On An Update

So here's the update I promised you in my last post.
My grades finally came out, and I am proud to say that I didn't get any C's hahaha : )

Chem 3A: I really enjoyed learning organic chemistry. I was really scared going into it due to all the horror stories I heard about it, but surprisingly, I didn't encounter much of those problems. A lot of people said that ochem involved a lot of memorization. But in my recent experience, Chem 3A didn't require 'memorization' per say. I did a TON of practice problems (Pederson problems, some problems in the book, practice tests- all teachers' past tests- not just Bertozzi's, etc.) and went to SLC reviews/GSI reviews three times a week. By the way, sign up for those reviews. Although Bertozzi was an amazing lecturer, the SLC groups helped solidify concepts so I did most of my learning there. Overall, I believe in organic chemistry, you get the grade you earn (unlike chem 1A). The more effort you put into learning the material and understanding the concepts, the better your grade is likely to be. In my opinion, organic chemistry (at least the first half of it) was a lot easier than Berkeley's chem 1A (General chemistry) because the material was very focused and narrow so we knew what we had to study and what path to follow. I loved ochem with Bertozzi- definitely one of the best classes I've taken at Cal so far : )

Math 16B: I'm not sure why, but I did not like this class at all. Maybe it was the teacher, or perhaps it was the subject material. Whatever it may be, I didn't so well in this class, or at least, not as well as I'd hoped (I got a B- not the end of the world but still embarrassing for math 16B). I had professor Sarason. He seems like a really nice guy- old, yes, but nice. I can't say too much about him because I never went to lecture. Now before you criticize me about this and its correlation to my grade, I have to say that I couldn't understand a word he was saying and his notes were all posted online anyway... My GSI for discussion gave us really hard quizzes and I made a lot of stupid mistakes on the midterms. The subject material was not the easiest to learn for me. Sure, it started out easy, but then it delved into probability and taylor series stuff at the end and that's what did it for me I think. The other teacher who taught 16B at the time was Judson (he's new so I was afraid of taking him). But I went to one or two of his lectures and he's a very good lecturer (although I heard his tests are harder). The teacher who teaches it in the fall, Scanlon (or however you spell his name) is not any easier- at least that's what I hear. So I can't give you any advice about this class except that Sarason is supposed to be the easiest 16B teacher (although personal experience teaches otherwise). I'm just glad it's over lol ; )

Asian American Studies 20B: I took this class with professor Dong because I needed more units and I thought this would be a GPA booster. Throughout the semester, I fell behind on my readings and my weekly write-ups (ochem was taking over my study schedule). So I got scared that my GPA 'booster' would turn into a GPA dragger. My GSI, Abraham, was not the most strict instructor in the world. He didn't really come to discussion prepared so he always asked us what we wanted to talk about and he let us out early all the time. He was a lenient grader as well so that was good lol. In the end, I got an A in the class so it ultimately did boost my gpa : ). Lesson to be learned- falling behind in readings at cal is extremely dangerous. Did I learn much from the class? Umm... yes and no. I learned more about the issues effecting Asian Americans today, but it wasn't anything I haven't heard before. The class just went deeper into the issues, such as racism and the model minority myth. Would I recommend this class? Yeah, I think I would. Just because Professor Dong is a nice guy and he's been very influential in developing ethnic studies at berkeley and other universities. He really knows what he's talking about. It's just that the subject matter is not so captivating (for me at least).

Classics 10B: This class was on ancient Roman civilization and it was taught by Professor Murphy. I really enjoy history so I took this class as a breadth. Professor Murphy is an amazing lecturer. I never missed a lecture and I enjoyed listening to him talk. He's very passionate and knowledgeable about the subject and it's like listening to a story each time he lectures. The subject matter itself was very interesting, although there was a lot of reading involved, which I also fell slightly behind (big mistake). The papers we had to do and the midterm given were graded unfairly in my opinion. They expected a lot of small details which was impossible to store in our heads, especially with classes like ochem looming before us. My GSI for discussion was Darcy and she was a great GSI. You could tell she was really passionate about classics and she was really nice- great laugh too (you'll see what I mean if you ever take it with her ; ). I ended up taking this class Pass/No Pass because with all my other classes, I couldn't put in the effort that this class required (luckily I passed hahaha). I'm even debating taking another classics class just so I could have Murphy as a professor again : ) In all, this class is not an easy A, or even an easy B in my opinion. But it's still a great class to take p/np.

That's it for now. My gpa this semester turned out to be 3.43- not too bad, slight drop from last semester but that was expected. Like I said before, I worked really hard for my grades this semester and I'm glad the hard work paid off : )
Now, hopefully I can enjoy a few months of no homework, papers, or exams and I'll be ready for next semester. On to Chem 3B! ; )

If you have any questions or topics you would like me to write about, please leave a comment or shoot me an email :D

Thanks!

-K

On Being Done- Finally ; )

First year of college has officially ended for me : )
I had my last final today- ochem. How did i do? I'm not sure exactly. All I can say is, the test was fair. It wasn't ridiculously hard like the second midterm (average was 40%) or easy like the first one. I just hope I get a B in that class...
As for my other finals, math 16B was crazy hard. I know what you might be thinking- psh, it's 16B! It's supposed to be the easiest math class! .... I know... but for some reason, it was a challenge this semester. I don't even know if I can pull off a B- at this point hahaha. Two C's on my transcript is not going to look so good for med school... *sigh... We'll see..
Classics final was o.k- not too bad- but I pass/no passed it so I didn't concern myself with it too much. Asian American studies final was a bit difficult...
Overall, my gpa isn't looking too good right now, but once again.. we'll see..
I'll do a review of the classes I took this semester (like I did for last semester) once I get my final grades. Then I'll be able to assess everything. : )

Anyway, now that finals are over, I've started packing all my things to go home tomorrow : )
Surprisingly, I fit all my books and whatnot into one box + bag which is an incredible feat hahaha

I feel myself sinking into a depression as my time in the dorms draws to a close. Over the year, I've gotten to know great people who have become great friends. I just hope we can keep in touch over the years.
On a positive note, we're all living somewhat close to each other next year so that should be fun : )

Looking back at this semester, I can say that it was a lot of work- a lot more work than my first semester. But on the other hand, I enjoyed this semester a whole lot more, mainly because I had amazing teachers and became better acquainted with my floormates and roommates.
Looking back through the year, I feel like the year went by way too quickly. It was a tremendous growing experience- from moving out, to failing tests, to getting out of comfort zones, to making new friends- and I feel so fortunate to have the experience that I did.

Summer plans: Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any classes at the community colleges where I live (damn budget cuts) so I'll hopefully find a job this summer. I plan to get a head start on my reading for next semester for both my english class and ochem 3B (yikes), and hopefully travel a little. : )

2nd year plans: So for next semester, I plan on taking chem 3B (ochem second semester), english R1B, and music (gpa booster-I need to take it easy after this semester). I also got a lab position at the Lawrence Berkeley lab so I'm both scared and excited about that hahaha. Plus, we'll be living in an apartment next year so that'll be a whole different adventure ; )

I'll post again during the summer regarding college for all the incoming freshman and I'll keep you updated as much as possible.

Thank and have a fantastic summer!

-K

On Being a Pre-med at UC Berkeley II

A lot of high school seniors who got admitted to UC Berkeley asked me about whether they should or should not choose to come to Berkeley when they're premed, prepharm, predental, or any pre-health track. The one thing that everyone seems to be worried about is academics. YES, berkeley is a hard school, especially for premeds. BUT, that just means you're going to rise to the challenge. If you shy away from a school just because you think it's going to be hard, how are you going to survive med school, residency, etc.? Trust me on this one- I had panic attacks at the thought of coming to berkeley and failing my classes and not getting into any med school. I was torn between cal and UCLA because UCLA was a bit easier than berkeley: better gpa = better chance at med school right? However, I realized that UCLA wasn't the school for me, and today, I can say that I've made the right choice. I was scared coming into berkeley- absolutely terrified. I bombed my first tests, cried for a week, and then had to motivate myself to keep going. If I can do it, then you can too. It won't be easy, but you'll grow so much in the process. Berkeley teaches its students to really work for what they want. No easy rides here. But the teachers are amazing (for the most part) and they're so passionate about their subjects. Don't be afraid of a challenge. Rise up to it.

Another thing that future college students are worried about when thinking about coming to cal is the balance between social life, academics, and extra currics. If you're smart enough to make it into cal, then you're smart enough to manage your time wisely. People here go to frats, clubs, etc, while researching in labs, and still manage to pull off a decent gpa.

So when you're making your final decisions about a college, don't think about the difficulty because no matter where you go, it's going to be difficult (although not thinking about it might be hard since pre-health students are always looking for higher gpas). Think about where you're going to be the happiest at for the next 4 years. Think about the possible opportunities each college has and what you can make out of it.

Best of luck, and please leave a comment if you have any questions!

-K

On Berkeley Admits

Congratulations to those who have been accepted into UC Berkeley!! And for those of you who have been rejected or waitlisted, don't be too disheartened. I promise that you'll love the place you end up at, and you'll say to yourself "I'm so glad I decided to come here  : ) "

I know it may seem like the hard part is over (the waiting game we like to call college admissions) but I assure you the work has just begun. For a lot of you, deciding on where to go now that you have some options open will be one hell of a stressful time. For others, it'll be a piece of cake.

Please, take caution when choosing your college, since it's going to be where you live for the next four years and will be a great influence and how the rest of your career pans out. Don't go into college thinking you can just transfer whenever you want. It's not that simple- trust me, i've looked into it hahaha.

Make a pro/con list if you have to, visit the campuses, and talk to people you know at the institutions you're looking to go to.

Also, think about which college will be best for your career path and your major. Which college will have the best opportunities/job market? Which college gives the best financial aid, counseling, etc?

Choose wisely, and Best of Luck!

-K

On Research & Volunteering

So the majority of you come to this blog because you are interested in being pre-med and are thinking about coming to Berkeley or want to compare Berkeley with another undergrad school, such as UCLA, UChicago, whatnot.

A big component of why people choose to come to Berkeley as a premed and not other institutions where being premed is known for, such as UCLA, is Berkeley's world renowned research. Yes, berkeley has incredible research opportunities, but not for first and possibly even second years. A lot of the research is taken by undergrads who really need it (such as 3rd and 4th years who are applying to grad/med school and need the research experience) or by graduate students. Although Berkeley's undergrad is well known, Berkeley's graduate program is even more well known. Berkeley's graduate program is what makes Berkeley famous first and foremost- not their undergrad.

Now that I've cleared that up- don't be afraid to come to Berkeley. If you go to sites such as collegeconfidential and search for the likelihood of finding research positions at berkeley and/or volunteering positions, you're not going to get very good feedback and you'll most likely be thoroughly disappointed. Because it's damn hard finding research/volunteering at berkeley hahaha. But don't despair just yet. The people on those forums who make it sound impossible for the younger crowd to gain any experience haven't tried their hardest to find anything suitable.

For the past half year or so, I looked up and down the bay area to find a good volunteering position at a hospital (bay area as in Oakland, Emoryville, SF,  Berkeley, Richmond, etc). However, the only problem with that is that each hospital requires two TB shots taken within the last twelve months. Meaning, if I got a TB test now, I would have to wait a few more months before getting the next one, and then go through orientation, interview, etc. I wasn't willing to wait a whole year before starting something. I wanted something now.

The URAP program berkeley offers (where undergraduates can work in labs at berkeley) didn't have anything that interested me (mind you, I was a bit late in signing up- those positions go extremely fast). Also, if you are interested in any of the positions available, you have to write a paper on why you are interested and whatnot. So, since I would have to wait a whole semester for positions to become available again, I decided to try a different route for research.

I noticed that a hospital somewhere nearby (I won't name anything for obvious reasons ; ) also conducted research. So, I contacted one of the researchers and long story short- I found myself a research position! I probably won't start for a while since the project is new and they haven't figured out much about it yet, but the job is mine if I want, or so they say hahaha.

Moral of the story: Don't give up on finding positions, be it research and/or volunteering. They're out there somewhere, you just have to look closely to find it.

Also, I wanted to start research early for multiple reasons but a majority of the pre-meds here don't begin research until their 3rd or 4th year and sometimes even later. So don't fret if you can't find anything for the first few years. When I first got to college, research was the last thing from my mind. I was so worried about my grades and adjusting to this life. hahaha : )

I'll let you know if I find any volunteering opportunities that are worth mentioning (one that doesn't take a lifetime to start - slight exaggeration of course ; )

-K

On the Asian Rant on Youtube

For those of you who do not follow Youtube like a religion like many people do, there has been a video going around about a girl at UCLA who rants about Asians and their rude manners, especially talking in the library. There are a few things I would like to address about that video. 

First, Asians did not come from Asia yesterday. I believe we've been here for some time... For those who have immigrated recently, I'm pretty sure they're smart enough to acculturate themselves with the manners here (not like they're very different)... 

Second, Chinese, or any other Asian language for that matter, does not sound like "Ching Chong Ling Long Ting Tong", and if you're going to mock the Asian language, then get your dialect right at least... 

Third, the video showed a complete lack of regard for the people affected by the Tsunami in Japan. 

I understand that the girl in the video probably didn't expect the video to blow up like it did, but that's no excuse for posting the video up in the first place, where it can be accessed and spread like a disease. I talked to one of my friends at UCLA and she said she got an email from the dean. She thinks the girl might be expelled because the dean stated in the email that they do not tolerate this on their campus and so on and so forth (although in my opinion, expulsion is slightly extreme). 

Speaking of UCLA, Congratulations to those who got accepted! And if you didn't, who wants to go to a school with those kind of people (meaning the racist prick) anyway? ; ) If you didn't get in, no worries, it just wasn't meant to be, and wherever you do end up will be the school where you say "I'm so glad I decided to come here : )" 

-K 

On Organic Chemistry Part I

I know its been a while since I posted (again) but I was busy with my classes. Once again, I apologize. :)
So, this semester, I'm taking the dreaded and notorious organic chemistry. Like many before me, I was terrified of ochem, mainly due to the horror stories about how difficult ochem is and how it's the biggest weeder class in college, etc etc. However, lucky for me (and the rest of my ochem class), our teacher this semester is none other than Carolyn Bertozzi, and to put it frankly, she's a genius- literally. Look her up  on google hahaha. Supposedly, she won this prestigious 'genious' award at a very young age. Anyhow, everyone was scared about her teaching because she was known as the 'new' ochem teacher since she hadn't taught in over ten years (nothing on courserank and ratemyprof). Bertozzi is, how should I say this... she's very cool- a lot like Obama. Obama might be old and elite, but he's someone that a lot of the youth can relate to and very down-to-earth. He's cool. And so is Bertozzi. She makes jokes here and there during lecture and it's like talking with a friend more than an internationally renowned chemist.

Enough about the teacher.

Today was our first ochem midterm (out of the two midterms and one final we have to take for the class), and I would have to say that it was o.k... fair... more difficult than the practice tests but fair nonetheless. Not like genchem where we didn't know what to study for and the lectures were absolutely pointless...

But I can't say anything until I get my results back, in which case, you will be the first to know!

Between genchem and ochem however, I would have to say that I like ochem far more than general chemistry. Usually its the other way around, but for the kids at berkeley, ochem over genchem seems to be the general consensus : )

I have a math midterm tomorrow and a classics midterm on friday...

Wish me luck!

-K