<p>besides tuition+dorm+meal costs— how much money will i need for my 1st year (just a rough estimate) AND what is a safe amount to carry?</p>
<p>Also, is it safe to keep money or other valuables inside your dorms?</p>
<p>lastly, is it true that on campus jobs DO NOT charge tax on your wages?</p>
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<p>Are you asking about work study job? A Federal Program in which the paycheck goes directly to the student?</p>
<p>What do you plan on doing over the year? Do you expect to go to San Francisco all the time? Concerts weekly? Catch every baseball game in SF and Oakland? What are your interests and what do you expect to do that would require money? How often do you expect to eat out? Do you have a credit card or debit card, as this would mean you could just use that a lot of the time? You could need between $500 and $5,000. I would guess many spend between $500 and $2,000, but that’s just a very rough guess.</p>
<p>I think many students feel safe keeping money and valubles in their dorm. Many keep their computers out in the open. There is some very infrequent crime- people are advised to keep their doors locked if nobody is inside. You will probably have little problems, it just depends on your roommates and their friends, who will most likely be lovely people and you’ll be fine. Obviously you shouldn’t leave out giant diamonds and bars of gold in the hallways, but common sense is all you need. For instance, it’s a bad idea to walk around with many hundreds of dollars on you. There is rarely good reason to do so. Perhadps sometimes there is- do it then, but generally, there is not. Carrying more than $200 dollars at a time probably doesn’t make sense, and having about $60 is more than you’ll need on the average day. There are many ATM machines near and on campus.</p>
<p>On a related subject: How many Berkeley students work while attending school?</p>
<p>I’m not sure, I imagine the campus has some statistics. I’d say it’s fairly common.</p>
<p>I’d say about $2500-3,000 dollars total or so for the entire year. then again I ate out a lot when I lived in the dorms.</p>
<p>Regarding the campus jobs, I think that’s a rumor. I think taxes are withheld, but don’t take my word for sure. THey give you your w-2 form and i think it says taxes are withheld. So then u can file and u might get a refund from the IRS because ure income is below a certain threshold.</p>
<p>However, campus jobs are in general lower-paying in my opinion except for certain computer/engineering related ones. Get an off campus job relevant to your future career. (Right now I’m working 20 hours a week and getting paid about 700 a month for an off campus job…which is probably a little higher than on-campus jobs.)</p>
<p><a href=“Right%20now%20I’m%20working%2020%20hours%20a%20week%20and%20getting%20paid%20about%20700%20a%20month%20for%20an%20off%20campus%20job…which%20is%20probably%20a%20little%20higher%20than%20on-campus%20jobs.”>quote</a>
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Can you work 20 hours a week and still get a 4.0?</p>
<p>It depends on your major. ONe of my majors semi-sucks in my opinion (Economics) and the other is better (history). </p>
<p>But if you only worked 20 hours a week and went to class assuming your major is easy, then yes, it’s probably doable.</p>
<p>Usually 15 hours is the max one should work. Anything more and the dropout rate for those working increases dramatically.</p>
<p>While philosophy is by no means easy, if you are decent/good at it and try fairly hard, you will be able to get good (probably not perfect) grades.</p>
<p>unlimited…really? ok that is uber-scary to me, because i do a total of 30 hours of extracurriculars (20 hours is work) along with 4 classes during the academic year. but i really do need the money since my dad has limited support for me financially…</p>
<p>i think i can apply to take less classes if i want, right?</p>
<p>I’m just regurgitating what I read on the workstudy website.</p>
<p>Just put academic work as your priority and it should be fine. Don’t submit to your supervisor when he demands you to work xx hours during finals week and such. There are plenty of jobs out there, and there’s no reason why your supervisor can’t be flexible.</p>
<p>haha regurgitating…cheers</p>
<p>But yeah I think my employers are very understanding. They went to Berkeley themselves and Boalt Law, so they can relate.</p>
<p>But this is advice for the first years: DO NOT SLACK ACADEMICALLY YOUR FIRST YEAR. It is very easy to get into a GPA hole whereas getting out is mucho hard. Work hard from the start. Too many freshman don’t take it seriously.</p>
<p>Yea… tell me about it :/</p>
<p>Now I have to play the GPA catch up game for the next 3 years.</p>
<p>on a related subject, what is the cheapest flight from Boston — LAX— Berkeley?</p>
<p>i could go direct from boston to berkeley but i will stop at Los Angeles to see some family. actually what is the cheapest flight from LAX to berkeley? (i don’t know how many days i will stay in LA so i will have to buy 2 separate tickets) 1 ticket for boston to LAX AND 1 ticket for LAX to berkeley</p>
<p>I’d suggest Jet Blue and Southwest, but I imagine that other companies might be cheaper. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>^^ lol,</p>
<p>but yep, i don’t know if i’m spolied or not, but i was thinking that ~$1k / mo. (excl. costs for food/housing) would be the bare minimum you’d need.</p>
<p>$1000/month? Wow. What in the world do you buy? That’s enough for a weeks worth of gasoline for a hummer ;).</p>
<p>I think dating and whether you take out the ladies factors into this spending discussion. Sports/Cultural Events also factor in. Are breaks factored in? You know Fall & Spring adventures?</p>
<p>1k is a huge overestimate. I can handle groceries, gas, and leisure expenditures in the bay area for under 350/mo at home easily. Prices for food seemed pretty reasonable around campus, and since you won’t be driving, costs should be pretty low.</p>