Sup yall! Given that many of you are slaving away on your college applications X.X , I've decided to hold an info session on UCB in order to share my personal/academic experiences at Cal and offer any insight/information that you would like to know. I'm definitely not limiting this to being only about Cal, I will answer any question you may have to the best of my abilities. Seeing how I've talked to many people who are planning on applying to Cal, I hope many of yall will participate so that we can all motivate each other to overcome the stressful obstacles left between you and an exciting college experience! Time held/format for the info session is tentative, pretty much up to what you all feel more comfortable with. Potential ideas are setting a time/place and meeting up in maple to have a Q&A session or we can just keep this in the forum and I will answer any question you post in the thread. Good luck yall and Go Bears!
Turned down cal to go to a cheaper school. Couldn't even afford the cheaper school. Fell out of love with the major I intended to pursue. Happy I'm not drowning in debt in a program I'm not happy with. Taking an awesome year off to have fun and do shit I didn't do in high school. Life is great. Gonna be 24 when I graduate, but whatever. Having grown up in a very Asian-dominant city, I've watched my friends/peers study themselves to near-death trying to get into that 'dream' school (typically Berkeley or UCLA) because they've been taught that's the path to success. It's not worth it. Any school can be a good school. A degree from anywhere is good enough to get your foot in the door. School ranking does not guarantee success. My 2c.
I'm currently in my senior year of highschool and plan on taking a year off before going to college as well. Glad to hear I'm not the only one and also that you're enjoying it
I actually did 3 years at CC (common for Engineering transfers to take that long due to all the math/phys prereqs). I would highly recommend NOT taking a year off after high school. Take some classes at a city college, even if it's only a couple every semester. It's a good way to meet people.
I took a year after high school because of health reasons- the sheer stress from my senior year was sending me into daily anxiety attacks, and I was becoming super depressed. I came back and went to a Community college, took a year and a half of classes until the health issues picked back up again. Got all the pre-reqs done for my initial program...but I ended up having to shift majors. Going back hopefully this upcoming Spring with a new major to go toward. Not the best way to go about it.. I'm already 23. But I learned the hard way if you push yourself too hard, you will have a hard time. If you put too much burden on yourself just to get finished "early" or even at a time that others say you should be done at... You'll just wind up hurting yourself more. Do it at your own pace.
I feel that. I changed my major like 4 times and wasted a lot of time. But I'd much rather throw a few hundred $$ away doing so at a CC than a few thousand at a university. Glad your health is back on track. That's the exact situation I spoke about in my edited first post. It was scary what I saw some people putting themselves through.
I agree with you that any school can be a good school and that school ranking does not guarantee success, but I don't agree with your statement that pursuing a top tier university is not "worth" it. Top tier universities are able to offer student/alumni resources, academic/professional experiences, and a quality of education that lower tier universities cannot match. It makes a huge difference in the eyes of an employer when they see that a prospective employee graduated from a university that is a pioneer in the employer's field of interest versus having graduated from a john doe university However, at the end of the day, being content with one's decisions and the outcomes of those decisions is what matters.
This is what really lead me to pursue my transfer degree to another college. Nothing against community colleges, but I'm very cynical to people who take one quick look at resumes, don't see a renowned college and shun them away from their company/cooperation.
Perhaps if one were to pursue something like law or banking--professions where networking skills are more important than your knowledge or ability. For everyone else, it does not matter. My father plays a big part in the hiring process for his [rather large] company, and the only thing they look at is experience. I can't help but roll my eyes at people who go to an Ivy and major in something like English; not that I have anything against English majors, but it's truly pointless. (Unless your parents are swimming in pools of money, then by all means, go for it).
I can't say that I'm not insulted at your comment. People choose to major in such subjects for their passion. At the end of the day, what you learn at University or college may not necessary relate to your job. It's the soft skills that matter.
You misunderstood. I'm not talking down on X major. I'm saying attending a ~prestigious~ school for majors in which you can get the same quality of education elsewhere places an unnecessary burden on yourself and your family.
You say you're not talking down on any major yet you shun those who pursue an English degree for being "useless." You also assume that all schools are equal in the sense that they all provide the same quality of education, even though you yourself have yet to attend a university, let alone two univerisities to be able to make such a bold claim of comparison. You seem very confused? You automatically assume everyone has their parents shelter their school debt which is hardly ever the case, mind you. You completely ignored all the kids who "studied near death" and got full ride scholarships/partial scholarships to their respective dream schools. I may be wrong, but you don't really seem like you are genuinely happy with the path you chose seeing as you need to defend yourself so callously at the expense of others. Just my 2c.
No I didn't. No I didn't. I said that in the situations they are the same, one should consider the less prestigious school. If the quality of education is the same, why not go for the school that places less of a burden on your family? Entirely intentional, because these people obviously have the luxury of going wherever they wish without having to worry about how they're going to pay for it. I personally know many people who have put their parents in debt because they felt like they had to go to their ~dream~ school in order to be successful. I'm only suggesting that you put yourself in their (the parents) shoes. tl;dr The point I was trying to make was that you can get a good education anywhere, so don't kill yourself if you don't get into your dream school (very common for Cal with their low acceptance rates). Can we split this off into a different thread? I'd like to discuss this further.
to be frank with this matter, we can all get great educations everywhre, but we dont earn the right badge. And sadly, it's that badge of prestigious and renowned universities that society looks for.
My cousin goes to UC Berkeley and I've always wanted to go and visit around, but I've never thought of actually attending. How is the physical therapy major and communication major? The only times I visit is when I'm bored and feel like walking around Telegraph Hill
