Personally, I loved Cal! The campus is beautiful. It’s huge, full of nature. The libraries are almost like museums and there are opportunities to learn everywhere. Above there is a swimming pool and the university’s botanical garden. You should definitely visit it. It is really beautiful! But the whole bay area is very green. There are very many and large parks. The city is great too. It’s a real student city. There are all sorts of places with great food. She has a very special feeling. You can feel that the hippie movement is coming from Berkeley! In my opinion, however, most of the restaurants were a bit more expensive, especially the ones at the Shattuck or at the marina (that’s the harbor, well worth seeing!). I did not live at the campus because we were informed too late that campus accommodation is available for session E. Nevertheless, I was allowed to eat once in the dormitory. Basically you have a lot of choice and it didn’t taste too bad either. The dormitory food isn’t expensive either!
The course I attended was also very good. The professor always let us work together in groups. There are generally a lot of Chinese in Berkeley, so there were around 90% Chinese in our class as well. In the groups one was therefore forced to speak English. However, most of them speak very indistinctly, which means that it is very difficult to understand them. Furthermore, the professor was always very keen that we have homework in which we read texts, watch videos or set up projects in groups. We then discussed all of this work together. That is why every student had to be prepared in principle and thus also perfect the language. However, I would not consider it particularly difficult. It is more similar to the high school system than the university.
- Check topschoolsintheusa for more about The College of Engineering at University of California Berkeley.
I have been to San Francisco very often because it is not far away and it is very beautiful. If you want to see Alcatraz, then I recommend you to book the tour online immediately. We booked three weeks in advance. It was all sold out. The only appointment that was still available was on the last day of our stay. So book in good time !! There is a lot to see there. If you have a student ID you can use all public transportation in Berkeley for free. There is also a bus every half hour that goes to San Francisco and with this ticket you don’t have to pay anything. However, the BART drives there too. Then it’s even faster to San Francisco. However, the student ticket does not cover these journeys. In my opinion, Berkeley’s public transportation system is very good. Va in relation to other American cities. That’s why I can only recommend that you get a student card immediately (Cal1 card, takes 5 minutes and costs nothing!). You can also go to the university’s fitness center. You only pay $ 10 registration fee and you can always use the fitness center. One of the fitness areas even has a pool! The weather was beautiful. Before 12/13 h and after 8 pm it is very windy. In between the weather is very pleasant. The sun is shining strongly, but as soon as you are in the shade, it gets cool. Furthermore, there is almost always a wind blowing. That’s why the sun doesn’t bother you so much. However, you should always carry a jacket with you because the wind can get stronger very quickly and then it is uncomfortable without a jacket. The people in the Bay Area are very nice. Everyone is very interested in each other’s stories and always wants to know a lot about each other’s hometown. There are many people who are homeless, but they are not dangerous. Everyone was very nice to me. It has often happened to me that I just had no change and apologized and said that I have nothing with me today and they were still very grateful and nice. Nobody gets aggressive and attacks you. However, it is a very safe city in my opinion. In principle, you have to take care of your things everywhere, but you don’t have to be afraid of being robbed. But if you are more anxious, a policeman is invited to the introductory night and you can ask him anything. There are also safety routes which are permanently checked by the police from 7 p.m. (as far as I can remember) and the police also escort you to the dormitory in the evening. Everywhere on the campus there are “emergency telephones” where you can call the police headquarters directly and they will come to the location and bring you home.
I can only recommend it and it was worth every penny!
