@lee2000 did you take a dual enrollment class? Sometimes people forget about those as being a college class.
I’m pretty sure tasks are pretty specific to your app, so I wouldn’t ignore anything - I would contact admissions and/your admissions counselor to correct any discrepancies.
The discussion about tuition was helpful for me. My daughter’s situation - she thought Cal Poly was her dream school. She got in there, and Purdue honors, and in state flagship with honors too. She didn’t think she can get in to UCB but she did.
Now she says that if she chose Cal Poly, she feels like she wouldn’t be happy because she “downgraded” herself. We are OOS and $$ does matter, that’s of course in the talk as well. Cost for Cal Poly and Purdue would be exactly the same after the small amounts of scholarships she got. We are prepared for Cal Poly costs but not quite UCB. She would have to be responsible for the differences, most likely, though we’d try our best to help out. (we have another child in college too!)
She says “learning from top class professors would be a big deal!” “If I was a UCB grad, I can get better job!” “It’s BERKELEY!” “I want to surround myself with hard working, motivated people!” … I didn’t go to school in this country and I don’t know what to say to her. ANY thoughts would be appreciated. She’s a Nutrition major.
Does anyone know what commuting to Berkeley is like or whether it’s recommended? I’m considering Berkeley and I live in San Jose. I know people that have done it before, but I’m wondering if there are any opportunities I’ll miss out on as a commuter.
@GeronimoAlpaca Saw this in the UC Berkeley forum after interacting with you for a couple of years on the ND forum. Really sad that ND will not be in your future for reasons, it sounds like, out of your control. You have many many great options, including UCLA and Berkeley. As a fellow CA resident, I totally get it. So you are interested in Stats - well THAT explains a lot of your analytical posts over the years! Best of luck to you going forward!
@ichibanmama I can relate to your story. My cousin had the same issue – he was extremely brilliant and got into UC Berkeley, but he lived in FL. He made the decision just to attend University of Florida even though Berkeley is of much higher caliber. Not only did he graduate with no student loans, but he got a job at Microsoft and has three patents already. Tell your daughter that her success doesn’t depend on the university! With her brains, she can get anywhere from anywhere. 
@ichibanmama sorry, this is out of topic but I was wondering what your daughter stats are and what you think it might have made the difference to get acceptance into UCB. Thank you 
@musiclover5 I think that would be a mess to try and commute (presumably by car). I know people who do it for work, but they usually leave 5:30am in the morning to beat the traffic, plus they usually have a parking sport that’s easy to find. Parkin f won’t be cheap and it’s pretty hard to find after 9am.
Commuting from the Warm Springs BART station in Fremont is now a direct shot with no transfers. That will take you about an hour, and then another 12 minutes walk to the center of campus. That might be more reasonable but still very tiring I would think.
A lot of exams take place in the late evening, so that’s something you’ll definitely want to consider as a commuter.
I graduated from Cal a few (okay, many) moons ago. Aren’t most exams given during the scheduled class day/time? Are you referring to finals being offered in the evening? If so, the final schedule should be listed when you choose a class or section.
@ProfessorPlum168 Thank you! I was actually planning to do it by the Warm Springs BART station and then the one in Milpitas, once it opens this year. I’ll keep the exams in mind, as well – I don’t think it should be a problem, though, because my dad works in Foster City and can easily pick me up. My parents are also willing to pick me up, and I have a friend that will probably be commuting as well.
@lkg4answers my kid has had to take midterms in the evenings (8-10pm) in most of his CS and math classes so far . Even his History ethics class. 6 out of 8 so far.
@ProfessorPlum168 is it during a scheduled lab or discussion? If not, how do they handle students who have scheduling conflicts?
@lkg4answers the scheduling is usually always anywhere from 7pm to 10pm, which theoretically all labs and discussions and lectures are over by then. However, Fall 2019 schedule just came out and wouldn’t you know, a class that my kid is supposed to take is from TTh 6:30pm-8:00pm. Luckily, lectures can be fairly optional these days with the advent of webcasting (but not so much discussions or labs).
@musiclover5 you have awesome parents if they’re willing to go back and forth from Foster City to Berkeley to SJ so much.
@ProfessorPlum168 Yes… I am incredibly grateful. 
We will hopefully be able to work something out with my friend and his family as well if we need to.
@ichibanmama My daughter is saying the same thing about Berkeley. Berkeley is for students who are driven, self-motivated, and independent. If your daughter is one of those kids (and seems that she is!), Berkeley is a great environment for her, the sky is the limit. The opportunities are amazing (I got offer a job on the spot b/c someone heard I went to Berkeley, and I am still with this same company 20+ years later). Berkeley is not an environment for those who are used to being coddled, and had everything handed to them. Once you survived Berkeley, you can survive anywhere. I wholeheartedly believe that.
As far as cost, it’s really the individual choice. It’s hard to put a number on the future gain since no one can really predict the future. One has to make the investment that they are personally comfortable with. And then there is something beyond the monetary value as well (Happiness, fit, culture, experiences, work ethic, relationships, etc…).
@musiclover5 I think that too, that the success doesn’t depend on the university. I want her to go where she thrives, and don’t want her to decide just for the prestige. But I can see why she would be attracted to the prestige. Hmmmm very hard.
@musiclover5 As a Cal grad and SJ resident at the time, I do not recommend commuting. The courses are so rigorous there that you want to have time and access to peer tutoring and study sessions. Bart is convenient, but it can be stressful trying to factor the commuting with already busy course loads. I didn’t like the living situation in my third year (practically 6x6 cardboard box) and was going home a lot. It was really stressful, so I splurged for a better place the following semester
@califmom23 sure, her sat is 1380, all As, took all honors when available (school doesn’t offer AP). She held a few leadership roles including regional level. 4 varsity letters from two sports, though that’s not her passion. She is a very motivated, caring “people” person, and I think all that showed well in the essays she wrote. I really don’t know what got her in, considering her SAT scores, but I think that her application shows she’s a hardworking person. and also, maybe her major may not be as competitive than others (Nutrition, in College of Natural Resources).
@Nhatrang It sounds like my daughter would fit well there - when we visited the school during her junior year, that’s what we felt - “all the kids here are so driven!!!”. You are right about the cost part - every family’s situation is different. We will have to talk this through. Happiness, fit, culture, etc all you wrote sure make sense. We thought we had it at Cal Poly though…
^^^ We thought we had everything at UMich, John Hopkins, etc… as well But then UCB, UCLA came along. It wasn’t about prestige for us. She would have picked John Hopkins if it was just about the glamour. The neuroscience at JHU is also great. Cost is a little more than UCB for us, but she is just not a JH kid. As a parent, you kind of look at your kid and you just know in your heart that your kid isn’t an x school kid. Hard to explain, I just know, and so did she.
To make the mater more complicated - she got accepted to Carnegie Mellon this Saturday, and her dad went there at undergrad (Cal as a grad). So she really doesn’t want to write off CMU right off the bat. So we are going there for a visit, but every time we have the conversations, her argument is always for Cal. The nice thing about schools like JHU and CMU is that the students are more uniform. Most students are usually academically stellar. Whereas Cal you have a large disparity among students of the same class. This makes for interesting dynamic. To me it’s the only negative that i see, oh and the grade deflation issue at Cal. But she is confident she will prevail the curve