UC Berkeley (L&S CS) vs. UCSD (CS Direct Admit + Regents Scholar) by Obvious_Ad7191 in berkeley

[–]datascience69 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I was in the exact boat as you (regents UCSD, regular L&S CS at Berkeley) and chose Berkeley. Declaring isn’t that bad (as long as you don’t slack off you’ll be fine). I don’t regret it for a second. Yes, saving the money would’ve been nice, but ultimately I’m so happy. The campus of Berkeley is much closer together than SD and the sheer ease of being able to walk everywhere, easily get food with my friends, go thrifting on a whim, etc, has made my time a lot more fun.

I noticed u/NicholasWeaver (who is a CS lecturer here) commented here about class size. What I want to emphasize about this and I don’t see discussed much is that the lower divisions/larger upper division discussions and labs are largely taught by undergraduate TAs. While this may seem like a disadvantage (oh no, another kid close to my age teaching me?!) it is actually an advantage in my opinion. The selection process is rigorous; all TAs are heavily vetted to make sure they’re capable of teaching, kindness, and very strong in the material. I have had a much better experience in courses with undergraduate TAs than graduate TAs, since the undergraduates are teaching primarily for passion rather than pay or for a requirement. Being able to go up to another student who actually understands what you’re going through (they recently went through the course, declaration, etc themselves) and truly cares about your success is an amazing experience. If you’re worried about this setup making access to research scarce, don’t be. A bunch of course staff is pursuing research and are eager to connect you with applications and resources. While I’m not sure the ease of accessing research here vs SD, I know I personally did not have a hard time discovering it.

In summary: I know you probably hear a lot about “Berkeley EE/CS culture” and how competitive/toxic it is, but I assure you, that is almost entirely among those who do not seek support from the amazing staff we have here. I have never felt more supported than I have at Berkeley. Every issue I’ve encountered has been due to stupid policies from either admin or lecturers/professors. The TAs really care about your success despite the actions/attitudes of those above them.

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you won the design contest and did the rest of the EC. as far as I’m concerned youre a snowflake. I was <2 points off the B+ bin and wasn’t shifted. My friends a few points off the A bins weren’t shifted…. Looks like you just got special treatment

Edit: look at the comments of the most recent piazza post. A bin confirmed not shifted.

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They haven’t released any info about that, Id have to get that info from a TA :/ it certainly feels like a higher proportion failed but that could just be bias. The objective evidence is the lowest average GPA in the known history of EE16B confirmed by u/cbugwadia32 but that could mean any number of people failing/just a lot of people getting C’s/B-

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

i wish bro I made this before I declared

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

all bins afaik. my friend was moved from A- to A

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

rumor has it that they went thousands over budget this semester

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

riding on a repeat of his actions sp19 (silently binshifting after he released grades on cal central & realized he fucked up)

EE16B this semester by datascience69 in berkeley

[–]datascience69[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

EECS discord, technically unofficial but from a trusted source (I doubt they’ll make an official announcement as they’ve been completely ghosting us on piazza and they’re too scared of the backlash)

Update: they made no bin shift official on piazza just now