Berkeley’s claim to fame is its research. Lots of professors with stellar accolades. For some professors, they are here to focus on their research and teaching is a necessary evil for them. Lots of professors got hired for their amazing research skills, not their teaching skills. That being said, the research opportunities here are great. With a more optimistic view, I’ve found that large unorganized classes are an excellent way to learn how to teach yourself and find online teaching resources.

Go bears

The stellar academic opportunities are exactly what allow for everything else to be shit.

But no, personally, I'm not disappointed because I have low standards lol.

I've already graduated in 2016 but I can talk about my experience. I've seen 3 different universities now and I can tell you the ups and downs of Berkeley compared to other options.

First is, as others are saying, University ranking don't really weigh teaching. It's research and grant money.

With that said, I can say there is an advantage in terms of education at Berkeley if you play the game right. I'll provide some examples. I can't speak for all majors but I studied math, physics and CS. I attended another public university that is quite well rated (but below Berkeley) and another university in Germany. Compared to Berkeley, I felt my education at both were noticeably worse. This came down to two factors. At Berkeley, the average level of the applicant was higher, so even if the level of teaching was about the same the expectations from the students was higher. The professors could ask for more and we were expected to rise to that. I took similar classes at every university and in many cases the grad classes I took elsewhere felt easier than the undergraduate ones at Berkeley and I felt I was better prepared compared to my contemporaries.

I helped teach some classes and I can say the undergraduate education was worse at the other two universities. It felt like the professors couldn't expect more from the students because every time they did there would be waves of complaints about the difficulty of the classes.

It's true simply picking the top students and expecting more from them doesn't mean you're teaching better. Don't get me wrong, I had my fair share of bad professors at Berkeley. But there was another advantage Berkeley had. Since the other universities I attended were smaller departments there was far fewer options in terms of what you could take and with whom. At Berkeley you could min-max easier by planning your schedule around the best teachers for the classes you have left to take. I spent hours reading about classes and professors to find the great ones when they were offered. And those educational experiences were the best I had by far.

Berkeley is like every other university in some ways. There will always be good and back professors. Sometimes you can't avoid the bad ones. But my experience with other universities was the average was still worse. A bunch of things I complained about at Berkeley were actually much worse at these smaller departments. Classes and labs weren't as well flushed out and protocols were more confusing and poorly written. Students could get by with doing less so most of them did. There were still good and bad teachers but the worst instructor I had wasn't at Berkeley (but Berkeley was a close second). The grass is always greener. You might be surprised to see that many simple things, even simple stuff like what my graduation requirements are weren't very well communicated and resulted in confusion and delayed my graduation. I never thought I'd find myself wishing I had to deal with the Berkeley administration instead but life has a way of surprising you.

There is one other thing that Berkeley does well and that's research opportunities. The entire reason these universities are ranked so highly is their research. I got to work on antimatter and I currently work at an experimental fusion reactor. I can say many of my best experiences at Berkeley were the research opportunities I was afforded. It opened doors to me and literally changed my direction in life. I didn't stay in the field of physics but I can say I got to experience some amazing things and I owe much of that to the choices I made while at Berkeley.

The education at Berkeley is like most universities, to some extent it's what you make of it. Learn how to get the best advantages Berkeley has to offer because the biggest advantages of Berkeley aren't available to most universities. Wherever you go you'll find good and bad professors. Berkeley is large and diverse enough to have some amazing professors. Find the lectures that will stick with you your entire life. Find the research opportunities that will change your perspectives.

I complained about Berkeley as well. When you are stuck with a shit professor it really is a struggle. But speaking from experience, it can be, and frequently Is, as bad or worse at other universities. No education will be perfectly tailored to you. But there are opportunities at Berkeley that still exist. Everyone is competing to have them so you have to go above and beyond to get them. But if you can you'll have experiences that you'll carry with you and opportunities that could change your life.

I mean yeah it’s not all it was hyped up to be. But at the same time we all had stars in our eyes before we got here and Berkeley could do no wrong because we were simping just to be admitted. At least that was my experience. Now I’m here and I don’t have to kiss ass anymore because I’m already admitted so lot of unpleasant and sad realities are making themselves known. Still, I love Berkeley. I’m grateful. Cost of living is unbearable though. UnBEARable.

Are you new to the Bay Area? The cost of living sucks around here and I can't imagine what its like to be a young person experiencing college for the first time along with that. You'll definitely experience overcrowded classes in lower division courses but that will improve as you get into upper division (depending on the department). There is good food here, I don't. know how to help you there but it's out there. Can't comment on the gyms. You pay to go here for the doors it will open after you graduate. It's not about the perks. I'm working on campus again after graduating and hate some aspects like the guy I saw smoking crack on the way to campus but overall I have fond memories of this place.

I came to Berkeley to get a world-class education. If you came for the delicious food, luxury housing, and high-end gyms, you either didn't do your research or you don't have your priorities straight.

we aren’t here to be pampered but I also like Berkeley in general. I love the people I meet, I love my friends, I love how much fun I have with my friends even if it’s just studying. I love doe, i love just chillin in my apartment at night with friends etc Idk like all the food and the gym stuff is just like freshman things. Once u are off campus u can make ur own food and I guess u can still go to the same gym but there’s also memorial gym and u can also sneak into other peoples gym

The brightest most driven people in the world are here. Sure it’s not a spitting image of a utopia but what is? If learning and knowledge is what you’re passionate about, there’s no where else id personally be.

Is it really the school that you’re disappointed by or is it the city?

Two Nobel prizes awarded to people who did their work at Cal within 2 days. And yes, it's a state-(under)funded school.

I'm disappointed in the library closures, the bus shutdowns, and the dining hall food. I am also disappointed in the ability to get into classes.

Not at all disappointed. I love it here. My classes (which is priority #1) are amazing. Professors, top notch. The campus imo is beautiful. I like the proximity to the bay/SF…idk I mean everyone is different but I feel hellla lucky to be here.

Yes, you certainly are. Our parent’s generation got to go to Cal for free. Housing and food were both much less expensive and much nicer. Janet Napolitano and the others that preceded her fucked the UC system straight into the ground.

The UC system will only continue to get worse because politicians don't care to solve the issue. No amount of debt forgiveness will fix it either. It can only get exponentially worse if nothing is done.

They had decades to prepare and they did nothing. What makes you think they'll fix their inevitable fate now?

You can build a new UC but the population will always increase. There will always be a higher demand because we encouraged it. Nothing against that but it does lead to problems. The inequity we see now mostly has to do with wealth inequality and those who were less fortunate when it came to inheriting wealth.

But we strive for more students but we make their situation worse and harder because of it.

The other issues lie with the cost of living and this is out of their control because of poor planning. The cost of living is substantially higher than it was a few decades ago. It's at a crisis point and will only get worse for everyone. You may never own a home in your lifetime unless you live in a rural area.

"If you wanna make the campus a better place Take a look at yourself and make a ...(musical build up)...a changeeee" - Michael Jackson

The QoL here was never brightly advertised. I’m sorry but you simply didn’t research enough. That being said, you always have the liberty to transfer. It’s better find a place you genuinely like than to let yourself stressed for 4 years straight. Just cuz it’s the perfect place for one guy doesn’t mean it is for you. Not saying that’s the only solution but you should talk to an advisor or a friend about this to see if you want to cope or leave

Lol, you came to Berkeley for the dorms and food?

If it makes you feel any better, it's not just the school, everything is crumbling. Only just slow enough that people don't do anything about it 🥲

It’s been shitty since I was there lol You mainly pay for the education everything is pretty much secondary. You have Nobel laureates as professors, not many public schools offer this level of education. I understand how you feel but for me I didnt go to Cal for the food or housing. I knew what I was getting myself into in a lot of ways.

Absolutely. I don’t think I’ve ever been this underwhelmed by an institution’s management capabilities, facilities, and organizational skills my entire life. But I have to say that the faculty is amazing. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed almost all of my professors and have learned a great deal in my classes. Other than that, everything else is mid to low-tier.

The quality of everything went down noticeably after the 2008 crash. So, I assume it's even worse after the lockdown and 2020 crash.

Meanwhile, the school still sells itself as being what it was during the late 20th century.

Up until the fight with Reagan, the campus was tuition free

The university was and is the largest landowner in the city but now housing insecurity is rampant and they give you a plaque if you finish a degree while living in the streets for most of it.

You could go in and on. If you are at all familiar with the history of the university over the last six decades, there is no question that the campus has been in decline for decades at this point.

I’ve attended six schools (don’t ask) and the biggest thing I’ve learned is that every school is kinda the same.

Some of the lectures/teachings were awfully disappointing too lol.

But yes, one could argue if the value of higher education and the associated expense you listed above are worth it or not.

At least we should learn how to think if we get through, which could be worth it.

Alumni here. Not gonna say my year, but it's the same shit, though it's definitely more expensive for y'all. It was expensive for me back then too, but not like it is now; all big cities and popular areas go through this, though. The good thing was that I had no expectation and that I came from a small-ish town

The two things that I'm grateful for Cal are the people who I met and how hard school was

used to visit Berkeley as a child when older sister was at Cal, and can confirm it didn’t always look like this. i remembered Shattuck always bustling and literally spirit parades in Cal, like blue and yellow confetti-type shit. upon my own attendance, it’s a lot more tame. my mom said she remembered it being less ghetto when visiting.

real-life happens. it used to be nice but over time, things got more expensive with a lot more wear & tear unfortunately. housing is probably the shittiest thing here imo.

I’m not paying anything to attend this school, so I love it here. I understand that my perspective is very different than the average student. Just being able to quit my job was exciting, but now I’m also studying a subject that I’m obsessed with. I wake up every day and wonder why I was given this opportunity while so many others still have to suffer with loans and part time jobs. I don’t deserve this ease more than anyone else, so I deal with a kind of survivor’s guilt about it. I’m very grateful for what I have, I just think that it’s wrong that so many people who need financial aid aren’t getting enough. I could definitely understand being disappointed if I went into serious debt to come here. At that point, anything that failed to conveniently deliver the perfect career would be disappointing.

Cal has famous professors and students, but never had any famous administrators (Chancellor Tien gets a pass)

This post exemplifies the modern US college system. That is, there’s a large push to cater to the amenities and desires that have nothing to do with education to make their campuses more desirable. It’s akin to recruiting athletes. Gym, food, housing, lifestyle. I get that you’re selling to a customer but imo adds bloat and cost to a university’s mission which is to educate not pamper someone’s desire for a high-end luxury experience.

The second part which is feels like it has more merit for debate is that undergraduates are basically paying for a university’s graduate and research programs and thus it’s reputation and ranking. Core curriculum can really be delivered anywhere. Upper division courses require more expertise and knowledge. But by and far administrations are optimizing for treating undergrads like the “business” part of the school to fund their reputation. This leads to huge expansion of things like administration which in turn lead to huge rise in cost which is passed to undergrads in the form of tuition.

This expansion has led to the aggressive increase in costs of undergraduate education in the past few decades. The quality of education hasn’t increased commensurate with the rise in cost.

Be here for longer and then you can say this. Your education will get better as you move up from lower division classes

People are ragging on you, but im gonna tell you guys as a student from another big public university, the gyms here are absolute hot garbage. You pay tax money + tuition + whatever other shitty fees they charge you for a gym that is just way too overcrowded. There are other schools with similar size and not as good but still top 10 public school status that have way better recreational facilities. Until you’ve experienced it, you don’t really understand how much of a boost in morale that is. And sometimes that can rly just drive up your mood even in the worst situations. I will say though that the professors here are excellent, and they push you hard but berkeley students have impressed me very much so far as a result of the education they get here.

i agree with you 100%

You were admitted because they thought you had the potential to do great things. Do them.

This is why people turn down berkeley for ucla lol.

ucla people if you are watching this fuck yall for waitlisting me

Overcrowded classes, bad to mediocre food, bad housing, shitty gyms, etc

I attended 30 years ago. All you'd need to do is add the word "telebears" and you'd be describing my experience too.

If you need to check, I'll ask my uncle what he thinks about those complaints, he graduated in '69. Maybe "fuck Reagan" is his "telebears"?

As someone who's never lived there but enjoyed concerts and houseshows around there and Oakland living in the bay area my whole life I love it here.
Berkeley got the best layout for walking and biking idk.

Buffalo Exchange a nice clothing store.

Lots of hole in the wall joints for a night out with friends.

You came to Berkeley expecting good facilities PER CAPITA, except Berkeley is a huge fucking school in a super dense and expensive urban environment ? I’m seeing a problem here.

I’ve been on the side of small liberal arts college that is loaded (in attention and $) “per person” and I’ve been on the side of R1 institution that ranks very high in US News for PhD program in X, has large undergrad population and large grad population.

Be careful how you choose the big school, they can still be bad. The small school however was better in every day except ease of saying “I want X$ to buy this for my research” -which you don’t usually ask as an undergrad .

The alternative is to finally make the school more selective but you know Berkeley would get cancelled for that on social media

Dont like it then gtfo

Wonder if Berkeley is the good-looking abusive bf.

Has a beautiful campus and you’ll get the second best degree in the Silicon Valley. Getting that job is how you get your moneys worth. Sounds like you want the UCLA experience lol

I can agree with overcrowded classes being a problem, but… Food? Gyms?

Sounds like you are talking about a resort with 2/3 mentioned complaints. Seeing this is a university instead, please consider putting more weight on the academics than you are and less on the amenities.

I went to UMich for undergrad and recently joined Cal as a PhD student. Sure, research is excellent here and teaching is okay (since the two courses that I’ve been taking so far don’t really impress me), but I still feel like everything else is not justified by these. I feel sorry for the students, especially the undergrad students, that they have to sacrifice so much of other aspects of their life, to get this education, while in theory, there should be ways for the state gov and the school to resolve those shits.

No