<p>I keep seeing a lot of Cal reviews on other sites where people say “They aren’t going to hold your hand if you need something you get it”. </p>
<p>Am I missing something but, isn’t that how it always is? If I need tutoring, I go find out where it is, if I need a counselor to work my schedule, I go see one, if I need one on one with the professor I go to their office hours.</p>
<p>Or do I need to take things a step further and bribe the people at the desk for help?</p>
<p>Also Cal has inundated me with links to resources.</p>
<p>a joke at this year’s commencement revolved around the fact that its impossible to flunk out of stanfurd. they baby everyone, hand out grades, hand out connections, hand out money, hand out housing, hand out everything. put Cal side by side with a private counterpart and you’d cry. </p>
<p>
this statement really makes me want to call you an idiot. you don’t know how “good” some people have it.</p>
<p>I mean that’s how it was in my CC, there were lots of resources but you had to ask around and get flyers and stuff and talk to people to get them.</p>
<p>By “they aren’t going to hold your hand”, it means the research/jobs/tutoring that all students are interested in aren’t gonna come by default to that person like typical private colleges. (at least that’s how we perceive of it) The person needs to spend the time and effort to get those jobs. Of course, we have the link to the resources, but it is our part to click on these links and submit the applications. </p>
<p>No, you don’t need to bribe the people at the desk for help, but it means that if you’re struggling massively or be depressed about school, you have to take the initiative to figure out your problem and seek help. “They aren’t going to hold your hand” simply means nothing comes to you automatically/passively, but you get these links to those resources that will help you.</p>
<p>Of course, this also can mean that if you start slacking off in a class, no one is going to send you an e-mail that says “You are currently doing poorly in class. Please work harder.”</p>
<p>Good question, no idea. It is possible that some of their equivalent courses are not as rigorous and demanding and comprehensive, but this sounds very ignorant and I could be very well wrong.</p>
<p>I hope not. But we just don’t get individual attention from anyone, including our advisers, unless we seek for attention. Berkeley is just easy place to get yourself isolated and no one in the world will care if you choose to not to take any action. I love Cal, but I think it is true.</p>
<p>A good introduction to the real world, I guess, although I notice almost all students are not prepared for this as they come here.</p>
<p>Comparing Ratemyprofessor profiles between Cal and Davis professors doesn’t yield much difference. Some Cal ones are said to be friendly, easy, and accessible, also with Davis, some at Davis are also said to be “good but tough” and then there is one Cal Psych professor review that claimed that the whole class is a review of another and you can just go in the back and chill.</p>
<p>Of course keep in mind these are Cal students calling it easy, and Davis students calling it hard. Is there a difference? I mean both only accept A students as freshmen and A-B students as transfers.</p>
<p>The only way to compare it properly is have a professor who taught both at Davis and Cal with the same teaching style. However, I think most of us are whiners and like to view ourselves that we have a pretty bad education condition when other schools are not that much different haha. </p>
<p>I mean, it’s because most students do care and therefore complain if they think something is not right - it’s a very good thing.</p>
<p>No. Yes. May have to wait a bit. But usually when many students show up, OH becomes a mini lecture, especially if the same question is asked by two or more students.</p>
<p>People probably don’t say that about Davis and Irvine because classes are easier there. I doubt Davis/Irvine have any better resources or counseling than Cal.</p>
<p>I’m at an Ivy League now (for grad school) and I can see what “holding your hand” means now. We’re assigned meeting times with program advisors, emailed reminders for things continuously and nagged if we’re a little behind on anything, and constantly asked for feedback on every little element of the program and every class. I think if someone was used to this kind of treatment, they really might have a hard time doing things for themselves at Cal. You don’t seem like you will have any problems though.</p>
<p>I have a decades-long connection to UCLA and my daughter attended a private school for undergrad and is now in graduate school at Berkeley. The difference in resources thrown at undergrads is stunning and not in Berkeley’s favor. At Berkeley, you have to seek out the resources and many students aren’t very good at it; at my D’s private school, she missed a class due to illness and the prof emailed her an assignment and asked how she was doing. Discussion sections were led by professors, not GSI’s, and in one of my D’s intro classes, the discussion section was taught by the department chair. The undergrad advising was incredible, multi-layered, both formal and informal.</p>
<p>Berkeley is pretty ruthless about using “weeder” classes in many majors. Yeah, everyone thinks that someone else will be among the ones weeded out.</p>
<p>It’s easy to fall through the cracks at Berkeley if you don’t make the effort. That said, if you hack it, I think the actual education is superior to Stanford.</p>
<p>There’s another dynamic that hasn’t been mentioned. It’s not just the lack of attention – it’s also a lack of resources in general. They won’t hold your hand in that even if you need help, they won’t necessarily be able to even help you. This is a symptom of all public colleges right now, but especially the top ones. While this works for those who are pro-active in doing their own research and finding the information on their own, most people are not like that.</p>