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[ailsa_clare]

Thank you for the kind comments last week, guys. It was pretty damn helpful to get some other perspectives.

Anyway, when it came to the crunch, after the meeting on Wednesday, I decided that I couldn't handle myself if I didn't give America a go. That I was worried about whether it would be a decision I would regret making for the rest of my life.

Comments

[ailsa_clare]

Yeah I am pretty tempted by California, not least because we have some friends living in/around San Francisco, which is a nice safety net I suppose. However the competition for getting a place there on our program is quite steep so I'm trying not to pin my hopes on it too much, I guess...

[pineapplebob]

Hm, yeah, University of Redlands is pretty close to Palm Springs, so if you don't like heat, it may not be the best choice. Do you know much about the individual UC campuses? UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, etc? UC Berkeley and UCLA= best reputation academically, with San Diego slightly behind them, probably followed by UC Irvine and UC Davis, with UC Merced and Riverside bringing up the rear. What are the names of the other universities they're offering you? I could try to offer commentary on some of them, if you want; grew up in Los Angeles/Palm Springs area, currently at Sarah Lawrence College in NY. (Also, what do you mean by 'some form of pastoral care'?)

http://www.collegeprowler.com/find/by-ranking.aspx might be helpful, if you're willing to shell out some cash for a few books and have a fairly clear idea what you're looking for. Also wikipedia, obv, but I'm sure you've already used that.

[ailsa_clare]

Well, there's a big long list of other places (including, pretty randomly seeing as I'm on an American Studies degree, places in Canada & Austrailia) but seeing as you asked: SUNY Binghampton, Clark, Goucher College, Louisiana State University, SUNY Plattsburgh, Rutgers, San Francisco State University, Tulane, University of Alaska, University of Arizona, University of California , University of Colorado, University of Illinois, University of Maine, University of Kansas, University of Massachusetts, University of Miami, University of Mississippi, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri- St Louis, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina, University of Oregon, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, University of Utah, Westminster College, Roanoake College, Middlebury College, Occidental College, Reed College, Temple University, University of Redlands

[iridescentglow]

*\o/* California! Er, obviously if you have any questions about Berkeley, I can try to answer them. I also absorbed quite a lot of knowledge about the other UCs. (I visited UCLA, too, and it's very pretty -- I believe that place generally gets given to a film student, though.)

I seem to remember looking at the University Of Redlands and IIRC, it's a long way out. My only advice (this applies to all the colleges) would be to really look at how far away they are from big cities/places of interest. If you're thinking, "well, this college is only two hours drive from [major city] -- I can go to [major city] every weekend!", it's probably a good idea to rethink. Because you won't have a car and public transport in the US is generally shit (the Bay Area would be one exception to this). Chances are, you'll be stuck in the town you actually live in most of the time. (Speaking personally, even though San Francisco was very close/easily accessible, I still spent 95% of my time in Berkeley itself.)

[ailsa_clare]

Ah thanks for the info on that. I've already had to catch myself a few times: for example when looking at one of the SUNY websites, when it put "Only 4 hours from New York!" and I was like "Coooool" until I realised that 4 hours is a ridiculous amount of time.

I guess here's one question to apply to any of the California campuses you have knowledge about: did you get an orientation when you arrived? Because a suprising number of people from last years group are saying they didn't and that worries me a fair amount. Also, from your experience of Berkely, is it easy to get to know people even when its so massive? And did you manage to make friends with actual Americans or did you just fall into an English crowd (another thing that's worried me is some of the people I know out there this year seem to just be hanging out with UEA people, which seems to defeat the object somewhat). And, one final general California question: is it really as difficult/ stressful as everyone makes it sound to get housing?

Sorry that's quite a lot :/

[iridescentglow]

did you get an orientation when you arrived?

During the first week, there were an insane number of group meetings for the international students. Some of them were a waste of time; some of them were really useful. You can also sign up for a guided tour of the library really easily. But bear in mind that UCB is huuuge, so full orientation is not really possible. I got lost every day the first month I was there and I spent a lot of that time in a state of complete confusion. That said, if you do have problems, the advisers at the International House are really, really helpful. They have drop-in all day every day, so you can just turn up and ask them questions. So, at times you might feel like you're stranded and have no idea what's going on, but as long as you know where to look, there is help there.

is it easy to get to know people even when its so massive?People in America are generally really friendly (and, as a cute English chick, you are instantly interesting!) so I wouldn't worry about meeting people. I didn't make friends with

[iridescentglow]

is it really as difficult/ stressful as everyone makes it sound to get housing?

NO, NOT AT ALL. Man, I worried about this so much and there was really no need!

You'll probably find that you miss the deadline for applying to live in dorms (because you find out where you'll be in CA so late in the year), but that doesn't mean there aren't rooms available. There are always dorm rooms available. I knew people who turned up in August, didn't like their arranged housing, so they just moved into dorms there and then, with no prior application. That said, I would avoid dorms at all costs, unless you want to live with a bunch of 18-year-olds and eat burgers and chips from the dining halls. Just like in Norwich, there will be plenty of people looking to rent out a room in their shared house. There's a service called Cal Rentals that can help you with that. Also, everyone in the US swears by craigslist for finding a place to live. What I did--and what I would recommend--is to live in a co-op. You can find out a lot of information at their

[ratzcrackers]

What semester is this for? Because you'll most likely die of heat in California in the summer. But you'll die of the cold on the East coast in the winter. Pick your poison

[ailsa_clare]

I'm going for a whole year, so I guess I'm screwed either way! :)

Thanks for the information on area, that's really quite handy to know. Although I'm torn between my inner-London girl wanting to head back to the city, and wanting to try something new and quaint.

Also sadly, I think Rutgers is the closest I could get to New York :(

[_undercovergirl]

america?
damn, i've missed a lot since i've been away from lj!
a friend of mine has an older sister who went to study in america, she went to Portland and said it was great, but unfortuantely i cant give any more helpful adive than that lol