<p>Is that an idea for a 120-160K car that you are after??!!!</p>
<p>By the way, is the parking permit free for you? If so, get them even while you are carless, if you that’s allowable.</p>
<p>Use a few $ to “play tourist” and explore everything there is to soak up in the bay area. (Then save the rest for grad school). There’s no question that you two will flourish, even if you ended up going to Nowheresville U. (Oh No! Now I’ll get someone from Nowheresville U jumping all over me here on CC!!!) Good luck!!!</p>
<p>I don’t think we’re going to be buying cars for a while, but when we do, I’ll probably buy hybrid. Just generally, partly for ideas, and partly to read the responses :)</p>
<p>*Edited to add: *I’m actually not that sure about the parking, I checked the scholarship page again, and I can’t seem to find the area where I read that, I’ll poke around a bit more.
Further edited to add: Gotcha, ‘twas on CC! apparently (although I’ll confirm this later), Regents’ gives you the right to buy a parking permit in your first year.</p>
<p>That being said, I would like to thank each of you; you’ve all been so kind and generous with your advice and time over the past few weeks.</p>
<p>k-twin any chance you might blog your experiences vs emailing ?</p>
<p>I see you no longer need photos of JHU and the surrounding area. I am very happy to read that you have narrowed your choices. May I say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your college search. Please, when the day comes that you are interviewed in a paper for research, investment, whatever…make sure Shrivats and k_twin are in parans after your real names so I can say to my friends in the nursing home,“I knew those boys would be huge successes.”</p>
<p>I was thinking of that as well; perhaps I’ll keep a blog while persisting with the emails, at least to teachers/school friends. (far more personal and far less public than a blog could ever be)</p>
<p>I just thought I’d chime in. </p>
<p>Actually Shrivats is my real name, and as it’s pretty distinctive. (There’s only 2 other Shrivats’ on the internet :), I think we’ll be pretty identifiable…)</p>
<p>That aside, thanks once again to everyone who’s posted, to tell the truth, when I started this thread, I had no idea it would become so large or span so many pages. In fact, I really didn’t expect anybody to respond, given the gargantuan size of my post. So thanks to each and every one of you, it’s been a blast… :)</p>
<p>P.S. I’ll definitely be posting on a blog, if not on CC in the form of an extended thread, then somewhere on the web…</p>
<p>“There’s only 2 other Shrivats’ on the internet”-</p>
<p>Thanks for the hint- you connected- some- ‘dots’ 
for me
which apparently you identical, table tennis-playing, siemens quiz contestant winner, debater twins do very well!</p>
<p>Congratulations to both of you! I can’t wait to hear how much you like Berkely, the cool things you’ll do there, and how much fun you both have!</p>
<p>Congratulations for making your decision!! All of your choices were good, just a matter of fine-tuning.</p>
<p>From the aptly named anxiousmom:
Have no fear! Calmom is here.</p>
<p>To Shrivats & K_twin: I live about a 45 minute drive from Berkeley. If you don’t have other adult friends in the area, when you come you can send me a PM and I’ll give you my email & phone number. My own kids are far away at their respective colleges, so I will be perfectly happy to be a surrogate mom if that is what you need. Heck, I’ll even pick you up from the airport when you arrive if there is no one else to do that.</p>
<p>However, from the impression I have of you from your posts, and from what I’ve now read about you on the internet, I have the sense that you will soon have dozens of Berkeley friends – many of your classmates will also have parents nearby. You sound like you are both charming, witty, and well-mannered --so I think you will find that you will be invited as guests to the homes of many of your new classmates and their parents will also be happy to lend a hand in an emergency. </p>
<p>I do want to let you know, on the car thing: you really won’t need a car in Berkeley and I wouldn’t advise it, especially as you are only 16. (Too many hassles in terms of insurance and restricted licenses in California - easier to wait until you are 18). Berkeley has reasonably good bus service around town; and BART provides an easy way in to San Francisco. A bicycle can be useful if you are so inclined, but is not necessary.</p>
<p>Calmom -
that is a wonderful, amazing gesture-
imagine when the boys wake up tomorrow morning, and read your post and feel that warmth, sincerity.
You make me proud to be an American LOL !!
What a difference a day (or in this case a night) makes, compared to the tone of last night’s CC posts :)</p>
<p>FYI- the twins are quite renown- true prodigies, but most importantly, as you note Calmom- well mannered, humble and with a great sense of humor.
Here is some fascinating background, which I hope they don’t mind me sharing since Shriv mentioned he was so easily googled.
<a href=“http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/print_friendly_version.jsp?global_name=/channels/gulfnews_com/friday/People/10092706.html[/url]”>http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/print_friendly_version.jsp?global_name=/channels/gulfnews_com/friday/People/10092706.html</a></p>
<p>Shrivats & k_twin:</p>
<p>I have no dog in this fight whatsoever, but I found myself wandering into your thread and becoming fascinated with your story and the various dust-ups in the debates for one school over another in the advice you are getting. Good luck in making your respective decisions! </p>
<p>One thing as future engineers you might also keep in mind (I’m married to an engineer and used to work with several engineers who originally came from India–they were all great guys!) is that you may want to (will likely?) go on to graduate school, and some schools may have better reputations or programs for preparing you for that experience, especially in the particular kind of engineering in which you each plan to specialize. Just another thing to keep in mind, looking ahead.</p>
<p>I can’t even imagine making such a decision from so far away and having never walked these campuses before to see how they “feel” to you. Once you are here, though, you can certainly travel and see more of the country and perhaps visit friends at other campuses as well. Transfers, as much as they seem undesirable to most freshmen going into college, are not that infrequent or looked down upon in our educational system here. If you find that you just aren’t happy at one campus, it’s not the end of the world. There will still be options open to you.</p>
<p>I hope you will post back on CC once you come to the U.S.A. I’d love to read about your respective first impressions! Having taught international college students myself, I can say that most of your American classmates are going to find you both (and each) as fascinating to study with as you will find them. If you each continue to work as hard in college as you have in school until now, I have a hunch that you’re going to delight your future professors as well. 
</p>
<p>Best of luck to you both.</p>
<p>I’ll be coming to Dubai (from CA) in a few weeks, so let me know if you want Cal tee shirts!!!</p>
<p>Or people here can just fedex (in care of your high school- we know the name!) once you have truly made your final decision…</p>
<p>HH Sheikh Mo should be very proud.</p>
<p>To everyone again: Thanks, thanks, thanks… (I’d add it in other languages, but I fear I’d have the CC admins on my case after that. :))</p>
<p>You’ve all been such a great source of advice and support for us…</p>
<p>@calmom in particular: We’re touched, truly we are. An incredible gesture, we’re very grateful… (We’ll see how it goes, we’ve got a couple of cousins somewhere out there, got to trace them down though… :))</p>
<p>@meredithv: 2 tour guides waiting here… (Not that there’s that much to see in Dubai really, besides shopping malls. (aargh!) (Though of course that’s as a resident. For someone who hasn’t been here before, it’s quite a sight!)</p>
<p>P.S: Lest our egos be too much increased, the article, as most magazine articles tend to be, is just a trifle over the top… (Quite embarrassing actually… :))</p>
<p>So, to everyone, we’ll keep you updated on a blow by blow basis as to how things go out here, but thanks once again, this thread’s been brilliant.</p>
<p>
I know, that’s why I would love to meet them in person!</p>
<p>My own kids as teenagers have traveled and stayed in many places – a small village in Thailand, a small city in Russia, a huge city in China – all enabled through the generosity of families who volunteered to host them. So I don’t really see an offer to help out as being a “proud to be an American” moment – more like “paying forward” the generous gestures of strangers in many parts of the world who have opened their homes and hearts to my children. </p>
<p>And I am sure that they could go to any one of the colleges on their list and easily find a nearby CC’er willing to extend a helping hand. </p>
<p>And Shrivats – it really is no problem – I’m an empty nester, I am self-employed and do most of my work from home – and definitely would enjoy meeting you. However, I have a feeling that Berkeley probably treats its International Regents’ scholars very well --so you probably won’t need too much help settling in. I have found that with my own kids and international travel that between cell phones and the internet, distance from home has become almost irrelevant. It is your mom who is going to be having the toughest time – I am sure that you guys are a joy to have around and that the home will feel quite empty with the two of you gone.</p>
<p>And as another Bay Area mom who’s about to become an empty-nester in the fall, I’ll offer to be on-call as an assistant if you should need any help, calmom. Congratulations on your decisions, and welcome to the US!</p>
<p>Hi and congratulations on all your acceptances (as well as your mind-boggling maturity). I’m a newbie mom who got hooked into your thread this morning. My D is in process of choosing between Berkeley (regents) and UC Irvine (regents worth more $$ and closer to home). While neither of us can quite see her fitting in at Berkeley at this point (she’s going on an overnight this coming weekend to check it further), it was quite striking to me, in reading your posts, how this will not likely be a concern for you two. And if your decision to go to Berkeley becomes final, it’s easy to imagine you enjoying the distinctive international flavor of Berkeley and the Bay Area. </p>
<p>Also, one other note – when our d interviewed in L.A. for the regents, we met several current Regents scholars at the event, who all seemed like sincere young people. They gave me the impression that living there was a pretty studious experience – plenty of convenient places to study and the general dorm population of the same mindset when it came to getting their work done. </p>
<p>Good luck to you both with your academic endeavors – I’m sure you’ll go far. And congratulations to your parents as well. I’m in awe</p>
<p>@mootmom: Thank you! :)</p>
<p>@ pc13: congratulations to you and your daughter, and thank you for your kind words.
Would it be possible for you/your D to post her impressions/experiences of her visit? It would be interesting reading and just give us a little more information, adding to what we have right now. Thanks…</p>
<p>You’re welcome and we will keep you posted.</p>