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Potential members of the UC Berkeley Class of 2018, let us clear the air regarding one of the most oft-repeated yet completely untrue rumors about academic life at Berkeley. As we’re sure you’ve heard, UC Berkeley is a competitive environment for undergrads – and this is not far from the truth. Generally, each student wants the best for him or herself and is willing to work as hard as possible to achieve that. However, we also boast one of the most kind, respectful, socially-aware, modest (despite this long-winded boast), and considerate student populations that you’ll ever meet. While each student wants to succeed, we also fully and truly want to see our peers succeed! This reality is incompatible with the notion of academic sabotage.
For whatever reason, people think that Berkeley’s competitive nature will transform its hardworking and dedicated student population into academic savages who would rather – and are willing to – destroy the work of others instead of improving their own. This is not the case. Never was there a case of a student hiding another’s homework, giving them the wrong answer to a question, or ruining their study environment. In general, Berkeley students are not only smart enough to see that such petty and childish efforts are a waste of time, but also courteous and respectful enough to appreciate the effort and hard work of other students and realize that they are afforded this same basic courtesy. In fact, as crazy as this sounds, students actually help each other.
If one wants to find flaws in what is one of the top public institutions in the world, he or she is better off looking at its limitations due to its large size: long wait-lists for popular yet necessary classes, overcrowded residence halls, and expensive off-campus housing. Don’t let these scare you off, though. These negatives are common to most universities of this size, and you will gain an immeasurable sense of independence from being able to navigate Telebears (our scheduling system) and from securing housing. If you are to examine our student body, however, you will surely find that, while it is large, it is comprised of students who care about the world on a whole litany of scales – beginning first and foremost with other members of the UC Berkeley community. We’re Bears, not dogs, and we will not eat your homework!
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