On a Tangent: How Deep Is Your Love~?

I came across a story about two parents getting tattoos of insulin pumps so that their son, Jacob, would not feel alone in having one (Jacob has type 1 diabetes). I thought it was a very heart-warming story so I wanted to share it with you :)

http://mommyish.com/stuff/parents-get-insulin-pump-tattoos-to-support-diabetic-child-947/

On a Semester Evaluation 2011

Happy Holidays from Seoul, Korea! :)

As this semester concluded, I had a mix of emotions from the opposite sides of the spectrum. On one side, I was EXTREMELY glad that this semester ended. For me, this semester was a "trial" semester- I wanted to see if I could handle doing lab and schoolwork at the same time. At first, I was ready to quit- there was no way I was going to come out of this alive with decent grades... But as the semester wore on, I started learning how to manage my time more wisely and started taking advantage of every break I got in between classes: I went to lab on the weekends instead of my usual weekdays when I had midterms to study for, etc. Then as the semester drew to a close, I stopped going to lab and focused all my energy in studying for finals. Now that I'm in Korea and don't have to think about going back to lab and studying for a while, I can reflect back on the semester and say that I enjoyed it quite a bit- in between my complaints and sleep deprived states, I enjoyed working at lab and I enjoyed the topics I studied (although I couldn't see it at the time haha). So here's my bi-annual Semester Evalution for Fall 2011:
Bio 1A: Like I mentioned in my previous-ish post, this Intro to Bio class is like your typical AP bio class but on steroids- a TON of memorization and a lot more conceptual that I thought it would be- especially genetics. Three professors, each teaching a certain part of biology- cells/photsynthesis/etc, genetics, and anatomy/physiology. The class consisted of two midterms, one for the first two sections, and the third section was tied in with the final- so that the majority of the final was based on the third section. For me, the easiest part was the last section, but for the midterms, i did better on the genetics one. I ended up getting a B in the class- not bad for the supposedly hardest weeder class at cal hahaha. People say that Bio 1A kills peoples' love of biology- I can say that from experience, while taking the course, I didn't want to hear another word of biology ever again hahaha. Nonetheless, it was a good class- very detailed and lecture-oriented so study the lecture slides when studying for the exams :)

Bio 1AL: .... I hated this class....
Usually I don't pay attention to the comments people leave on sites like collegeconfidential and courserank, but in this case, they were true.. Bio 1AL is a 2 unit class but it should really be 4 units for all the work you put into it. There are quizzes every week that are really difficult and only kill your dreams of getting a decent grade in that class. The labs themselves aren't bad- the dissections leave a long-lasting smell afterwards though- and the prelabs/postlabs don't count for any points in your grade, but you still have to do them... Then it's time for the midterm... Oh boy, did I want to cry while studying for this midterm. I think I took about 5-6 practice midterms for the real one and kept doing terribly on them! I practically lived in GSI office hours, and for a whole week, I looked at nothing but practice midterms. I devoted at least 30 hours studying for the midterm, but it paid off I guess- ended up doing well on it :) Make sure to do well on the midterm because it's worth 100 points while the practical is only worth 65 points. So treat the mditerm like your final. The practical itself was pretty stressful studying for, because you didn't know exactly what questions were going to be at the stations since the GSI's write them. You get about a minute and a half (I think?) for each station for the first rotation, and 30 seconds for the second rotation (which doesn't help anyway..). There's no time to be stressed out during the practical because it moves so fast. All you can hope for is that you studied the right thing- the practical is up-in-the-air so don't rely on it as a grade booster. All in all, I'm glad it's over :) Got a B in it as well.

Stats2: This was a good class but I didn't do too well on it- for some reason, me and math don't seem to go well together... I ended up getting a B- in this class although it's an intro to Stats class. The material was pretty straight forward and the lectures were interesting. Ibser, in all, was a good professor but I felt like his exams were on the harder side. The midterm average (only 1 midterm in the class) was a D-... worse than the Bio 1AL midterm average hahaha. But i enjoyed the class and I learned a lot about stats which seems more useful than I thought :) If you're good at math, then this class is a chill 4 unit class that doesn't require too much work- the homework only takes about half an hour a week and studying for quizzes isn't bad either :)

English R1B: This was my favorite class this semester, oddly. I don't like writing papers and sharing my thoughts in class, but this class was interesting enough that writing papers and participating in class weren't that difficult to do. The topic was/is Victoriana! and the GSI who taught it- Ben Cannon- was great- very encouraging and respectful of others' opinions. The class only had about 15 people so it was a very comfortable atmosphere, and the books we read were really interesting- Jane Eyre, Dorian Gray, some Sherlock Holmes. We had to write around three papers + rewrites, and one final research paper and a presentation at the end. I highly recommend this class :)

As for lab, I did a whole post on it a few weeks ago so if you're more interested about it, please take a look at it and if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Next semester, I plan to take chem 3B, Physics 8a, and comp lit R1A (to finish up my 1 year of english for med school) plus lab :/. Wish me luck!

If there's anything you'd like me to write about, please let me know!

Happy Holidays and have a great remaining break!

-K

Dear Reader 20

Anonymous said...

how did you get hooked up with an internship?! I want one so badly but there are none out there, or at least none that will take a newbie like me. Did you have an internship your freshman year? I have pretty much no lab experience outside the classroom, and I'm getting worried that the longer I wait the harder it will be to land a research job and get into med school :( HELP ME K

Dear Anonymous,

I didn't have an internship my freshman year; i got started my second year. Don't worry about not having any experience- the girl I work with at lab started this year without any previous experience (she's a third year). You just need to look in the right places :) I got my internship by sending out mass emails to various institutions (I'm talking about 5-10 from every place you're considering for research- it just gives you a better chance)- don't limit yourself to Berkeley, LBNL, and/or UCSF- make sure to branch out; there are a ton of places around the bay and SF that do research. If you don't want to go through URAP, i would suggest doing what I did and contact researchers and ask if they have any positions available and see if they would be willing to take you on as a volunteer so you can gain experience. They're most likely going to ask for a resume and/or CV so make sure you have that ready- and if you get past that, they'll want you to come in for an interview. When you send out the emails, make sure to include every lab experience you have- even if they're just the ones from class- it can't hurt right? Also, make sure the emails you send aren't generic- make each one unique to the specific research they're conducting. Oh, and send the emails a good 2-3 months before the semester you're planning to start, since most of the students are going to be emailing the researchers closer to the end of the semesters (when the panic usually sets in ;). 

If you come across any problems and/or questions, don't hesitate to ask! Hope it works out! :) 

-K 

Dear Reader 19

Anonymous said...

Hi! I was wondering where you could learn about research opportunities on campus. Are they competitive?

Dear Anonymous,

Joining any pre-health/science clubs will give you information on research opportunities. But the main research program at Berkeley is URAP, which is pretty competitive.. If this is your first research position, I would suggest trying URAP first since they'd be more open to new students. However, if you haven't discovered already, the application process can be somewhat tedious. So, an alternative to doing URAP is to contact researchers from various institutions and see if they have any positions open and if they're willing to let you work there as a volunteer to gain some experience.

Hope it works out! :)

-K 

On Research

This past Friday was my last day working at my lab for this semester (I'll be going to Korea for the winter break and will be returning to the same lab in January). To give you a recap, I began working as a research volunteer at one of the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs in September. I've been working roughly 18 hours in the space of three days, and to tell you the truth, it's been brutal. I've worked at numerous other labs in the past years but none of them have come close to the workload my current lab puts on me. A typical week at the lab usually consists of doing a purification of plasmids, digestions, ligations, transformations, cracking gels, gel extractions, sequencing, etc. (steps to clone certain fragments in e.coli cells). And that's only one of the projects I'm working on. The other project involves extracting DNA from flies, but that project has been put on hold for the moment while I work on cloning. Although it's been a rough few months, I have learned so much from working in the lab- the work even corresponds to the material we learned in bio 1AL! And I feel very fortunate that I was able to find a lab that I am comfortable in and enjoy being in.

When I first started working there, it was very awkward- there was no one my age and everyone seemed so intimidating. I was put on the spot a lot by a few of the people who worked in the lab- when they would ask me about certain protocols or measurements that I wasn't sure how to do. After a month however, another student joined the lab who was a year older than me, and we hit it off immediately. We  were put on the same project together so it was nice to have somebody to talk to, to complain to, and to share the pain with. A few months passed and I realized that I had gotten close to all of the people in the lab and I was finally a member of their intimate group. What was once awkward and intimidating was now a place to see friends and mentors- a group of people that I came to admire and appreciate. I have decided to try for an honors thesis- so we'll see how that goes ;)

If you have any questions about lab/research, don't hesitate to ask!

-K 

Dear Reader 18

Grace said...

hello K! Another Chem 1A-er here. just wanted to ask about the final exam, which is coming up... I'm a little nervous. Do you know where I can get ahold of some practice exams/questions? and do you have any good studying tips or advice for the actual test? (we covered a LOT of material, and going through every webcast/lecture seems pretty daunting) :P
Thanks!

Hey Grace! 

I got a hold of some practice exams by looking for them on google- i'm not sure about the exact website though- so sorry! I know they're out there though :) 

As for the final, I looked over the lecture notes and didn't bother with the webcasts. Do all of the practice tests/questions you can and then go to GSI office hours and go over the ones you don't know with them. I found that to be the most helpful. As you probably have figured out by now, the exams are extremely conceptual, so go to office hours with 'conceptual' questions because the final will have questions that are very broad- one of the questions on our final had to do with looking at suns and stars and their molecular orbitals...i think... hahaha. But other than that, I feel like the chem  tests are a toss-up; it's hard to study for them because you don't exactly know what to study for. So learn the concepts and how to apply them backwards and forwards and take advantage of the GSI office hours :) 

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

-K 

On A Mid-Semester Evaluation

.........

Round II of midterms have just ended for me, so I thought I'd post my thoughts on my current classes before my final grades kill all of my positive attitudes towards them ;)

1. Bio 1A Lecture: Not as bad as chem 1A as far as conceptual work goes (but still quite a bit)- not as straight forward and easy to study for (in terms of knowing exactly WHAT to study) as chem 3A- extremely detailed- a ton of reading- online assignments (Aplia), etc. Other than that, it's  your typical bio class, but on steroids... :D Because it's an 8am class and it's webcasted, no one really goes to lecture, but I still feel like it's worth going to. This class is taught by three professors, and this semester, it was taught by Doudna, Fischer, and Machen. Doudna (who covers photosynthesis, cellular respiration, etc) just read straight from the powerpoint- kind of a dry lecturer. Fischer (genetics) was/is the best of the three. He's really short and kind of old, which makes him adorable. You can tell he's very passionate about the subject and explains the material well. He's the only one of the three that writes on the boards, which is very helpful. Machen (anatomy and physiology) so far is o.k- his explanations and lectures are in between Doudna and Fischer- no aplia assignments for him, which is both good and bad..

2. Bio 1A Lab: If you've read on courserank, ratemyprof., and/or any other class description websites, you will have read that Bio 1A lab takes up way more time than it's worth (2 units). This, I'm afraid to say, is 100% true. The weekly quizzes you take at the beginning of every lab are difficult (depending on your GSI) and studying for the midterm was a nightmare since most of it was based on genetics. Treat the midterm like the final because while the midterm is worth 100 points, the final (practical) is only worth around 65 points. Everything in this class is curved, relative to how your section (quiz and exams) does compared to other sections, but don't rely on that too heavily. I studied for about 18-20 hours for the midterm, and luckily did well on it. I'm scared for the practical though..

3. Stats 2: This is an intro to stats class, but I haven't taken stats in high school so this was/is a bit rough for me. The professor (Ibser) is a great lecturer but his exams are fairly difficult, the average on the midterm being around 60%. The material isn't too dense as long as you keep up with it, but make sure you understand all the concepts for the exams because they'll likely be more conceptual than not.

4. English R1B: (for those of you wondering, you can take R1B before R1A, but it's not recommended by the counselors) I passed out of R1A (although I have to take another semester of english for med school) and I'm taking R1B with Ben Cannon (Victorian Era). For this class, the main books we're reading are Jane Eyre and The Picture of Dorian Gray, with a few short stories in between. I looked up the GSI before signing up for this class because I didn't want to take a class with a subject I wasn't interested in, and I just happened to read both books before taking the class :) Ben is a great GSI- he's very engaging, grades papers fairly, gives great feedback/constructive criticism, and is very lenient on the topics you write about (albeit being from the Victorian Era)- being extremely good-looking doesn't hurt either ;)

Once finals are done and grades are distributed, I'll do another update on studying tips, grading, etc.- the what-not's and how-to's for these classes :)
Until then, if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to ask!

-K 

On A Not-So-Fantastic Halloween Weekend

Halloween is just around the corner, and what am I dressing up as you ask? A miserable, sleep-deprived pre-med student at UC Berkeley, frantically cramming for an upcoming exam- possibly one of the scariest things to run into during midterm season ;)

But please do not let my pessimistic attitude give you any wrong impressions about how other berkeley students enjoy their halloween weekend. A favorite, and a traditional, Halloween destination is, of course, the frats. However, some people will branch off and go to various cities where Halloween is celebrated on a larger scale. Such destinations include SF, SB, LA, etc. At this point, Halloween just becomes another excuse for college students to party and get drunk- not really a trick-or-treat environment :) But hey, it's a good way to let loose and de-stress before another round of midterms.

Like I mentioned earlier, I have a bio 1A lecture midterm (#2) coming up on Monday, so my weekend will be spent studying for that and trying to catch up on homework :)

How are you guys planning to celebrate Halloween?

Whatever you decide to do, please be safe and have a great time!

-K

On Berkeley Memes

Here are some funny Berkeley memes i've come across. Enjoy!

-K

Dear Reader 17

Anonymous said...

Hey,
I'm taking a history class to fulfill breadth requirements that is known for being ridiculously easy. However, it seems as though my GSI is a really hard grader- the class average was a C on our last midterm. I don't think I can easily achieve a solid A, unless I get 100% on all future exams and assignments (which is highly improbable)...
Should I change this class to pass/no pass?
Based on my performance in my 3 other classes, it seems as if I will get As in them.
Do you think 3 As and a P grade would look suspicious?

Dear Anonymous, 

I wouldn't recommend taking classes pass/no pass unless you absolutely have to. That being said, if it looks like you will get a grade in the B range (or above) in your history class, then I suggest you keep it as a letter grade. If it looks like you'll be getting a C, then I would change it to pass/no pass since that will drag your GPA down, which is something a breadth requirement shouldn't do :) The reason for this is because you don't want too many pass/no pass classes on your transcript, since too many will start looking bad. To reiterate, if it looks like you'll be getting somewhere around a B or above, then I would suggest keeping it a letter grade; C or below, probably pass/no pass might be better- if it's a breadth. However, if you really don't want to have this history grade (whatever it may end up being) as part of your transcript or calculated towards your GPA, then as long as you don't go overboard with the pass/no pass classes, taking the history class as P/NP shouldn't look suspicious :) 

Hope this helps and good luck with your classes! :)

-K 

Dear Reader 16

Anonymous said...

Hey K,
I want to get started in research this year but it's really hard to find open positions. I haven't heard back from any of the people I've contacted. Do you have any advice on how I can find research?

Dear Anonymous,

First, Try expanding your research field/institutions. For example, instead of only applying to research labs in Berkeley, try LBNL, research hospitals, UCSF, etc. I contacted at least ten researchers from each place and only heard back from three or four total. If you can't find an open position right now, try contacting them again towards the middle of this semester for the beginning of next semester, or the middle of next semester for the summer and following school year. The earlier you contact them, the better. Also, try personalizing each email, addressing what about their research project you're interested in and how you can contribute to the lab- make sure to incorporate how much research experience you have. If this doesn't work, let me know, and we'll try to figure something out :) 

Best of luck! 

-K 

Dear Reader 15

kim said...

Hi K,
I have a few scheduling questions as well:
-as an IB Major, I'm recommended to take CHEM 3A/L and Math 16B or BIO 1B spring semester. would it be wise to take Chem and bio together, or put one off for Fall 2012? (if so, which one?)
-is it a good idea to take difficult courses, like physics 8A, in the summer? Would that affect my standing when applying to med school?
-I took and got a 5 on the AP English Lit class, which makes me exempt from R1A and R1B requirements, but I heard that med schools require some college writing. Should I take one semester or two? and do you have any recommendations for good english classes? (I'm a strong writer, but I don't want a heavy workload in that area)
Thanks!

Dear Kim,

-Both Chem 3A/L and Bio 1B are not that bad material wise so it shouldn't be a problem if you want to take them together. However, those two classes, when taken together, are going to take up a lot of time since there's lab for both. So if you're really good with time management and think you can take both simultaneously, then I would say go for it (once again, material for those classes aren't very dense- although Chem 3A might depend on who you have as a professor). But if that's not the case, then I would recommend taking Chem 3A and math 16B in the spring and taking Bio 1B or Bio 1A in the fall (some people take chem 3A in the fall instead of spring semester since then they can take chem 3A and chem 3B with pederson, and take their bio first instead). 

-Some difficult classes are even more difficult in the summer. But I've heard that physics is supposed to be easier in the summer, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to take it over the summer (just make sure you check up on the teachers and make sure they'll be good/easy) :) That would not affect your standing when applying to medical school :) 

-(most) Med schools require you to take two semesters of college writing, so to be on the safe side, I  recommend taking two semesters of some kind of english, even if you passed out of them :) As for good english classes to take... I heard that any 'cultural' writing class is typically easier, such as German Literature, French literature, etc. However, I tried taking a scandinavian literature course and had to drop it because it was so bad hahaha. But it largely depends on the GSI you get- since GSIs will be teaching the class. So when picking an english class, just make sure the topic of the class is one that interests you (check the topics before you sign up on telebears, otherwise, it'll be a pain to try and switch english classes once classes have started). The general consensus seems to be: don't take English R1A/B or Comp. Lit R1A/B since they tend to be harder- although, i'm taking english R1B right now and it's not bad at all :) 

I hope this helps somewhat! Good luck with spring semester! :) 

-K 

Dear Reader 14

Anonymous said...

what do you think about taking bio 1a/l and chem 3b (without 3bl), and then taking chem 3bl and physics 8a over the summer? or maybe just 3bl over the summer?

Dear Anonymous,

I think taking bio 1a/l and chem 3b is definitely doable (not easy, but doable)- as long as your other classes don't take up too much time. Physics is supposed to be easier in the summer so taking 8a and chem 3bl over the summer shouldn't be too bad either :) 

Hope everything works out! 

From,

K 

On Fall of 2nd Year

I apologize for my lack of posts these past few months but there are a few reasons for that.

First, I spent weeks after I moved in trying to fix my schedule. I originally enrolled in Chem 3B, English R1B, and Music 26ac. However, I decided to switch from chem 3B to Bio 1A (on an epiphany I had in the middle of the night...) because I wanted to take chem 3B with Pederson (who only teaches it in the spring) and bio 1A didn't seem too much different in the fall or spring. So i enrolled in Bio 1A, English R1B, and got waitlisted for Music 26ac. Now, usually when you're on the waitlist, if you wait long enough then you'll most likely get into the class- usually. However, that didn't seem to happen this semester as I got dropped from the music 26ac waitlist (it was a breadth so it wasn't too important, but still..). Being dropped wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't already 3 weeks into the semester and I had to frantically find a replacement class. After emailing numerous professors and GSIs to see if I could still enroll, I finally found a class that I both needed for units and for med school- Stats2. So basically, this semester, I'm taking three classes that are going to be catastrophic for my GPA, but hey, might as well take all the hard classes at once while I'm at it and get it over with right? Ok, that's fine. But that's not all. I got a position at one of the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and I started working about two weeks into the school year. Research wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to work 15 hours a week on average (Right off the bat, I had to do DNA extractions and PCRs, and now I'm on cloning). I get home at around 6-7pm every day, cook/eat dinner, try to do some work, and then collapse. Not the ideal way to spend your 2nd year of college. Now that midterm season is rolling around, the pressure and stress have doubled and I feel I'm beginning to reach the limits of my endurance. I just hope I can make it through this semester without breaking hahaha

If you have any questions or topics you would like me to address, please feel free to ask/comment. :)

Other than that, to my fellow Berkeley peers, good luck on your first (or possibly second) round of midterms and I'll see you on the other side!

-K 

Dear Reader 13

Anonymous said...

Hello K,
do you remember what you got on your first midterm in chem 1A?
Also, do you have any advice for us on future midterms?? thanks!

Dear Anonymous,

I believe I got an F on my first chem midterm hahaha 

I was depressed for three days straight. I thought I knew all the material going in and I finished the exam about twenty minutes early and thought "That wasn't so bad..." It was my first college test ever and I wasn't sure on how to approach the test. The failing grade was a huge wake-up call for me. If you didn't do too well on the first midterm, just remember that you have about 4 more tests to go (total of 4 midterms and 1 final i believe?) and so your first midterm will be buffered by many others. As for advice on future midterms- I started doing the practice exams weeks in advance so that way, I would have plenty of time to go to GSI office hours and get help on material I didn't fully understand or that I needed extra help with. I also started going to the professors' office hours and SLC study groups. All these things just help reinforce the material. Reading the book didn't help me too much. While doing the practice tests, try to get into the frame of mind "How do I apply the concepts learned in lecture to this problem?" since all of the chem 1A midterms are extremely conceptual. After a few midterms, I figured out how to 'think' about the problems and so my scores started going up. I ultimately did well on my final and lab so I did alright in the class (although your labs are separate this year so that's a bit confusing..). 

I hope this helps somewhat (people usually find what study methods work for them half way through the semester so don't worry too much! :) Good luck on your future exams and in chem 1A! 

-K 

Dear Reader 12

Anonymous said...

hey k! just happened to stumble upon your blog (which is SUPER helpful with all this premed stuff!)
im taking chem 3a/3al this semester with bio 1b and wanted to know if you had any tips for that?
are either of the lab sections hard? i'm not quite sure what to expect with these classes, and any advice would be so appreciated!!
thanks,
j

Dear J,

Thanks for stopping by! Glad I can help :)

I haven't taken bio 1b yet but from what I hear, it's not that bad, and very doable with chem 3a. You might want to look on courserank because I know there are quite a few people who are doing that and have asked questions on that site about taking 3a/l and 1b concurrently. Just don't take any more time consuming classes. :) But I can help you a bit with 3a/L. If you've read my past post about chem 3a, you'll see that it was much easier than gen chem, and bio 1b lecture isn't supposed to be very difficult. So with lectures- you're good to go. Ochem lab, like all other labs, depends on your GSI. My GSI was fairly lenient with his grading so the lab reports weren't too stressful for me (lab reports are due with each lab). The labs themselves are not very difficult and most finished before the alloted time (once again, i'm not too sure about bio 1b). At the end of the semester, you'll take a lab final- i believe you only need 50% to pass and it was quite easy- I just looked over my notes a day before the exam and did well on it :). In the end, I felt like my other classes took up more time than chem3a/L so taking chem 3a/L with bio 1b shouldn't be too much of a problem- but don't take my word for it ;). Don't impact your schedule if you take those classes concurrently and don't take classes that would require you to read copious amounts and write numerous essays. Since Pederson is supposed to be a VERY good professor, i'm sure you'll be fine :) 

Hope this helped somewhat! 

Best of luck!

From, 

K   

Dear Readers 10 & 11

Jenna said...

Dear K,
Can you make a post about scholarships? Are there any exclusively for freshmen?
thanks! :)

Dear Jenna,

Are you asking about general scholarships or berkeley scholarships? :) 

Unfortunately, I never applied to the scholarships at berkeley, but if you haven't already, check out the site: 

http://alumni.berkeley.edu/services/scholarships 

I'm not sure if any are reserved for freshman :( As far as other scholarships go, I applied through typical scholarship sites, such as fastweb-which weren't very helpful since so many people apply through those sites- but those sites give you the widest range of scholarships to choose from and you can try narrowing your search to show scholarships reserved for freshman only :) 

Sorry I couldn't be any more help on this one! 

Best of luck! 

From,

K 

Anonymous said...

do you know how I could land an internship/lab research job? I don't know any of the professors, and I've never done any kind of research before... how am I supposed to stand a a chance against other applicants? do I just email someone, or go up to berkeley labs...??

Dear Anonymous,

This is a tough question with a lot of different answers. First off, you have to start somewhere right? :) And some professors (not many) understand that. For students just starting research, I would recommend trying URAP (although a bit tedious) since you'll be in an applicant pool with students in similar situations, and the professors would have come across students with no research experience more than in other cases. If that doesn't work, I would suggest going through researchers' (not just berkeley professors- this can be anywhere- hospital, SF, etc) research/labs and emailing tons of people with a statement of interest- don't make it too generic- make each email unique to the research/lab. Let's say this too doesn't work. Then over summer, try to find smaller research facilities to work in, such as a state school near your hometown (that's how I started off)- if they don't accept you due to lack of experience, tell them you would just like to shadow them or you're willing to wash the dishes- little experience is better than none :) - even working in a hospital lab as a volunteer would add to your lab experiences! 

Hope this helps! 

Best of luck- Let me know how it goes! 

From,

K 

On A Delay

I have recently moved into my apartment at Berkeley and am still waiting on our wireless internet to get connected. I deeply apologize for the lack of responses this past week, but give me a few more days and I promise to post as soon as possible! 


Thanks so much for your patience :) 


From,
K 

Dear Reader 9

Alice said...

thanks for replying so quickly! I'm really impressed by all your info, and it did help. :) So, I'm in the textbook-buying stage, and I still had a couple questions about the supplies we need...

- I've managed to get a chem textbook for cheap, but I don't know where I can buy the OWL code for it. My friend said the edition of the textbook doesn't matter much, but that the OWL code is essential. where can I find that?
- What's the lab manual required for Chem 1AL?
- Do I have to buy the lab notebook suggested by the Cal bookstore, or would one of my own work? (it's a really nice, lab notebook I've used in previous science classes... does it matter whether I've used about half of it or not?)
- and lastly, does Math 16A and 16B use two separate textbooks?

thank you, again; you're a saint!

Dear Alice,

You're welcome! 

-Yes, the book doesn't matter too much- i think i opened mine about three times the whole semester- but the OWL code is important since the professors assign homework and quizzes online via OWL. I believe some people bought the OWL code separately on the OWL site (http://www.cengage.com/owl) but you might want to try the student bookstore and see if you can buy it there. Since you'll have a week or so before you'll need it (homework is due once a week), I suggest waiting till class starts and asking the professor to be sure, since you want a code that has 'Berkeley' as one of the schools listed. 

- The lab manual is a thin book that has all the experiments listed- it's what you'll be using in lab to do all your experiments.

- As for the lab notebook, you'll be turning in carbon copies of your data/work at the end of every lab and the notebook suggested by the school is the best for that purpose. If your notebook has tear-out carbon copies and you really want to use it, then ask your GSI first just in case :) Otherwise, it does not matter how much of the notebook you've used :) 

-The math 16 series books are two separate textbooks- pretty thin and not too expensive (once again, buy a used one if you can) 

I hope this helped! :)

-K 

On Leaving the Nest

As summer draws to a close and the school year comes crawling closer, nerves will start to kick in for many and excitement for most. I know I probably mentioned this a thousand times in my previous posts, but I'm going to mention it just once more  :)

A week or so before my first year of college started, my nerves completely abandoned me- so much so that I kept thinking 'Why didn't I just go to a community college and stay at home?' I was scared of leaving my home, my friends, my family, of being in a foreign place without the comfort of my parents' shadows where it was so easy to forget about my problems and take refuge in the fact that I was still a kid- in other words, I was scared of growing up. Of course, like other kids, I wanted to get as far away from my parents as possible and live independently- no curfews, no chores, no annoying siblings. But at the time, I would have gladly taken those things over having to leave my familiar lifestyle behind. I was scared of not making any friends, having terrible roommates that I wouldn't get along with, of failing my classes, not getting into medical school- basically all the things that could go wrong in college were integrating themselves into my future. Pessimistic much?

The last night I spent in my room, I spent with tears streaking down my face, making my pillow all too wet to sleep on. I felt like such a loser for being so scared of something that everyone went through eventually. Morning came and it was time for me to pack up everything and head out. Surprisingly, no tears came as I was leaving my house, just a dull heartache.

I got to berkeley, said hi to my roommates, unloaded my things, and spent the day walking around campus. When it was time for my parents to leave, I am embarrassed to admit, I was a complete mess while my parents were way too composed for my comfort (later I learned that my mom broke down while cleaning out my room when they returned). As I was walking back to my dorm, I looked around me without feeling so scared for the first time- after all, the hardest part was behind me (or so I thought)- and I took a deep breath and thought 'I'm finally a college student'.

You know the rest from there- roommates, classes, an occasional SF outing. Turns out, there was nothing to be afraid of. I visited home regularly and found nothing changed- except my sister took over my room- and I looked forward to going back to berkeley every time I was away. So to those who are feeling slightly scared and nervous about starting college, just remember, you're about to start an incredibly exciting part of your life- a part in which you will learn more about life, the world, and yourself than all the previous years combined. So work hard, stay safe, and most importantly, have the time of your lives :)

-K  

Dear Readers 7 & 8

Anonymous said...

Hi! I love your blog! You really provide in-depth answers to people's questions. :)

I hope you don't mind me asking if you could recommend any awesome premed clubs

Dear Anonymous, 

Unfortunately, I can't help you on this one :( 

I sought to join a few clubs at the beginning of the year but I couldn't find one that suited me. However, I know AMSA is probably the most popular club among the pre-med/health students. Sorry I couldn't be more of a help! If you haven't already, check out this link- 

 https://career.berkeley.edu/health/CalClubs.stm

I hope it helps! 

-K 

Alice said...

Hi K! this is such a helpful blog, and I'm so glad you actually take time to answer questions. that being said, I was wondering (since I read that you took the math 16 series) if you have any 16A or 16B books for sale? Or if not, where did you get yours/where do you recommend getting them? thank you!

Dear Alice,

I sold my books to my roommate after the year ended, but you can get the books at Ned's, which is right across the street from campus (by Sather Lane- I got both of mine there) or at the university bookstore (downstairs). I recommend buying the used ones- after a while, it doesn't make much of a difference whether your book is new or used ;) 

Hope this helped! 

-K 

Dear Reader VI

Dear K, thank you for your quick reply! Your answers helped me tremendously. :) I just have a few follow-up questions, if you don't mind: 1) Pertaining to your answer for #1, I thought you get a separate grade for Chem 1AL because the lecture doesn't have to be taken concurrently with the lab? I don't know if they changed it this year, but I'm pretty sure (and hoping) they did. Are the labs difficult and time-consuming? 2) How exactly are office hours run? Is it one-on-one between you and your professor or is it an open discussion between you, your professor, and other students who show up? I was assuming it may be a line outside your professor's office in which students enter one after another, but I may be wrong. 3) Would you recommend getting started on research for your first semester? I was planning on getting this lab position, but I'm not sure if it would be extremely time-consuming. I'm planning on taking 13 units, though. Once again, thanks for your help. I hope you're having an amazing summer, and good luck next semester~!


Dear Justin,


You're very welcome :)
1. You're right, they changed chem 1A this year with lecture being 3 units and lab being 1 unit. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. When I took chem 1A, doing well in lab added bonus points to your grade (although doing poorly deducted points) and so it helped my grade a lot. The labs themselves were not that bad, although a bit long at times- it depends largely on your GSI. Most labs won't take the full 4 hours to complete- I usually finished after 2 hours or so on average, but then again, it depends on your GSI. The experiments were rather simple in concept but sometimes difficult to obtain the 'right' results ;) I believe you only have to do around 2 formal lab right ups for 1A but i'm not too sure. The work after the lab (answering questions and discussions) only took about 1-2 hours on average. Once you start lab, you'll see how your GSI grades and how strict he/she is and can put in the effort accordingly :) 
2. During office hours, the professor meets in a classroom with all the students who wish to attend at once. The professor will usually take questions from the students and lecture on it. When a midterm is coming up, they'll take questions from previous practice tests so you can see the kind of answers they're going to expect on the real exam.
3. As for lab, I would suggest waiting at least a semester before starting. I feel like it's important to get well adjusted to the environment and rigorous academics before taking on something as time-consuming as research. However, if you already secured a research position in a lab, then talk to the professor or postdoc you'll be working with to work out a schedule- a lab position is an opportunity you don't want to pass up easily and with 13 units, it shouldn't be too hard to do :)  


Hope this helped! Have a great rest of the summer and see you in the fall! 


-K 

Dear Reader V

Hey there! I love your blog; it's been very helpful! I just have a few questions since three of the classes I plan to take this year are the ones that you took in your first semester. 1. Do you have any tips in particular for Chem 1A and Math 16A? I have Stacy and this new prof for Math. 2. How theoretical is Math 16A? Is it basically plug-and-chug or are the questions much more conceptual like Math 1A? 3. What textbook did you use for Psych 2? I have Rosner, and it doesn't mention what textbook you need on bearfacts. Thank you so much!


Dear Justin,


Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad I could help :)

1. For chem 1A, the best thing to do (in my opinion) is to sign up for SLC study groups and go to professor office hours. When I took chem 1A, although I had Stacey as a professor, I went to Professor Arnold's office hours. I noticed that he would go over topics in particular that would come up on the midterms and so I was able to get a few extra questions right just because I went to his office hours. The SLC groups are there to reinforce lecture material and will help you grasp the concepts better. The iclicker points count for your grade (some didn't think so at first) and in chem 1A, every point counts so stay on top of those. Do well in lab since those points count toward your grade as well (in ochem/bio/etc, the lab grade is separate). I would also recommend doing a lot of past exams but they didn't help me too much since the exams were kind of unpredictable and extremely conceptual ( do them anyway ;). Just a warning: the lectures will seem quite easy, but they'll be looking for ways in which you applied the lecture material on the exams. Math 16A, depending on who you have, is a breeze. I never went to lecture since the practice midterms my professor posted were just like his actual midterms and I took AP calc BC in high school so I already knew the material :)


2. Math 16A, from what I remember, is mostly plug and chug. If you took any calc in high school, it'll be like that all over again. Math 16A will teach you basic derivatives/integrals, and other easy calculus concepts- nothing to worry about.  But then again, I had a really easy teacher... ; )

3.You got lucky with Rosner. A few people I know took psych 2 after hearing how easy it was with Rosner and found out that it wasn't so easy for them with different teachers. I don't quite remember what book I used for psych 2 but I don't think you'll need to use it too much. Most of his exam questions (which is all multiple choice and non-cumulative) are taken from his slides- which is just the abridged version of the textbook.  


I hope this helped somewhat and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! 


-K 

Dear Reader IV

thank you, K! you're awesome. The tips you gave were really great, and I'll be sure to remember them when school starts this fall. :) One last thing (which may sound dumb): How does laundry work at Cal? I saw laundry chutes at orientation, but are those for sheets? what about personal laundry? anyway, thanks again! Brilliant blog, by the way.


Dear Anonymous 


Laundry depends on where you're staying. In the dorms (in Unit 3 anyway- other dorms are probably set up in a similar fashion), there's a building in the center of the residential buildings where students go to eat (the dining commons), and below that is the laundry room (along with various other rooms). So the laundry room is separated from the actual dorms but is still part of the unit. It's one big room with about 20 washers and 20 dryers and is operated either by coins or your cal1 card (which you will be getting at orientation I believe). Yes, there are chutes in the dorms but that's for garbage and other disposables :). If you're going into an apartment in the fall, then there should be a laundry room within the apartment complex. 


Thank you! And  you are very welcome ;) 


See you in the fall!


-K  

Dear Reader III

Hey K! One quick question: Do you know anyone who deferred for a year from Berkeley? They barely grant deferals and say its HIGHLY unlikely, but I'd love it if you could give me some info on someone you know who has probably done it! Please and thank you :D


Dear Erica,


Unfortunately, I do not know anyone who got deferred from berkeley for a year. However, I know a few people who were spring admits- which doesn't seem all too uncommon. From the looks of it, they're placed in the dorms (where there's space) and given all the same benefits of a fall admit. Other than that, I don't know too much about berkeley deferrals. If you have any other questions about spring admits, just let me know and I can try to find out some more for you! :) 


-K 

Dear Reader II

Hey K, this blog is incredible and exactly what I need right now. I'm going to Cal this fall and majoring in Integrative Bio, just like you. I just had a few questions: 1. you mentioned in a previous post that an A is different than an A- in college, whereas in high school they're weighted the same when calculating GPA-- could you explain that a little? 2. how much time do you spend studying/reading/doing homework each day? (are you a bad procrastinator?) haha :) 3. what do you do in your spare time (if you have any)? 4. ... are you male or female? 5. Looking back on your first semester, is there anything you would change? would you do anything differently? Thank you so much!! you're a lifesaver.

Dear Anonymous,

So glad I could help! :D

1. In high school, there is no difference between an A and an A-. If you get three A's and three A-'s on a report card in high school, then your GPA is a 4.0. If you get the same grades in college, it's lower (depending on how many units each class is worth). There is no difference in grade points between an A and an A+, but there is a difference between an A and an A-. For example, let's say in college, you took three classes, each worth 4 units. If you get A's in all three classes, your GPA would be a 4.0. However, if you got one A-, then your GPA would be a 3.9. Unfair, isn't it? ; ) 

2. How much time I spend studying/reading/doing homework is difficult to say. There are periods of time when I spend five/six hours straight just studying and/or doing work (but that's when I have midterms/finals coming up). Other times, I work for an hour or two and then take a break. In all, after my classes, I make sure to dedicate a good portion of my day to getting my work done because after 8 pm or so, my will to work leaves me hahaha. (This is not including the study groups I go to- which take up even more time). Also, living in Unit 3, it was difficult to study after that time since my floor was really social and people would come into our room periodically and sit there talking (I'm not a big library person). (I tend not to procrastinate too much ; ) 

3. In my spare time, I hang out with my roommates/floormmates/friends. My roommate and I like to watch movies so we spend a lot of time doing that. I also go get Boba with my friends frequently, or yogurt. Sometimes we go to SF :). I don't drink or party much, but my roommates go a few times a month, either to the frats or to the clubs in SF (and they also have full class loads- although not premed, one is taking all the premed classes). Karaoke is always fun, albeit a bit pricey. However, keep in mind that this is not every day. There are some days that I stay in my room the entire day, although not that often. There isn't really a dull moment here; you can always find something to do : )

4. I am female : ) 

5. I can either give you a philosophical answer or a straight forward answer to this question hahaha. My philosophical answer would be- no, I wouldn't do anything differently or change anything, because then I wouldn't have anything to grow from. My first year was an intense learning experience for me, and a very humbling one at that. However, a straight forward answer would be- yes, I would change a few things if I could. First, I wouldn't go into my first midterm with a big head. Since the lectures were a breeze, I naturally thought the test would be too. Make sure to take your time and use ALL the time they give you to double/triple/quadruple check your answers. Go to professor office hours and SLC study groups religiously. Take advantage of drop-in tutoring! Also, don't freak out if you fail your first/second/third midterm, most likely, many others did too ; ). Do ALL of the practice tests they offer and get familiar with the testing style of your teacher-fast. Study during thanksgiving/spring break (easier said than done). And lastly, don't be afraid to have a little fun. Make sure you indulge in the complete college experience when you can. Go to a frat party, join a club, do an intramural sport, volunteer, take fun classes- classes that you actually want to take- not just GPA boosters ; ). This is the only time when you will be able to. Get close to your roommates/floormates- you'll be stuck with them for a year and most likely, they'll become some of your closest friends. 

Your first year will go by quickly so make sure to enjoy every minute of it! 

I hope this helps! Have a great summer and see you next year! 

From,

K