<ul>
<li>I heard it’s way too competitive…a lot of too-smart Asians who don’t tell you if there’s a test or anything. This coming from my sister’s friend who attends there right now.</li>
<li>The last time I visited, it looked pretty ghetto around the school.</li>
<li>I don’t know if I’ll do too well so away from my two best advisors, my mom and my sister.</li>
</ul>
<p>Reasons to go?:</p>
<ul>
<li>It’s far from home, so I don’t have to work for my parents anymore!</li>
<li>It’s quieter.</li>
<li>It has more prestige…more than my cousin’s UVA. :D</li>
</ul>
<p>What do you think? I’m an English major wanting to pursue law later on. Convince me of more reasons to attend Cal!</p>
<p>You should attend because Cal has one of THE best English departments in the world. I think its tied with Harvard… The area isn’t so bad from what I’ve seen, and SF is so close! Theres a lot of restaurants and stuff to do in Berkeley too. My friends that go to Cal say it’s not that super-evil competitive, and the only time you do see something like that is from the Engineering or Chemistry group. And you should let go of your mom! Gotta grow up someday…and if you do need advising you can always call her. </p>
<p>I plan to go to law school too and Cal is my dream school (I’m still a freshman at cc), the only problem I see with going to Cal is the major grade deflation. Law school = all numbers…LSAT + Uber gpa lol</p>
<p>Ok, I’m going to play devil’s advocate here and call your “sister’s friend” out. Why on Earth would anyone rely on their classmates to keep them informed about what is going on? It’s the student’s responsibility to know this stuff. That situation can be prevented by a) going to class and b) communicating with the professor. Take that testimony with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>Second, and maybe it’s because I am from LA, but the Berkeley area is not “ghetto”. LOL! Just because there are a few non-transient hippies in the area, doesn’t make it ghetto. It happens to be one of the most expensive areas in the country, so that means that people want to live there and pay BIG BUCKS to do so. Did you go outside the city at all? Even North Berkeley is a very nice, upscale area. If you think that’s ghetto, don’t come to LA, trust me. </p>
<p>That said, you should go where you feel most comfortable. If you need convincing, it probably isn’t the best school for you. Good luck with whatever you decide.</p>
<p>don’t be afraid! go for it. it sounds like the only thing holding you back are your ties back home… and you will be fine on your own. do not worrrrrrryyyy</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who are willing to donate one of their kidneys to go to Cal. For UCLA, not so much.</p>
<p>While UCLA has moved up in prestige, it will never surpass the original UC in eliteness. </p>
<p>Granted, UCLA is in a better area with much better looking girls. When I visited Cal, I had to look really hard to find girls who were not ugly.</p>
<p>LOL, "When I visited Cal, I had to look really hard to find girls who were not ugly. " this reason may encourage missyujin to go to Berkeley since there is no much competition to her…LOL</p>
<p>The fact that Cal chicks are ugly doesn’t affect her because she’s a girl and probably doesn’t care if the other girls are ugly. But if the chicks are ugly, usually the guys are too…</p>
<p>Anyway, at the undergrad level, the infinitesimal difference in prestige between Cal and UCLA won’t mean anything to the grad schools you apply to. Your grades and test scores will be what helps the most. A 3.5 at UCLA will look better than a 3.0 at Cal.</p>
<p>And just for good measure, I declined my admission to Cal immediately after seeing my acceptance. I’m majoring in physics, which is another area where Cal is damn near #1. I’d much rather live in LA than Berkeley. Don’t let the prestige factor weigh too heavily on your decision, because at the undergrad level it amounts to squat.</p>
<p>I’m a bit scared about the competition too, but the way I look at, life is competitive… and law school for sure! The sooner one acculmates to competition, the better. I think the key is learning how to deal with competition and Berkeley will probably help you out. Thus, by the time you get to law school you’ll be cool as a cucumber… or at least a bit more sane. lol</p>
<p>And in terms of Asians being mean and not telling you about the test dates and stealing homework, ect. just don’t befriend the mean, competitive ones. You can befriend me, I guess… I’m a non-competitive white. haha </p>
<p>I think UVA’s pretty good though… maybe because I like Virginia. lol And I think UCLA is probably on par with Berkeley… don’t let presumed prestige make your decision for you.</p>
<p>The English department students are not like the Pre-med students. You’ll have next to no tests in English classes and we will be friendly enough to let you know there is one if you do.</p>
<p>the english classes do not breed competition like the engineering/math/science classes. You don’t have curves where you compete with one another. You are graded on your own individual efforts and abilities. However, i have heard from english majors that there have been weeks where they were required to read ~2000 pages.</p>
<p>“UCLA is in a better area with much better looking girls. When I visited Cal, I had to look really hard to find girls who were not ugly.”
Oh no! Unfortunately, I do not have the choice of going to UCLA. I got into Santa Barbara, and I bet there are hot chicks there. There has to be some hot girls at Cal, but they will have to be smart as f*** as well.</p>
<p>The English department is challenging, but not in the same fashion as business/pre-med since you aren’t really competing against other students. I would say it’s pretty easy to get Bs in Berkeley English, but many of the GSIs are downright stingy with As. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve gotten A/A- as a grade. The department will challenge you, but if you’re willing to put the work in, it’s totally worth it.</p>
<p>Personally, I hated hated hated the environment around UCLA and fell in love with Berkeley. Just my personal opinion, but the area around UCLA is cold, lifeless, and materialistic while Berkeley is full of life and diversity. The diversity of socio-economic classes is just part of city life and, to me, is part of the appeal. I know many don’t share my view on that matter though.</p>
<p>(Not that it matters, but the English department probably has fewer Asians than the general campus population)</p>
<p>Alright, the competitive thing really shouldn’t weigh into anyone’s decision, especially if that person wants to go to law school. I mean law school is going to have way more cut throat competition. You should already be willing to challenge yourself. It’s not like UCLA is full lazy asses that are just going let you coast to an A on some ridiculously relaxed grading curve. It’s still competitive down there too.</p>
<p>The East Bay is pretty much just a big crap hole, and you’re right, the area around the school isn’t very nice. S.F. is just across the bay, and there are some nice areas not too far away, so there are some decent places to go to have a good time.</p>
<p>Lastly, you can always call your mom and sister for advice.</p>