A Complete Guide to Cal - Introduction

Hey there everyone! My name is Jerry, and I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2020 with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. I’m one of the graduates who were affected by the lockdown due to COVID-19, and was lucky enough to attend the first-ever virtual commencement ceremony on Minecraft in human history! This is my favorite thing about UC Berkeley - people’s creativity and willingness to accept new things, but most importantly, its humanistic sentiments and a playful and irreverent attitude. Recently, a lot of folks are asking me many questions about the ins and outs of UC Berkeley since they got admitted. I feel urged to start this series to answer those questions once and for all. In this series, I’ll talk about housing, food, academics, culture, basically anything you have to know about before you start your academic career here at Berkeley. I know you might be wondering why you should choose Berkeley, and I'm here to tell you that it’s a no-brainer. Forget about the US News College Rankings, which don’t make sense anyways (Berkeley should at least be in the top 5, if not the top 1, but definitely not 20th lol). So, what is it that you should choose Berkeley? At Berkeley, you’ll get a sense of freedom like nowhere else. Cal is the birthplace of the free speech movement, and it’s still going today. You’ll often see people giving speeches on Sproul Plaza about human rights and other interesting topics. The best part of this freedom is that you can be whoever you want to be, without anyone constraining you. Therefore, you’ll be able to meet all kinds of people. I myself have met a lot of incredible people during my years at Berkeley, from the nerdiest nerds to the most outgoing entrepreneurs, all thanks to its inclusive culture. Academically speaking, we have a total of 55 Nobel Prize winners to date! You could well be one of them in the future! Just start with choosing from over 150 majors and minors we provide! Apart from academics, We have over 1000 student-run clubs, and it’s hard to say you aren’t interested in any of them. I myself joined the Open Computing Facility (OCF) and made friends with a lot of people sharing the same interests as me - hacking. Well, Berkeley should just be the no-brainer for you. If you got admitted, just come. You won’t regret it. Next up, I will dive into the most commonly asked question regarding housing, so stay tuned and I will catch you in the next one! #GuideToCal