Like everything else at Berkeley, the academic offerings at this flagship of flagship universities can be overwhelming. With nearly 30,000 full-time undergraduate overachievers crammed into such a small space, it is no wonder that the academic climate is about as intense as you can get at a world-class public university. Don’t expect to be on a first-name basis with your professor in Intro Bio.

Berkeley. Mention the name, and even down-to-earth students get stars in their eyes. Students who come here want the biggest and best of everything, though sometimes that idealism runs headlong into budget cuts, tuition increases, and housing shortages. Never mind. Berkeley is where the action is. If you want a quick indicator of Berkeley’s academic prowess, look no farther than the parking lot. The campus is dotted with spots marked “NL”-spots reserved for resident Nobel laureates. The last time anyone counted, Berkeley boasted 22 of them, along with hundreds of Guggenheim fellows, Pulitzer Prize recipients, MacArthur fellows, and Fulbright scholars. Is it any wonder that this radical institution of the ’60s still maintains the kind of reputation that makes the top private universities take note? The social climate at this mother of UC schools, founded back in 1868 as the state’s land grant university, is not as explosive as it once seemed to be, but don’t expect anything tame on today’s campus. It has often been at the epicenter of the Free Speech movement. Flower children and granola chompers still abound, as do fledgling Marxists, young Republicans, and body-pierced activists.

Spread across 1,200 scenic acres on a hill overlooking San Francisco Bay, the Berkeley campus is a parklike oasis in a small city. The startlingly wide variety of architectural styles ranges from the stunning classical amphitheater to the modern Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive sheathed in stainless steal. Large expanses of grass dot the campus and are just “perfect for playing Frisbee or lying in the sun.” The oaks along Strawberry Creek and the eucalyptus grove date back to Berkeley’s beginnings more than 150 years ago. Sproul Plaza, in the heart of the campus, is one of the great people-watching sites of the world.

Of course, Berkeley is not only gorgeous; it’s also academically intense. “Everyone was the top student in his or her high school class, so they can’t settle for anything less than number one,” says one student. Another says bluntly, “Expect very little sleep.” Although 53 percent of all undergraduate classes have fewer than 20 students, some introductory courses, particularly in the sciences, have as many as 800, and professors, who must publish or disengage from the university’s highly competitive teaching ranks, devote a great deal of time to research. After all, Berkeley has made a large part of its reputation on its research and graduate programs, many of which rank among the best in the nation.

While the undergraduate education is excellent, students take a gamble with the trickle-down theory, which holds out the promise that the intellectual might of those in the ivory towers will drip down to them eventually. As a political science major explains, “This system has allowed me to hear outstanding lectures from amazing professors who write the books we read, while allowing far more personal attention from the graduate-student instructors.” Another student opines, “It’s better to stand 50 feet from brilliance than five feet from mediocrity.” Evidence of such gravitational pull is seen in the promising curricula designed specifically for freshmen and sophomores that include interdisciplinary courses in writing, public speaking, and the history of civilization and an offering of small student seminars (with enrollment limited to 15) taught by regular faculty. Despite these attempts at catering to undergraduates, the sheer number of students at Berkeley makes it difficult to treat each student as an individual. As a result, such things as academic counseling can suffer. “Advising? You mean to tell me they have advising here?” asks one student.

Each of Berkeley’s six undergraduate colleges or schools has its own set of general education requirements, which are generally not extensive, and a set of breadth requirements, which expose students to disciplines outside of their major. All students, however, must take English composition and literature and one term each of American history and American institutions, as well as fulfill an American cultures requirement-an original approach (via courses offered in several departments) to comparative study of ethnic groups in the United States.

Most of the departments at Berkeley are noteworthy, and some are about the best anywhere (like engineering and architecture). Business, economics, political science, sociology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, and English are just a handful of the truly dazzling programs. Berkeley offers eight departments and eight interdisciplinary programs in engineering; electrical engineering and computer science is the most popular. Interdisciplinary study and research are common across the sciences, such as the biological sciences division’s programs in integrative biology and molecular and cell biology.

Special programs abound at Berkeley, though it’s up to the student to find out about them. Students may study abroad on fellowships at one of 50 centers around the world, or spend time in various internships around the country. If all you want to do is study, the library system, with more than 12 million volumes and more than 20 branches, is one of the largest in the nation and maintains open stacks. The DARE (Diversifying Access to Research in Engineering) program helps connect undergraduates with research opportunities in engineering and computer science, focusing particularly on supporting women and students from underrepresented groups.

Although most Berkeley students are California residents, 16 percent come from out of state, and 13 percent come from foreign nations. Thirty-six percent are Asian American, 2 percent are African American, 16 percent are Hispanic, and 6 percent are multiracial. The university provides a variety of programs to promote diversity and inclusion, including the Center for Race and Gender and a peer education program for preventing sexual violence. Despite Berkeley’s liberal reputation, recent trends have inched toward conservatism. Business majors and fraternity members outnumber young Communists and peaceniks, though the school does produce a large number of Peace Corps volunteers. Merit scholarships averaging $8,700 are awarded to qualified students, and athletic scholarships are offered too.

Berkeley’s highly prized residence halls have room for only 27 percent of the students, and new students receive housing priority. After that, the Cal Rentals is a good resource for finding an apartment in town. Many students live a couple of miles off campus, where “apartments are cheaper,” says one student. A number of student-housing projects have opened in recent years, offering a variety of rooms in low-rise and high-rise settings. In the absence of a mandatory meal plan, everybody eats “wherever and whenever they wish,” including in the residence halls.

If the housing shortage gets you down, the beautiful California weather will probably take your mind off it, as will the never-ending social opportunities. “Social life at UC Berkeley is killer!” exclaims one geography major. More than 1,200 student clubs and groups are registered on campus, which ensures that there is an outlet for just about any interest and that no one group will ever dominate campus life. Three percent of the men and 9 percent of the women join fraternities or sororities. Weekends are generally spent in Berkeley, hanging out at the many bookstores, coffeehouses, and sidewalk cafés, heading to a fraternity or sorority party, or taking advantage of the many events right on campus. Berkeley is a quintessential college town (“kind of a crazy little town,” says one anthropology major), and of course, there’s always the people-watching; where else can an individual meet people trying to convert pedestrians to strange New Age religions or revolutionary political causes on every street corner? Nearby Telegraph Avenue is famous (notorious?) for such antics every weekend.

Many students use the weekend to catch up on studying, but when they want to get away, the BART public transportation system provides easy access to San Francisco, by far one of the most pleasant cities in the world and a cultural and countercultural mecca. The Bay Area boasts myriad professional sports teams as well, including the Golden State Warriors, the Oakland A’s, the San Francisco 49ers, and the San Francisco Giants. Get access to a car, and you can hike in Yosemite National Park, ski and gamble in Nevada, taste wine in the Napa Valley, or visit the aquarium at Monterey. But be advised that a car is only an asset when you want to go out of town-students warn that parking in Berkeley is difficult, to say the least.

Division I varsity athletics have always been important here, and the university is a top producer of Olympic athletes. Strengths include men’s gymnastics, men’s crew, and men’s and women’s swimming. A surge in popularity for the Golden Bears basketball team probably has to do with its great performance in the Pac-12. And just about everyone turns out for the football team’s “Big Game,” where the favorite activity on the home side of the bleachers is bad-mouthing the rival school to the south: Stanford. Intramurals and fitness programs are enhanced by an extensive recreational facility and gorgeous weather year-round.

The common denominator in the Berkeley community is academic motivation, along with the self-reliance that emerges from trying to make your mark among 30,000 talented peers. Beyond that, the diversity of town and campus makes an extraordinarily free and exciting college environment for almost anyone. “It makes one feel free to dress, say, think, or do anything and not be chastised for being unorthodox,” explains a student. “At Berkeley, it is worse to be dull than odd.”

-Fiske Guide