Entering the bear territory!
A dream comes true. A stay at one of the best universities. All of my expectations were at least met if not exceeded. During my 6 weeks in Berkeley I enjoyed excellent lectures, got to know interesting people from all over the world, some of whom I will certainly not have seen for the last time, and I was also able to go on vacation and discover many wonderful places. According to Abbreviation Finder, UCB is the abbreviation of University of California Berkeley.
Application process
Thanks to MicroEDU, the application process was very pleasant and took a lot of time. Every step was well documented and communicated in a timely manner through friendly and helpful emails. All of my questions were answered very quickly and competently. In the end, even the document battle turned out to be very manageable.
I attended two courses at the Haas School of Business with a total of 5 units. Course UGBA 102B Managerial Accounting and UGBA 190T Project Management.
In the beginning, I had great respect for the two courses and the expected workload. Fortunately, everything was not so bad then.
UGBA 102B Managerial Accounting. This course consisted of two 2.5 hours of lectures and two 2.5 hours of discussion. The lections were given personally by the professor and were extremely instructive and demanding. We also got a good load of homework each time, which had to be done for the discussion the next day. In addition, you should read through the next lesson in the book because the pace was really fast. The discussion was then held by his assistant, who had just finished her Masters at the Hass School of Business and was also very qualified. The grades consist of attendance time, homework, mid-term and final exam.
UGBA 190T Project Management. There were 2 units for the course and accordingly we only had 2.5 lectures twice and no discussion. This course was very different from Managerial Accounting in the way it was taught. So we made an extremely large number of practical examples and simulations via the Harvard Business School website. The professor was very interested in the opinions and contributions of the students and also adapted his teaching if necessary. The workload consisted of 9 assignments, each of which required several pages (up to 20) reading. The grade consisted of attendance, assignments and a final exam.
My conclusion on the courses and the workload:
Both courses were challenging and very educational in their own way. I was able to benefit enormously in both courses, both professionally and linguistically. Yes, the workload is high, but absolutely feasible and every day I had time to do other things than just study! You really have to do something for school, but don’t be too intimidated!
Accommodation
I lived in an apartment in the Maximino Martinez Commons. This building was a little more than. 1 year built (it is not even visible on Google Map). It has normal dorms with 2 beds or apartments in which four people always live together. Everyone has their own room and you share a kitchen, bathroom / toilet and lounge. The room was more than satisfactory. I had about 10 minutes to walk to the campus.
Most of the food was eaten in Crosse Roads about 2 minutes walk away. The food was amazingly good. Always very fresh and healthy. Only the repetitions after a certain time weren’t that great, but I think you can’t expect something new to be served up over the course of 6 weeks. In addition, this was always a good reason to visit the many good restaurants in the area and enjoy a good dinner in the group.
Conclusion: a very clean, well-furnished accommodation in a central location. A little quieter than I-House, which wasn’t bad at all in between.
Leisure
First of all, I haven’t been bored for a minute, not wishing for a TV for a minute, or having to make an effort to do something. There were just too many options for that. And yes, there are also the legendary student parties in the Frat’s or Coop’s.
There is also a huge range of sports on offer. But you can read enough about it in the other testimonials. Just one thing. I went to a boot camp. Twice in the morning from 06:30 to 07:30. A real experience for sports lovers like me. Apart from me there were only Americans in the group and we were really celebrated by the coach!
I don’t want to write too much about the excursion possibilities either. It’s all already there somewhere. We rented a car every weekend and went away. I can highly recommend this. There really is enough time left to study.
Conclusion: From the wild student party to a visit to a shooting range, to a leisurely hike in Yosemite National Park, I’ve experienced everything. It really has something for everyone. All you have to do is go out and enjoy it!
Preparation
Prepare yourself well at home. In other words, read through the documents and familiarize yourself with the various online tools such as BearFacts and bSpace. You will need this every day. In my courses, all information and documents ran exclusively through these tools. Also check your @ berkeley.edu email address. You should definitely have access to this address. Personally, I have redirected mine to my normal mail account. There were a few who had never checked their access and thus missed important information several times. This should not stir up unnecessary fears. Just take the time at home and you can start your adventure really relaxed and enjoy the time over there.
A little tip: If you want to get an idea of the campus, I recommend the film Monster AG 2. The campus shown there is based on the Berkeley campus. The Pixar Studios are very close to the university. Granted, it’s a rather special way.
