Webinar Transcript: Featuring UC Berkeley: A Conversation with Undergraduate Students

Elton Lin: Good to have everybody come on. I’m excited to have a panel of students from UC Berkeley today. And I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions about UC Berkeley – which I feel like these four students are eager to dispel!

I'm gonna give everybody an opportunity to introduce themselves and share what they're studying at UC Berkeley, and a little bit about their background. Then we'll come back and have a little bit of discussion together with them.

So why don't we start by giving our students an opportunity to introduce themselves? And why don't we start with Saya? So if you don't mind, share a little bit about yourself – what you're studying, and maybe a little bit of background and whatever you'd like.

Saya Linney: Sure. Hi everyone. I'm Saya. I'm originally from Los Angeles, but I'm going to UC Berkeley now. I just finished up my third year, so I have one year left and I'll be graduating in May. I'm studying economics and political science, so I am a double major.

I have some experience with research, and have a little bit with newspapers and design-related things on campus. I also work at the library, and I'm interested in consulting as a career path. So if you're interested in any of those, feel free to leave questions, I guess

Elton Lin: We want to hear some saucy stories about the library, so maybe we'll come back to that a little bit later! All right, Ivy.

Ivy Ta: Hi, I'm Ivy. I'm an upcoming third year here at Berkeley, majoring in urban studies. I'm originally from Orange County, but I'm at home right now.

On campus I work for the school of optometry –  marketing and some data analysis –  and also the real estate sphere as well, so if you have questions about that, you can feel free to ask.

Elton Lin: Thanks Ivy. I really appreciate it. Brian?

Brian Lin: Hi everyone, I'm Brian. I'm an incoming junior at Berkeley studying electrical engineering and computer science. I'm originally from San Jose, which is where I am right now.

At Berkeley I'm currently involved in some research, and I've also spent some time working as a TA in one of my courses.

Elton Lin: Thanks Brian. Andrew?

Andrew Dinh: Hi everybody, I'm Andrew. I'm going to be a third year at UC Berkeley, studying business administration and data science. I’m currently working at Salesforce on their revenue management team.

On campus I'm involved in business organizations, in addition to cultural and entertainment clubs. So if there are any questions about the club scene on campus, I’m happy to answer them,

And before I forget, born and raised in San Jose, California. So also in the South Bay.

Elton Lin: All right. Bay Area people will be excited to have lots of representation!

Why don't we jump in? Certainly all four of you are outstanding students – who applied and were admitted to UC Berkeley. Obviously you had other options. Let's begin by asking, because you could have gone to other universities, what led you to choosing UC Berkeley? Before we get into your actual student experience, what separated UC Berkeley from the rest?

Andrew Dinh: Yeah. So I remember when I was a high school senior – which feels so long ago – I remember I was deciding between UC Berkeley and Georgetown. And it kind of came down to the final day!

What made me really choose Berkeley over any other school was the quality and caliber of people I met. I remember going on campus and having the opportunity to talk to some current students. And seeing how driven they were to succeed and grow – not only professionally but personally. That made me really want to go, as opposed to any other campus.

Saya Linney: I can share my story as well. I actually got into Berkeley off the waitlist. So I was already committed to UC San Diego before I got into Berkeley.

And it was actually a really tough choice for me, because I was kind of worried that UC Berkeley would be too rigorous – that I'd be making a mistake by not going to UC San Diego. But I came up to visit Berkeley with my mom, and we started stopping random people on campus, asking, “Do you like berkeley? Should I go here?” And all of them said, “Yes.” So I ended up going here.

There was nothing for me to be worried about, and I love it here!

Elton Lin: So you literally just came on campus, stopped people, looked in their face, and said, “Should I go here?” And everybody gave an affirmative?

Saya Linney: And it was finals week too!

Elton Lin: That sounds like it's a good sign! We'll come back to campus culture later, but it seemed like probably a friendlier environment than you expected?

Saya Linney: Yeah, definitely.

Elton Lin: Awesome. How about you, Brian?

Brian Lin: Sure – how I decided on Berkeley. I was pretty set on Berkeley when I got in. When I was choosing, I valued, like I said, quality of education pretty highly as one of my factors. And just from looking online, I could tell that, at least for CS, Berkeley's curriculum is pretty rigorous. I thought it would actually make me learn a lot, which is one of my goals in college.

What really cemented my decision, aside from academics, was when I came to Cal Day, which is an event that Berkeley hosts every year around spring. I kind of fell in love with the campus, and how vibrant the culture and the students seemed to be. That cemented the decision for me.

Elton Lin: What did you fall in love with specifically, Brian?

Brian Lin: For Cal Day the campus goes all out with school spirit. And just seeing all the students get together and be really passionate about Cal, and the long-standing culture – that was really cool to me. And it really stood out among other colleges.

Elton Lin: So there was a certain sense of excitement to be on campus, and the galvanizing experience of being a UC Berkeley student? Are you saying that kind of culture really solidified it for you?

Brian Lin: Yeah, I think you captured it pretty well.

Elton Lin: All right. Ivy?

Ivy Ta: Speaking on Brian's point of having a really rigorous program – even if you don't know what you want to do, you know that Berkeley has very top-tier programs. So just going and jumping into it, you know you're going to get a good education!

And then on Saya's point of it being too hard… that definitely was a deterrent. But there's SCL – the student learning center. There's tutoring. You could go to your TAs or your professors. As long as you reach out for help, you'll be fine academically. That was a really big factor in me wanting to go there as well.

Elton Lin: So I think what you're saying is that just the academic integrity of the school lends itself into knowing that you're going to get a great education in almost any department if you go to Berkeley. Let's talk about your academic experiences because certainly there is a reputation among some that it's super competitive, and it's very difficult! And there is sort of sense that UC Berkeley could be a pressure cooker. Tell me a little bit about your own academic experiences and if you don't mind, make a reference to your own programs because you're all in different programs: business, engineering, urban studies, and political science. Tell me a little bit about your academic experiences.

Ivy Ta: I was originally an environmental science major, and later on I switched to urban studies. But different majors definitely have different stereotypes. There are different niches and different people that fit in them.

I'd say that in the business sphere, you feel that people are a little bit more… not cutthroat, but they're in-it-for-themselves-ish.

Elton Lin: I'm waiting for Andrew to respond to that! But continue.

Ivy Ta: But meeting people like Andrew… he's very much willing to help you. We studied together – we had a lot of study sessions together. We're willing to help each other grow.

And in urban studies, and architecture, and all of that, there are more faculty for fewer students, because it's a smaller program. There's a lot more hands-on experience. And you get to know a lot more people on a more personal level as opposed to if you think about larger programs like CS, where there are too many people for the faculty to really help, right?

Elton Lin: So what you're saying is that, especially with your program in urban studies, and some of the derivative programs that are connected to yours, it still feels like it's a small school environment where you can get to know people, and there's a collegiality. People support each other as you go along. That sounds great!

Andrew Dinh: I'm happy to hop in, since Ivy so gracefully mentioned the business program!

So for those who don't know, Berkeley does have a business program. However, it is something that students have to apply to in their sophomore year. And this can lead to a lot of tension.

I will say that, personally, coming into Berkeley, I did feel a lot of pressure to succeed. However, I feel as if that was something more self-imposed. I knew that I was surrounded by a lot of people who were driven to succeed. However, that did not mean that they were not willing to help me out. I feel like a lot of the people I met through the business program and its prerequisite courses have been nothing but helpful, willing to always give me fifteen minutes of their time if I needed something from them. And I know that I'm happy to do the same for them.

So really, the competitiveness and cutthroatness, in my opinion, is really overblown in the business community. Especially because everybody, as I realize, is a friend of one another. Everybody's willing to give each other the time of day.

Elton Lin: Just to give you another opportunity to expand a little bit, since you've been on this business track, and the Haas School is certainly outstanding with regards to undergraduate business education, how do you feel about the courses in that track? Have they been exceedingly challenging? I think you're talking some about your classmates, but what about just the academic rigor?

Andrew Dinh: Right. That's a great question. So in most cases, one does not take business coursework until they are admitted into the Haas School of Business. So a majority of that is reserved for your junior and senior years.

However, I did have the opportunity to take a handful of accounting coursework in my freshman and sophomore years. And going in, I knew absolutely nothing about the three financial statements. Now I am proficient enough, to the point where I'm working at Salesforce in their accounting department!

So I feel as if the academics, though they may be a bit challenging, do prepare you well for the professional world.

Elton Lin: How about you, Saya, as a political science major? You mentioned earlier that you were involved in some research as well. But before we get to that, maybe tell me a little bit about your academic experience.

Saya Linney: Sure. Political science definitely is not a competitive major. A lot of humanities aren't very competitive. Where the competition comes from is often when you have to have a certain GPA to get into a major, or like with Andrew, where you have to apply to get into the school. That's when there might be competitiveness.

But even so, it's not at all like the stereotype that you hear of Berkeley being extremely competitive, and everybody's trying to get each other. That's not the case at all! Again, political science doesn't have an application system to get in, so I really did not feel any competitiveness there. Everybody supports each other

Econ does have a GPA cap in order to get into the major, so the classes there can be more competitive. But even so, I just find more people who are willing to work together to do well. You make friends with them – like at office hours and things like that. And you work together with them on your homework. You really study together. It's like the competitiveness really breeds more teamwork than any sort of toxicity or anything like that.

Elton Lin: Got it, And then, Brian, coming back to you because certainly a lot of students are thinking about UC Berkeley because of the EECS program, and just studying computer science at one of the most forward-thinking departments in the United States. So EECS – you're in the middle of it. How do you feel about the academic rigor? Are you barely surviving? Are you just floating by and getting straight A's? How are you feeling?

Brian Lin: Okay, I guess. To answer your question on academic rigor, I think the classes are definitely not a cake walk. Personally I've been able to do, I’d say, fairly well in my classes.

I can tie back to what other people have said: I think for me the key to doing one of these classes is finding a group of people who are willing to work together – whether that's studying after class or working on projects together. Since, at least for CS classes, a lot of the projects that they give you are partner-based. So you're forced to collaborate in some sense.

I can speak about the competition in the major, since I think that's what we've been talking about. I kind of touched on this, but, yeah, CS has a GPA requirement to get in. I was admitted as EECS, so I didn't have the GPA requirement. But like even with the GPA requirement, I'd say that there definitely isn't a cutthroat nature – from what I've seen and what I've talked to about with other people.

A lot of people in CS, I think, are just naturally motivated to succeed. I think in a school like Berkeley, if you put a lot of very self-motivated individuals together, people are going to want to succeed. I don't think the GPA requirement really changes that much. It's just another artificial factor on top of people's natural motivation. And, yeah, I've definitely found a lot of people who are willing to collaborate and just try to do the best they can, given the circumstances. And I think that's how most people are able to do well in class.

Elton Lin: I think what's been encouraging about all your responses is I think all of you have said that it's not quite what it’s thought of in the public. It's been way more supportive and way more of a community. So that's encouraging to hear!

Maybe we can shift over to just overall campus culture. I'd love to hear a little bit about that. Maybe the first basic question is because you all feel at home on campus – and, certainly, UC Berkeley is a different type of campus. The school is big, so you're all meeting different types of people. But when did you feel most at home? What was that moment?

Andrew Dinh: This is a great question. I remember when I was a freshman coming into Berkeley, I was a little bit overwhelmed by just the sheer number of people that I'd walk by in Sproul Plaza each day on a 30,000+ student campus. It's really easy to feel lost. But I think that there are a lot of support systems on campus, in which students can find their homes.

One of which is through clubs. And so, as a business administration student, I found my way into a business club called Microfinance at Berkeley, which I am a part of with Saya – go MFB! And I remember, the first week after joining that club, we all went to a little club retreat at Tahoe just to bond. At that moment I knew I was surrounded by a really genuine group of people whom I could call my friends – even my family. Who I knew would support me throughout my four years of college.

Saya Linney: I can speak to that too. For me I guess it was a little bit later, in my sophomore year. I moved off campus and into an apartment with two of my best friends. And having a literal space to call my home, and being able to cook – and having something that's my own, and that I share with like my best friends – having that to come home to after every day of long classes made Berkeley home for me. Having that apartment, and then also being able to explore the surrounding areas – and know what my favorite restaurants were, or my favorite spots to hang out, or things like that – really personalized it for me. Not to say at all that I didn't feel comfortable or anything like that in my freshman year. But it was sophomore year that I really felt like, “This is my home.”

Elton Lin: Just to highlight something: you liked having your home but certainly, having gone to any university, you would probably, at some point, find an apartment. But perhaps a contrast that you painted is, because Berkeley is so vibrant, not just on campus but in the community. There's a lot happening. There are a lot of good restaurants. There are a lot of different types of people that are interacting on a daily basis. And there's a sense of that energy as an asset.

But having your own place in the midst of that energy – that seems like that was the right balance that you needed. Is that correct?

Saya Linney: Definitely.

Elton Lin: So where's your favorite restaurant or hangout in Berkeley?

Saya Linney: Oh my gosh. It depends on what I want! If I just need a snack break when I'm studying, I'll definitely go to one of Berkeley's billion boba shops. But I really miss this one little Indian place that has super good samosas, which I also get as a snack. I eat a lot of snacks when I’m studying! But Berkeley has great food. That is definitely a plus about it.

Ivy Ta: Speaking on Saya’s point about having her own apartment, when I was shopping for my own apartment, just the pots and pans and utensils, and sharing that with my roommates, that was like, “Wow, this is where I'm gonna be for the next three years.” And that really tied it all together – as to why I call Berkeley my home.

Elton Lin: And Ivy, where's your favorite hangout?

Ivy Ta: It definitely depends on time of day. Like if it's after class, I love getting cheese and stuff. There are these sandwiches – very yummy. But at night, like 10 p.m, then Artichoke Basille's Pizza. They have huge artichoke pizzas that are the size of my face. They're six dollars, but they are definitely a meal – very very yummy, So I would highly recommend it.

Elton Lin: Awesome. Brian, I know you're gonna chime in, so you can also share your favorite as well. Go for it.

Brian Lin: Sure. I had a similar story to Andrew – coming into college as a freshman I was pretty overwhelmed. I think I felt at home when I just met a lot of people – whether it's in class or in the dorms. I just got a friend group, and a support structure. I think that's helped me feel like home.

For food spots, I don't know. I gotta give Andrew his opportunity after this!

I'm a pretty big boba fan. Me and some friends always go out at 12:00 or 1:00 to just hit up a boba place. There's this good hot dog place called Top Dog that opens till three. Those are the go-to's for me.

Andrew Dinh: Yeah, I'm gonna echo Brian's recommendation of Top Dog. They're open until obscene hours in the night. But their hot dogs are always great.

I also am a very big fan of Imm Thai. It's in downtown, it's very affordable, and it's some of the best Thai food I've had in my life.

Elton Lin: Hot dogs, Indian food, boba, and face-sized pizza. If those are not good reasons to go to Berkeley…

All right. Why don't we stick on the academic side a little bit? And let's talk a little bit about professors and research. Let me lump in those two topics together – and do you feel like you have access to your professors? Are you able to get to know some of these scholars even with so many people on campus? Tell me a little bit about your interactions, academically, with the faculty. And if you have some research experience, how difficult was it for you to get a research role? Tell me a little bit more about that part.

Saya Linney: I can start to speak on how close you can get to professors. It is definitely a big school. You might be in really big classes, depending on what major you're in. But no matter – professors have office hours that you can go to. And not always, but a lot of times, there tend to not be that many people there. A minority of the class will be there, for sure. So if you're consistent about going to office hours and talking to the professor, and showing them your face, you can definitely get close to professors that way. Lots of my professors know me by name, because I go to their office hours a lot.

Speaking on the research side, I got a research opportunity where I helped do data analysis for an environmental science portal type thing. So I can speak a little bit more about doing research. As a humanities or social science major, it definitely gives you a boost if you have those data analysis skills. And even taking an introductory class will definitely help you out with that because there isn't as much competition to get research as a humanities major, I think, compared to a STEM major. But having those data science skills will really like push you over the top in terms of applications.

Elton Lin: Thanks, Saya.

Andrew Dinh: To echo her point, even though the classes are really large, office hours are a way to get to know your professors. I remember the first piece of advice I got from some of my older friends on campus when I came to Berkeley was to make sure you go to office hours. Because even though the classes can be really packed, not everybody is going to take the time out of the day to go to office hours.

I remember I was in this introductory economics course and one of the professors was this former chair of the council of economic advisers in the Obama administration. Christina Romer – fantastic professor! And I had the opportunity to chat with her every week, and get to know her a little bit more personally than I expected to – by going to these office hours.

And to funnel that into the research conversation, by going to office hours with one of my accounting professors, that eventually led me to getting a summer internship working with him as he formulated his PhD thesis on how lease standards affect company performances.

So being really intentional with what you do, and putting in the extra effort to go these office hours, can pay dividends by even leading you to things like research opportunities.

Brian Lin: I can go ahead and chime in about this. I think, as both Saya and Andrew have mentioned, the classes that I like to take as an undergrad are pretty big. But you can definitely go into office hours and meet professors. It's a good way to get to know them, and they're usually not that packed.

I think one thing on top of that is if you look at office hours purely as a way to brush up on concepts, or get help with things you're stuck with. Personally, I usually go to office hours for the GSI.

How classes at Berkeley work is the professor's usually the one that gives the lecture in like the big lecture hall. And every week you have a discussion section, like a lab, which is a smaller group. You go in there and you do a lab for a STEM class, or you do some problems, or write an essay in a humanities class.

So the GSI there usually understands the concepts. A GSI is a graduate student instructor, by the way. They're a graduate student who's hired by the department to teach the class and help with grading, et cetera. So they all know the concepts in a way that's almost more relatable to students, because they have to teach it in a small course environment more often. So I just recommend definitely going to office hours and getting help from your GSI, because they're very good at sitting down one-on-one with you and helping you hammer out things that you're not so familiar with.

I guess to pivot more to research – I'm in research right now, in the School of Information, which is a data science department. We work on developing a course recommendation system using some machine learning concepts. The way I got this wasn't really through networking. It was through applying through this program called URAP, which stands for the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program. You pretty much go on there; you fill out an application, like a small essay; and you put a résumé in for some labs that you're interested in. And then they'll – for me – do a small interview, and I got in.

I have some friends who've gotten in based on networking, and networking is definitely helpful, but – at least for CS – the way into research is merit-based. Professors want to see that you're doing well in classes, or you've done some work outside of class. Or advanced concepts that they don't exactly teach just in class. But, yeah, I think networking is helpful regardless.

Elton Lin: Brian, specifically on the undergraduate research apprenticeship, how long did it take for you to get the role? You applied in, but did you have to wait a semester? How quickly did you get it?

Brian Lin: I think the application opens in the third week of class or something. It's the start of the semester. I applied and one of the labs got back to me probably a week or two later, he set up a phone interview, I talked to him, and then a few days later I got the role. So the overall time frame wasn't super long, and I started that semester in the lab.

Elton Lin: Great, that's terrific.

Andrew Dinh: It's funny – there are definitely both formal and informal mechanisms to obtain research opportunities. Brian mentioned the very formal URAP process, whereas for me, my accounting research was super informal. I had been going to office hours for a while, and then the GSI asked “Hey, are you doing anything this summer? I could use your help.” And so I magically had it fall on my lap, and that's that!

Elton Lin: Magically is good. It’s a good way as well, Andrew. Terrific, good to hear. There are a good number of questions that are coming in, and I want to make sure that we have a time for you guys to answer questions from the audience. But if I'm a high school student thinking about UC Berkeley, what do you think are the types of students who most thrive at UC Berkeley? What are your thoughts on that?

Andrew Dinh: I feel like this is kind of echoed in all of our responses, but if I were to look back and think about, “What would a high school student need to succeed at Berkeley?” it's definitely important to be a self-starter. At a public school with 30,000 other students, there are only a limited number of resources, and you need to really be able to advocate for yourself. Understand what you need, what you want, and make sure you go and get it. Because if you just sit on your laurels, nothing's really going to come to you – and you may struggle as a result.

It's also important, in my opinion, to be self-aware to be able to prioritize mental health. Again, as we've kind of discussed, at Berkeley you're surrounded by go-getters. And that can feel really competitive. You can put a lot of pressure on yourself that way. But it's important to know when to step back – and just take some time to go to Artichoke’s and have a face-sized slice of pizza!

Elton Lin: Thanks for sharing that, Andrew.

Saya Linney: I definitely second that. The students who thrive – and it's not that if you're not this, you won't do well – but the ones who absolutely love their experience at Berkeley, in my opinion, are the go-getters. The people who make that effort to go to office hours and talk to professors. The ones who take the extra step to make more friends and join more clubs. Those people are the ones who get the most out of Berkeley.

Berkeley really doesn't hand things to you. If you want to get to know your professors, or if you want to make more friends – if you want to absolutely make the most of your Berkeley experience, you have to do that yourself. Again, it's not that you won't have a good experience if you don't do this. But Berkeley just has so much to offer. You have to go get it yourself if you want it.

Ivy Ta: I think, going off of that, it's definitely something where you get what you put into it. So a simple answer for that question is definitely students who put themselves out there: join organizations, find older students that have experience if you have questions, and network, but make meaningful and intentional connections and not just meet people just to meet people.

Elton Lin: All right. Awesome. Before we go into questions, I wanna ask this, because I feel like it's fair: what's something you dislike about Berkeley? Just to be very honest and transparent. What's something that just bugs you about the school? It could be something physically on campus. It could be walking up hills. But what's something that you dislike about the school?

[Pause.]

[Sarcastically] Great. I'm glad there's nothing.

Saya Linney: I can answer this. A little bit more on the serious side, Berkeley – the city – isn't the safest area. You do have to be aware of your surroundings. It's not the crime-ridden place that you might hear about – that's exaggerated. But you do have to watch out. Just be reasonably safe. That's my biggest negative about Berkeley.

Ivy Ta: Going off of that – I'm a small Asian girl. I have to be careful about what time I walk around, or whom I'm around with. But I never had to think about looking back behind my shoulder when I walk. You just work those little habits into your everyday things, and you'll be fine. Just carry pepper spray in a Hydro Flask, and you will be – mostly – fine. Just hope nothing happens!

Elton Lin: You did go to Artichoke’s at 10:30, right?

Ivy Ta: I did. I went with a group of people though. But I’m alive.

Elton Lin: All right, thanks, Ivy.

Andrew Dinh: For me, when I think about things I haven't really enjoyed about my Berkeley experience, I will say that the difficulty to find housing is kind of a big challenge. Even as a freshman, sometimes there's difficulty with getting the dorms. Not to say that there are no dorms for you. It's just that if you have preferences, you might not get them – just because of the nature of it being a public school. It's always competitive to find housing. Once people are out of one year. they're scrambling to find housing for the next one. And that can be a small hassle that I've experienced.

I remember the apartment searching process, while not impossible, was a bit more challenging than I expected it to be. And I feel like just being this one dude among 30-something students, it can be difficult to figure things out.

Elton Lin: Yeah, that makes sense. Absolutely.

Brian, any last words before we go and go to Q&A?

Brian Lin: Yeah. I agree with what everyone said. You just have to watch yourself when you're walking around. If it's late at night, just go with someone, and you'll usually be good.

One thing that kind of annoys me is our class registration. It's a little annoying. If you have a bad enrollment slot, you just have to get some backup classes. It's just an unnecessary headache. But I guess it just is what it is when you're at such a big school.

Elton Lin: Got it. I appreciate all your guys' responses, and also being honest about some of these things that I definitely feel people have questions on.

Anthony, glad you came back on. Why don't we tackle some of the questions that are coming in from the audience? And go ahead and keep posting – we'll do our best to get through all the questions. So go for it, Anthony.

Anthony Su: Yeah. We actually had a question about course registration – whether it's really hard to get the courses you want, and things like that. So I just wanna open up and start our Q&A there. Any other comments that you wanted to add to what Brian said about needing backup courses, or anything like that? With getting the courses you need to graduate within four years, and things like that?

Andrew Dinh: Yeah, happy to kick off. I will say that graduating within four years is never impossible. It's very easy to graduate within four years. I think the most difficult thing with course registration, as Brian said, is that, even though you have these classes that you want, you may not get the exact times you want. And while that isn't ideal, I feel like that's a small, nit-picky detail.

In my experience at least over the past two years, every time course registration comes around I make a schedule for myself. I have a couple backups. And nine out of ten times I end up getting what I need to get. But it is, of course, something you need to put a lot of effort and time to map out your course schedule yourself.

Because, again, the school is very do-it-yourself  Counselors… there are only so many for thirty-something thousand kids!

Anthony Su: Cool. So it’s helpful to plan ahead there, and at least have a couple backups. But you'll probably be okay most of the time.

Also, there’s a question about what security is like on campus, compared to off campus. What are the precautions that you would take when walking home from the library late at night, or something like that?

Saya Linney: As somebody who works night shifts at the library, I can literally answer these questions. To be honest, on campus it's pretty safe. There are plenty of these blue boxes everywhere where you can hit a button and it'll call the police or something. I've never had to use it. There's also a thing called BearWalk, where you can call these campus safety officers, and they can walk you home. There's also a bus specific to campus that drives through campus, and it drives through the surrounding neighborhoods, so that can also take you home. And it's only Berkeley students. It's not the public bus system. And I think after 2:00 a.m or 3:00 a.m or something, it'll literally drive you home-home, not just to a stop.

I will say, though, those things are a little bit inconvenient sometimes. It can take some time for the CSO officer to get to you, and things like that. So when I'm walking home around like 10:00 p.m, I just make sure to stick to the big streets, and stay where there are a lot of people.

And, honestly, Berkeley is a pretty big college town. And just like a regular town, there are plenty of regular people walking around too. Just stay in big, well-lit areas, and you'll be fine. Have common sense. Don't walk home on an empty street in the middle of the night alone. Things like that.

There are a decent number of robberies in Berkeley. I think that's the biggest crime that we get alerts about. So watch your stuff, like your laptop, when you go to the library. That's something you definitely have to be careful of.

But, to be honest, I feel like these are problems that are typical of most big cities. I don't think it's a Berkeley-specific thing. Just having common sense will get you out of most situations just fine.

Elton Lin: I think that's a good point. Invariably there are some parents on this call, wondering whether they're sending their child to a threatening place in Berkeley. And the truth is what you're saying – perhaps it’s like most urban areas. I mean, if you're talking about the University of Pennsylvania, in the middle of Philadelphia, it has the same reputation, truth be told.

So I think what you're saying, Saya, is to just have some common sense with regards to navigating Berkeley. But it seems like on campus is actually really safe. And you're still working late nights, so you feel fine. It seems like everything's okay.

[Saya gives a thumbs up.]

Anthony Su: Okay, perfect. And also a question: how did Berkeley handle COVID? Do you think it was a hard transition for students to move online? Or what was it like trying to connect with freshmen at clubs? How do you think that experience went?

Andrew Dinh: Obviously none of us on this call were freshmen when COVID hit. We already had some school under our belts. So I will say I personally thought that Berkeley handled COVID fairly well, when it came to flexibility.

Back in March 2020 everybody went home for the first time. Nobody had done online school, and nobody knew what was going on. The campus had been generous enough to be really flexible with grading policies. Normally everything is for a letter grade. And for the past year and a half, you've had the option to do pass/no pass on any course – even for major requirements – and they'll count. So I feel like this school does a good job of thinking about student mental health.

Anthony Su: If anyone else wants to jump in on that and add more about the COVID response, I'm sure there's more to be said.

Brian Lin: I can talk about this. I think, as Andrew said, school admins are pretty accommodating with the pass and no pass policy for major requirements. But one thing, for CS specifically, is even before COVID – since a lot of our classes like the number of students is more than the number of people the lecture hall can fit – a good amount of students in your lower-div classes actually don't even go to lecture. Whether it's because they're lazy, or there's no space in the lecture hall. So a lot of lecture halls are already equipped with recording software for the powerpoint, or whatever the professor's writing down.

So the transition to online lectures and discussion sections was fairly smooth – at least for my department, since they had already been doing a version of it in, quote-unquote, “normal times.”

Amy Ta: I think even the classes that weren’t CS had a very smooth transition to Zoom. All of a sudden, everyone knew how to use it. It wasn't a long period of time. We're like, “Okay, we have to figure this out.” We were doing Zoom and it was totally fine.

And a lot of the professors are very accommodating. Most of the time you'll be like, “Oh, sorry, my roommate got COVID,” and they’ll be like, “Okay, I'll give you a [inaudible, maybe “excuse slip”],” or something. If you have valid excuses, then they'll be very accomodating.

Anthony Su: Perfect. And also a question about Greek life  since we didn't get to emphasize that. There's a question about if anyone's involved in Greek life, or what that's like on campus?

Brian Lin: I can answer; I'm in a fraternity right now, called Acacia. It's kind of new, so I don't think we have as much history as some of the long-standing frats. I'm assuming the question was about how it affects the rest of your life?

[Anthony nods.]

Okay. For me, this past semester I moved back to live in the house. And honestly, I think my fraternity didn't really affect my academics at all. I still did fairly well. I still had a pretty decent work-life balance. I had social events and things like that.

I think this goes for everything in college – if you're dedicated enough to do something, you're gonna find time for it. And if you don't like something, you're just gonna cut it out. Greek life was something that I was fairly interested in and fairly committed to, so I found time to balance it with my academics and extracurriculars and so on.

Anthony Su: Andrew, did you want to add something?

Andrew Dinh: I’m personally not involved in Greek life, but I have friends who are involved in that space. They're doing great. I think that college is really an exercise of balance and priorities. It's not only about learning. It's about growing as a person, and having that social life. So being in Greek life, for them, I think has been a net positive.

Anthony Su: Got it, perfect. Definitely I think that's good advice, Brian, of thinking that if you make it a priority, you're going to keep it around. If you're not, it's going to naturally go away. And, definitely, thinking about work-life balance.

There’s also a question about research and internships: how readily accessible they are when applying, or getting them as freshmen, if students want to get engaged in that as early as their first year on campus. Any thoughts there?

Andrew Dinh: I think we talked a little bit about the research process earlier. I did have that research opportunity as a freshman – the summer after my freshman year. We talked about some of the informal mechanisms that are available.

I know brian mentioned URAP as being the formal way to get involved with research, and that is open to freshmen. I'm not sure if Brian has anything more to say on that.

Brian Lin: Yeah. URAP's open to freshmen. I got my research experience at the start of my sophomore year. In freshman year I didn't really pursue research, since I did a lot in high school. I wanted to pursue something different at the start of college.

I think your question mentioned internships. For me, right now I'm working as a software engineering intern at Amazon. So I have some experience applying for internships.

Cal doesn't actively try to help you. Again, like what people have been saying, it’s a self-starting environment. For me, I used something called Handshake, which a lot of colleges have. It's kind of like LinkedIn for college students. And it helps you find a lot of jobs and apply. I think for internships the Cal name probably helps. But you do have to just go out and try to get it yourself.

Andrew Dinh: I will say that getting internships during freshman year can be very difficult. And you might think, “Oh my gosh, I'm doomed if I don't get an internship freshman year!” But honestly, that’s not the case. Especially from the Haas point of view. I know peers who have gotten into the business school who didn't do an internship freshman year. They had done summer class or something like that instead. It’s really nice to have, but not a need-to-have.

But again, as Brian said, Handshake is your best friend as a freshman – in addition to networking. It's something where you have to really want it, and make it happen. Because freshman year is difficult. Not just at berkeley!

Ivy Ta: Adding on to that, for networking, you could find someone who works at this big company that you like and they have a job that you might want to go into. Just ask them, “Hi, how did you get into this? I'm really curious about it. I want to learn more.” And if you show genuine interest, they'll be willing to help you – and maybe that'll ultimately lead to an internship! But you never know, right? It's a time to learn.

Anthony Su: Perfect. There are also questions since there were a lot of mentions of GPA cut-offs and things like that. Someone was asking specifically about biology and those related majors. But do you know of any other kind of restrictions that are in other programs, or things like that? Or any other programs that you'd also have to apply to, such as, Andrew, the program you're in?

Andrew Dinh: I can comment on Haas particularly. Coming into Berkeley, if you want to do business, there are a handful of programs. One is called the Global Management Program, where you come in admitted to the B-school, and you do a semester in London. It's fun and games!

There's also this other program called Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology, which is a dual degree program. It’s really rigorous and competitive. You get a degree in engineering and business, to become the tech leader of the future.

The third normal way is to come in undeclared, or as whatever major, and then, in your sophomore year – after having taken certain prereqs, such as economics, mathematics, and principles of business – putting together a résumé and writing two essays. You put that application together. You put your name in the pool. Thirty-ish percent chance you hear back and you get in.

So for the business school, normally most people apply!

As for other programs, I'm sure if you take a look on the website – and anything STEM-related usually probably falls in Letters and Science – you can learn more about whether that's a direct admit program or an apply-when-you're-in-college program. 

Anthony Su: So double-checking the Letters and Science page, and checking any potential prerequisites, or any other applications you might have to go through to get in there.

Also a question, when students are applying for Haas and things like that, is it important to have extracurriculars like business oriented clubs? You were talking about internships for that particular program. What advice would you give for students thinking about that pathway?

Andrew Dinh: I think if you're interested in applying to the business school, it's more important that your résumé is filled with activities that you're doing because you're passionate about said activity. Not because, “I want to have this on my résumé and look really good for the business school.” Because it's not genuine – and Elton can probably tell you as an admissions consultant, they can probably see through that!

So for me, when I was applying to Haas, yes, I was in a business club. However, the focus of my application was more on my interest in the youth education space. That was something I'd really got involved in throughout high school and in college. And a really big talking point for me in my Haas application.

This anecdote probably isn't the best, but thinking about my friends who have gotten into Haas, not all of them have been in business clubs. Not all of them have had some crazy internship their freshman year. Most of them, if not all of them, are really passionate about this certain thing, took the time to pursue it, and really showed that not only on paper, but as a person.

So just be you.

Anthony Su: Yeah. And I definitely want to open this conversation up to Brian, Saya, and Ivy, because the next question actually was, “What extracurriculars in high school helped you decide on your major, or what you might want to do in the future?” Just any kind of other potential advice for the high school student getting ready for admissions – or maybe even a few years younger. What would you encourage them to seek out or try?

Saya Linney: One thing I will say is that when you get into UC Berkeley, you're not assigned a major. You apply with the major, but when you get into Berkeley, you're undeclared – until you apply for a major within Berkeley. So you have plenty of time to explore. And this kind of goes back to that question about whether or not it's hard to graduate in four years – but it really isn't. You have that time to explore and decide what it is that you want to major in. 

And I think that it's also a really good idea to get involved in extracurriculars that can help you decide whether or not this is something that you're interested in – not only on an academic level, but on other levels as well. And help you meet people who are involved in those things.

So there's plenty of time to explore at Berkeley. Even if you're not explicitly involved in stuff in high school because I know that I wasn't explicitly involved in anything related to political science or economics in high school!

Brian Lin: I can talk about this, since my major is a bit different than a lot of the majors. For EECS you get in as direct admit, so you're locked in to be a CS major for your whole time at Berkeley. I guess you don't really get the chance to explore as much, which has its benefits, and  some cons.

For me, in high school, I did do a good amount of coding things – like code in my free time. Funny enough, I had an internship at Stanford where I did some coding research even though I go to Berkeley now!

I think if you're interested in applying to like majors like EECS, where it's a direct admit, it is important to approach the thing that you're gonna be studying for the next four years in some depth, so you know that you really like it – and you really see yourself getting into these classes, enjoying it, and exploring the knowledge you're going to be getting in college.

Elton Lin: All right. The Stanford reference had me thinking, “What's going on with that?” And as I look through the attendee list, I know there are some Berkeley alums in that list who have probably recoiled on the “Stanford.”

However I really appreciated all of you guys sharing, very honestly and openly, about your experiences. And I think it was really helpful to hear about your own student experiences. Perhaps the tenor of the conversation was really that UC Berkeley is not threatening or overly competitive, and the community, and the students, are definitely far more supportive.

But there is still an important aspect of taking initiative and really being a self-advocate – really going for it and really taking advantage of every opportunity that UC Berkeley has to offer. You can't just sit back and wait for things to come. You’ve got to really go and get it!

I think it's very clear that all four of you are very motivated, articulate, and eager students. I really appreciate you guys coming on.

For those of you who are here, thank you again so much for joining with us. We do have, I believe, a few other student panels coming, like Johns Hopkins. Not to pit Johns Hopkins versus UC Berkeley, but maybe we'll compare the two, and see what happens from there! But we have a few more panels coming, including some admission office interviews that are also coming along as well. Anthony, Northeastern is coming first week of August?

Anthony Su: Northeastern, yeah, I believe in two weeks. I actually just put that in the chat. If you want to register, you can go ahead and take a look there, and you'll get notified of it.

Elton Lin: All right. Super. Thanks so much, all four of you. I really appreciate spending some time with you. And thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and insight with students.

And perhaps, if there are some students who might be interested, maybe we can have them shoot you some questions after the call. Is that okay?

[Nods and thumbs up from the panel.]

Fantastic. All right, thank you guys so much. Thanks for everyone who's attending. And we'll see you on the next webinar. Appreciate it, thank you all.

Anthony Su: Right, thanks everyone.

Elton Lin: Bye.