I’m currently deciding between UCLA and UC Berkeley. I’m LOOKING for reasons to go to UC Berkeley. I really loved Cal Day. The campus is beautiful, and UC Berkeley is far away from home (a plus!).
However, I don’t want to go to UC Berkeley for several reasons. First of all, I live in SoCal, and I don’t think I can survive all the fog and dreariness. I love to run outdoors, but I’m guessing it rains a lot at UC Berkeley. Also, I’m scared of the competition. I want to go to graduate school, but I heard grade deflation is a major problem at UC Berkeley. Can anyone give me some insight on the weather and grade deflation/competition at Berkeley?
Any other opinions on Berkeley would be great! Thank you.
The cooler weather may be more comfortable when running or other intense exercise. Also, running in the rain (if there is any) is not too bad.
All probably is true, but that should deter from UCB.
It doesn’t rain a lot in California in general, let alone Berkeley. Sure it’s a little cooler because the ocean is right there, but there’s not much rain.
My Southern Californian son had to buy some long pants and a North Face jacket, but otherwise the difference in weather has not been a big deal. Unfortunately because of the drought there hasn’t been much rain anywhere. I think the weather is good in Berkeley except in the summers (when likely you won’t be there) when it can be quite dreary. I would imagine the grade deflation/competition would be about the same at UCLA and Berkeley.
I’m also from SoCal and had the same dilemma when I had to choose. Eventually what broke the deal was the major in my case since both schools had completely different majors in terms of whatever I applied to. The GPA deflation at Berkeley is real, but it also depends on the major you’re at. Most of the harsh classes are lower dev classes, so if you’re coming in as a freshman you would have a hard time but not impossible. The weather here is colder than LA, but not by much. There was almost no rain last year, so it’s pretty similar and it was sunny most of the year. you have about 10-14 more days of rain than in SoCal I would say overall. The weather here is actually better since it’s just right it terms of temperature while in SoCal it could get very hot and humid.