.
Thanks.</p>
<p>^ Yea, it’s a good plan. The admit rate for transfers are usually higher than freshman admit rate, so you’ll have a better chance (but once again, it depends on how you do at Humboldt State).
Most of the students at Cal are very friendly and Cal itself is a very welcoming community, so you won’t be looked down as inferior. Would it be difficult for you to make friends? If you simply go out and take the chance to meet new people, take the initiative in introducing yourself and stuff, you’ll be making new friends in no time. So this really depends on you, but one thing is for sure - get rid of your shyness, it will just hurt you in the long run.
Campus housing is guaranteed for a year for transfers if you apply before a certain deadline.</p>
<p>i was wondering if Berkeley really is as stressful and horrid as i hear it from my older friends?
they’re constantly stressing over school and seem to have lost their social life. i’m a bit worried about applying.</p>
<p>The biggest problem with grades is that the teachers often don’t do the grading. They pawn it off on graders, some of whom know less about the subjects than the students they are grading.</p>
<p>I think that UC students are unified on issues beyond politics. The vast majority of students are liberal: Democrat or Green, but traditional political parties have come into disfavor in America and are largely irrelevant at Berkeley. Anyone pushing politics down anyone’s throat or trying to Republicanize the school won’t be popular. There are lots of people from each party on campus, but probably more declines to state than anything else.</p>
<p>Greens and independents are the most vocal in the area, though the Congresswoman is Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against the war in Afghanistan. Barbara has a fairly large following on campus.</p>
<p>Expect a lot of intellectuals. Berkeley students come across as think thank brains. There are lots of parties and protests, too. It’s a lot of fun.</p>
<p>The school has changed a lot since I went there. It’s been five years since I wrote the original post, so that is to be expected. Hell, I was still an idealistic, though admittedly somewhat hard-bitten and jaded at that point, young kid in a fraternity, trying to party it up while balancing school, getting into a study abroad program, and trying to “Study A Broad,” and an old school World of Warcraft addiction. Hah!</p>
<p>The school has gotten far more into being independent - think for yourself and progressive than when I was there. Of course, it was a very polarized time when I attended, (Iraq War was ramping up, people were still reeling from the first W. Bush election and 9/11, etc.) so you were either a Hard-Core Conservative/Republican or Hard-Core Liberal/Democrat or you just did not get it and got shouted down. Dogmatism seemed to be the rule of the day. I’m glad to know that may not be the case anymore. One of the reasons I went there was for open minds, I sadly did not find many until my last year. And yea, the GSIs were a problem then. I think it will always be that way unless you get a good one or they make the professors start actually grading all the classes, though unlikely. The classes I always got As in were the ones with the profs who did the grading. If I got anything lower, it was usually taught by a GSI. I know that sounds like an excuse, but if you look at my transcript, I can point out exactly which classes were taught primarily by professors and the ones where the GSIs did the leg work, and the proportion of As/A-s veruses Bs and B+s is pretty disproportionate. Nobody is that inconsistent. Though still graduated Cum Laude and with honors in one of my majors. :D</p>
<p>I hardly stop by my old alma mater anymore. My House has changed, the school has changed, I’m bored by the football schedule because its the same game every week, and depending on how dumb the team we’re playing is, – we either get crushed or crush them, and it just does not have the magic for me that it used to anymore. Things change and life goes on. But there will always be things that make it Berkeley. The kids seem nicer and less competitive, but that might just be the “Real World” talking. Best of luck to the new guys, and those who have just applied. You’ll need it. And take it slow, it may just be college, but it is college.</p>