Hi @SpicyRamen ! Welcome to the Cal family!
- FPF was not one of the best experiences, in my opinion. I wouldn’t say it puts you behind in your degree, but it essentially forces you to take your breadth courses (general education requirements) because the course selection is rather limited. For example, seeing as you are either Physics or Math, depending on whether you took AP Calc AB or BC, the math track is Math 1A, Math 1B, Math 53, and then if it’s the math major, Math 54, Math 55, all of which must be done before you declare. FPF only offers up to Math 1B, which is the equivalent of AP Calculus BC. So if you already got a 5 on that AP exam, you won’t really be able to take a math class for your first semester unless you want to repeat something.
With that being said, I have already gotten all of my general education requirements done after the first year, which is a little nice because I found them rather boring. Some people like to take them all at once, other people like to sprinkle them in among technical classes; it differs from person to person.
The unit limit for FPF is not 13; the minimum is 13. If I remember correctly, the maximum amount of units is 16. I personally took 16 units. Once you hit main campus, the max moves up to 20.5.
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The campus does have some slow but long hills, which I think is actually harder to bike than steep hills. Yes, many students use bikes, depending on where they live and where their classes are. It’s definitely a viable option (make sure to get it registered with the police department). However, I managed to get by with just walking. Side note: you have to be careful with your bike; when you get here, you will see many abandoned bikes with their wheels stolen.
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I personally did the Standard meal plan. You will find that you will end up eating out quite a bit more than you expect, especially with friends (trust me on this). I almost always had extra points. However, I wasn’t much of a breakfast or lunch eater, so I would recommend either the Standard of Premium. Hardly anyone gets the Ultimate Access.
The place that most people eat is Durant Avenue. There are many restaurants here. We have the Asian Ghetto, which has a bunch of Asian restaurants, ie Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc etc, there’s Sather Lane, which has more Asian food, frozen yogurt.
On campus, there are many places. Once you get to know Cal, you probably won’t be going to the main Dining Halls; you’re more likely to eat at Pat Brown’s, Free Speech Movement Cafe, Cafe Zeb. The Golden Bear, located on Sproul, is very popular as well. These places all have higher quality food than the dining halls.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you need more questions answered!