Prior to our UC Berkeley field trip I had expected, us to tour the campus ourselves, and we would have the chance to see entire campus. Overall the trip was great I learned more, than I had before we went. However, there were some perks I did not favor. One was all the walking; call me lazy, but I did not like it. Second was that we did not get a lot of free time to roam around UCB campus, and Telegraph Avenue. Even though my expectations were high, they were not met, as we went to out trip. Even if it was a tour of the school, I honestly thought we were just going to roam the school, with Randy and Ms. Stirton as our guides, because they were alumni’s of UCB. However we just had two current students, and we were split into two different groups, my group had a student named Edgar, as a tour guide. Honestly the tour was not all exciting, because we only saw approximately half the campus, and we just walked in a circle. And the free roam, was not as expected, I can say openly, one hour was not enough time, with the short tour, and limited time of the trip overall. Nevertheless, with the not so exciting tour, I did however learned a lot.
Our tour guide, Edgar, was very resourceful. He immediately knew answers to our questions, and it seemed like he had done it in advance to our trip. However, what caught my eye the most was the under ground library, with around 3.5 million books, inside, and that we were standing above it. I had also learned more information, so it would make registering easier, when I apply to Berkeley. For example, the admissions, the requirements are for me to take the SAT’s, ACT’s, and etc, along with two personal response essays, that are all together 1,000 words. The students of the school are very diverse. All the students are so busy, and they have their own things going on, that they seem so committed and hardworking, which makes it more enjoyable to attend. The classes, especially freshmen year, can be filled up to 800 students. Your number of classes, depend on your credits. For example, twelve credits equal up to three to four classes. And when it comes to meeting with your professors, it is very easy, because, their offices are housed in one particular building. And teachers, are a very diverse group, because your professor, can be a graduate student, and another student, however that depends on your class.
Now the housing and campus life are great, because you have a choice to live on or off campus, or you can commute to school. However, freshmen are requested to stay on campus, at least until their second year, just to get the real college experience. And weekends are the best according to current students, because there is an event happening every weekend, which are held by other students. The cost and financial aid, for UC Berkeley is pretty pricey, but there are different ways to pay the fees. For one, you can apply for grants, where a company pay for your tuition and etc, and you do not have to pay them back, on the other hand student loans, you do, and when you graduate you will possibly still be paying for college, because you owe money. Honestly after, hearing all this information, I am looking forward to apply to UC Berkeley; however, I am going to leave my options open. And not just for the student life, but the opportunities I can have within UC Berkeley.
