Berkeley is like...? (Oakland: apartment, rentals, home)

[simulcra]

For my relocation I think I'm honing down on the East Bay, if only because it looks like it has more foliage and looks like I'll get more bang for my rent buck. Only thing is, as a graduating graduate student, I've developed a strong disdain for undergrads, so I wonder what Berkeley is like. Is it college-towny? Infested with "wooooo college!" young-uns that will make me go blind from rolling my eyes too much?

[04kL4nD]

It's all relative. Personally, I've found the pseudo-intellectual pub douches that clog up the bars and restaurants downtown to be far more irritating than the undergrads. Most Cal undergrads are too busy studying to have any free time to do anything besides home football games.

[rkwalton]

Berkeley is pretty good, but I do agree that there is a certain level of presumptuous in abundance here. However, I just enjoy it for what it is. It's better than living in an area with a bunch of dimwits. I go out armed with headphones and enough electronic devices that I can tune the babble out when needed.

Cal students aren't that annoying. You can tell when they're around though. I can probably moreso because I rely on mass transit and bike around a lot. When they come back certain bus lines get way more busy. I'm UC alum with access to campus resources though, so that's just the trade off of being so close.

Overall, it's a pretty nice place to live. I'm glad I chose it.

[mayorhaggar]

Downtown Berkeley is the only area with a lot of students, and they're mainly on campus anyway. Yeah, go to a coffee shop and they're all over the place tapping away on their laptops, but go to a restaurant or store and it's pretty normal. On the plus side there's a ton of good and cheap restaurants in downtown Berkeley that cater to students. IMO Berkeley is best if you are looking for roommate rentals, but if you want an apartment on your own your dollars will go further in the nice parts of Oakland which are basically like Berkeley but without B's mix of college students and rich old hippies.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by simulcra

Is it college-towny? Infested with "wooooo college!" young-uns that will make me go blind from rolling my eyes too much?

Was that not yourself recently? Will those pesky uppity grad students be next on the hit list?

What's more sad than 'college-towny' is a place surrounding a major university devoid of college character. Who wants four years of blah? We would hope that the town that hosts the country's greatest public institution would exhibit some appreciable level of enthusiasm for the place, hopefully by it's own students.

[simulcra]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Was that not yourself recently? Will those pesky uppity grad students be next on the hit list?

What's more sad than 'college-towny' is a place surrounding a major university devoid of college character. Who wants four years of blah? We would hope that the town that hosts the country's greatest public institution would exhibit some appreciable level of enthusiasm for the place, hopefully by it's own students.

Obviously the sentiment I was trying to express was not conveyed to you. Enthusiasm is fine. Presumptuousness is annoying. I find that there's a peak of annoyingness that starts around 11-12th grade and extends into 1st/2nd year of college. Basically once you start getting smart and decadent, but haven't yet been humbled or developed taste.

Also, I resent the fact that undergrads have 1/4 the workload and 1000% the attention from most university administrations, despite the fact that grad students are the ones that will ultimately shape the reputation of the university and the university's ability to attract those future-donor-undergrads in the first place. But that's not the reason why I want to avoid undergrads if I can.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by simulcra

Obviously the sentiment I was trying to express was not conveyed to you. Enthusiasm is fine. Presumptuousness is annoying. I find that there's a peak of annoyingness that starts around 11-12th grade and extends into 1st/2nd year of college. Basically once you start getting smart and decadent, but haven't yet been humbled or developed taste.

Also, I resent the fact that undergrads have 1/4 the workload and 1000% the attention from most university administrations, despite the fact that grad students are the ones that will ultimately shape the reputation of the university and the university's ability to attract those future-donor-undergrads in the first place. But that's not the reason why I want to avoid undergrads if I can.

You have obviously spent zero time at Cal. It is more like 1000% of the attention is on the grad students, and they shuffle the undergrads into 400 person lectures. Unless of course you are a grad student in a non-revenue making department. Then you might as well be an undergrad.

[rkwalton]

Just for some flavor - 3 Berkeley moments from this evening.

1) I'm standing at the bus stop. I was thinking about something and my face is very expressive. (Basically, I'd get slaughtered at a game of poker.) A woman rolls down the window and asks if I'm ok. I'm like "huh? Did my face indicate that I was in distress?" <quizzical look> However, I thanked her and told her I was fine. I think she probably fancies herself as some sort of empath that can sense things with people when I was just thinking about my upcoming trip to NYC and someone I'll see when I'm there. It was just odd, but not offensive.

2) A few minutes later at that same bus stop two Cal undergrads stop and are waiting for the bus. They're talking and talking and talking about the changes in their lives: jobs, internships and general fears that someone at a top college might have. For me, completely tedious to have to hear as they were speaking a bit too loud, but not so annoying that I was thinking "shut up". Just presumptuous in the sense that they lacked the sense to be discreet. I mean you can have a conversation in public without broadcasting it to everyone.

3) At that same bus stop, I also had a short but nice conversation with an old man about when the bus would arrive. I checked NextBus.com on my Android for him.

So one hippie/empath/healer or just a nice stranger, one pair of tactless but not offensive undergrads and one nice old man. Not bad for a few minutes waiting for the bus.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by jade408

they shuffle the undergrads into 400 person lectures.

That's really the case at most larger schools. We're actually one of the few where that is not true, as our largest class is around 400 and there's only like two classes of that size. I know that when my brother was looking at Michigan, pretty much every class was 400+, and I know it is a really big deal now at the University of Florida.

Originally Posted by rkwalton

2) A few minutes later at that same bus stop two Cal undergrads stop and are waiting for the bus. They're talking and talking and talking about the changes in their lives: jobs, internships and general fears that someone at a top college might have. For me, completely tedious to have to hear as they were speaking a bit too loud, but not so annoying that I was thinking "shut up". Just presumptuous in the sense that they lacked the sense to be discreet. I mean you can have a conversation in public without broadcasting it to everyone.

That happens absolutely everywhere.

[rkwalton]

Originally Posted by JHG722

That happens absolutely everywhere.

I didn't say it was only in Berkeley and made no claims that it was exclusive to Berkeley. What I wrote was what I saw standing at a bus stop last night.

In fact, I said this:

Originally Posted by rkwalton

They're talking and talking and talking about the changes in their lives: jobs, internships and general fears that someone at a top college might have.

Last I checked, top colleges were not only nationwide but worldwide.