The University of California - Berkeley

Date: Dec 28 2000
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
UC Berkeley did not teach me to write all that good because I was a science major. So here are some random comments about this school.

1.UC Berkeley is a school with "issues". Most UCB students are pressured (by professors, UCB itself, and every school sponsored newspaper) into their historical role as one of the leading political activist schools in support of current liberal,sometimes radical, issues. (Please don't misread this as a political opinion. Read it as an opinion of what kind of atmosphere you will encounter at UCB). However, the pressure you will feel has created mutations of what we know as the typical left-wing college atmosphere, and the liberal college kid with good intentions. To clarify the last sentence,I will describe my view of current racial relations at UCB how it they are aggravated by the various UCB media, and leading UCB figures. UCB students are constantly reminded of the unequal representation of minorities at UCB. In fact,inside the mission statement of the official UCB catalog, it tells students that it is the goal of UCB to " to promote racial diversity and press the need for the sufficient representation of every ethnic group…" If we look at the racial make up of UC Berkeley we find : 42% Asian, 37% Caucasian, 9% African-American, 5% Latino/Hispanic, 3% Pacific Islander, 2% Native American, and 2% other. By comparing racial makeup of the country to racial makeup of UCB, Asians are over-represented almost 5 to 1, while Blacks and Latinos are underrepresented. This fact creates a school with racially frustrated students. I know many Asians who, like most college kids, want to fit in. But when almost every UCB publication openly supports proportional representation, fitting in becomes more difficult. Asians know that they exceed the allowed limit under Affirmative Action, and yet as a minority group, they identify with other minorities at Berkeley. But by many publications (Daily Cal, Berkleyan, Daily Planet) there is an explicit viewpoint that Asians take away from other minority group acceptance to UCB. So you have Asian students that demonstrate in favor Affirmative Action, but secretly believe Affirmative Action to be anti-Asian. Another cause of the mutation the UCB student is the consistent teaching of left-wing ideals in every area of study without showing the other viewpoint. For example, I had an American history class that tore down Andrew Jackson for his mistreatment of Native Americans, without explaining the orders or situation he had to deal with, along with the time period he lived in. If you believe in it or not, what this misrepresentation of facts creates is a confused kid, and sometimes an angry kid. Coming into UCB, most students are in the top 10% of their class. They think for themselves. But this kind of presentation of facts, which in many cases are completely out of context, forms their brain into seeing things only one way. And this is a University renowned for its excellence! Beware!

2.To do good, students must be pretty smart and be very wily. Tests are everything at UCB. However, the tests don't test your knowledge of a particular subject, but your intelligence and test taking skills. Most people at UCB will tell you that you struggle in the first two years, (even though you will study ten times as much), and do much better in the final two years. Your last two years are much easier because you have learned how to: a)find out what will be asked (in many cases, very explicitly) on the test by understanding your professor,for example by observing his past tests passed down from your friends; and by having more access to upper division professors i.e. smaller classes, more respect given to you, and sometimes a common/developed interest in your major b)become super efficient in your listening,note taking, and studying skills. For example, I tried to study everything in the assigned readings, and everything in lecture. As most upper division college students know, to do well on tests, you must have either of the two qualities: very high intelligence, or efficient study skills. UCB tests make you think and express yourself on a few concepts thouroghly. In other words, find out what the professor likes to ask and study it.