Student Report
Name of the University: University of California, Berkeley
Exchange semester: Spring, 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
We got our confirmation email from BI before receiving a second confirmation from UCB.
We also got a visit from two assistants from UCB, which gave us valuable information about
everything from class attendens to travel and housing options. We got all the needed
information, in good time so we did not run into any particular difficulties before leaving.
Everything was very straight forward and the information from both BI and Berkeley was
good.
Applying for a visa
Applying for a visa at with the American embassy can be very time consuming, plan ahead
and make sure you are not in a hurry. We first had to apply online, pay a SEVIS fee and then
schedule an appointment with the embassy, before getting our visa to enter the US.
Travel
Most of us booked early flights with Norwegian air shuttle, and those who ordered early got
the price down to 4000 NOK both ways. The flight is long, about 10h direct flight, or longer
if you travel with a connection on the way.
Spending time in the San Francisco
Bay area is great, but I recommend
everyone going there to take
advantage of already being in the US
and travel to other destinations.
Some of the destinations that is close
and recommended is Hawaii, LA,
San Diego, Las Vegas and the
wineyards in Napa valley is also
highly recommended! Only an hour
drive from Berkeley with warm
weather, good wine and tasty food.
Others also travelled to Miami, New
York and Portland.
Housing
Housing is not provided by the university, but there are some housing options on campus.
UCB representatives visited BI with helpful information on which sites to visit to find
housing and showed us areas that was good to live in. Most of the students at the spring 2015
semester paid around 700 dollars per person for housing. It is highly recommended to find a
place to share with others to get the housing cost down. There is plenty of things spending
money on other then housing.
Costs
The cost of living is cheaper then Norway in most cases and the student card called Cal-ID
offered free public transportation and access to several on campus facilities like gyms and
recreational facilities. Rent was expensive and I would recommend sharing an apartment.
Most people also shared a room to get a reasonable price. Many courses will post required
readings online and most of us did not have to buy any books for any classes. Lånekassen will
transfer the whole amount for your semester at the beginning of January, so plan ahead and
make sure you have enough for the whole stay. I will recommend to put away some money
before leaving as well, to fully enjoy your stay.
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
5500 NOK
0 NOK
3000 NOK
200 NOK
NOK
Culture and language
Americans are very friendly and we did not have any difficulties with the language or
communication with either faculty members or other students. Some required readings can
have more complex language then others, but as long as you set aside some extra time in the
beginning of the semester for those readings everyone should be fine. There are also plenty of
Norwegian students at Berkeley if you rather want to spend some time with Norwegians or
you need help with exchange related problems. There is even a Scandinavian shop in
Berkeley if you start missing Norwegian chocolate or cheese!
Americans are very proud of their culture and loves to invite you in to celebrate their
traditions, I recommend participating in as many of them as possible as it gives you valuable
insight in how Americans live and think. Spending time with Americans is also the best way
to improve your language skills.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Description:
UC Berkeley is a old and fascination school. The
campus is huge and has a lot of facilities to experience.
There are about 40 000 students at the school and there
are several gyms, pools and recreational facilities. The
Sociology department which is the one you would go
to through BI, is ranked number one worldwide and
UC Berkeley is as a whole ranked amongst the world
top 10 universities in most rankings. The campus is
very big and you should expect to walk a lot between
classes. The University have over 30 libraries, some of
them very old, which was a cool change from BI
modern look. The school has free WiFi all around
campus and you can also print for free and use campus
computers.
Course registration
BI offered us a list of pre-accepted courses we could
chose two off and two mandatory courses, which we had to take. Innovation and
entrepreneurship and Writing Seminar was the mandatory ones. You will still need to apply
for classes the first two weeks of the semester and depending on demand, the school will enrol
students to each class. This is done on a individual level and the professor needs to manualy
accept you, this means its important to let the professor know that you want to stay in the
class. Make sure your presence are registered when you attend class because during the first
weeks of the semester Americans do what they call "shopping" for classes. They go around
checking out different classes and join whatever they think is interesting or possible to get in
to. Classrooms will be packed during these weeks due to students who wish to join a
particular class, but do not have a spot yet, hang around in case someone don’t show up for
their assigned course and a spot will open.
You will get plenty of information and support from the Berkeley representatives on how to
apply and enrol classes.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
Arrival
January 5
January 14
April 29
May 11-15
Spring Break March
23-27
The first days of school will mostly consist of information and registration activities. Berkeley
representatives hosted parties with free food and beer, which was a nice way to get to know
the other exchange students, especially the Norwegian ones. You can expect at least 100
Norwegians from different schools attending Berkeley at any given time.
The International Office
The International Office at BI will help you throughout the semester and we received valuable
information on deadlines and requirements.
Social activities
There are many social things to do in and around Berkeley. The university is situated only 20
minutes from San Francisco and there is always something happening there. Everything from
tourist attractions to music festivals. Berkeley has several student bars and cafes and there is
also plenty of fraternity parties to go to, which is a good place to meet Americans. As
mentioned earlier, the school will also arrange social activities such as bike rides, pizza
parties and sightseeing tours.
III. ACADEMICS
Most of the classes are based on a formal lecture teaching style. Those classes consist of
approximately 250 students. Writing Seminar however, which was a required course, is a
small class where you get to know the teacher and students. You will find that the bar for
getting a good grade at the Sociology department are much lower than at BI. There are a lot of
required readings and assignments throughout the semester, which are very different from the
teaching style at BI. The professor decide how many evaluations you have throughout the
semester. This was a different experience for us, because we are used to one exam at the end
of the semester, which accounts for 100% of the grade. At Berkeley, we had at least three
exams and several assignments which all together determined our final grade. The course
materials was mainly online articles received from the teacher. In class the professor used
powerpoint. The exam was mainly based on lectures, but the required readings offered you a
deeper understanding of the course.
Social Media and Virtual Communities
This course had a midterm, final exam and a project. All of these were home assignments. In
addition, 15% of your grade was based on class attendance.
Writing Seminar
The course was evaluated throughout the semester. We had a lot of small assignments and
papers.
Comparative Culture and Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Consisted of 3 in-class exams. In addition we had 4 reading briefs in each class and quizzes
based on the lectures.
Library and Technology
There are a lot of good places to read, and the campus is an experience in itself. The libraries
are built a long time ago and have a old-fashioned look. PS! you are not allowed to bring
coffee...
Description of courses
Course code & name
Writing Research
Seminar
Comparative
Cultures
Virtual
Communities/Social
Media
Innovation and
Entrepreneurship
Master/
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Exam form
End of semester
paper
3x one hour
exams over the
whole semester
Midt-term and
final term home
exam
3x one hour
exams over the
whole semester
Comments
Quizzes and
Briefs
15%
evaluation is
attendance
Quizzes and
Briefs
We all are very glad we went on an exchange, not only did we get to go to one of the worlds
top university’s and learn valuable knowledge about different subjects, we got to significantly
improve our English writing and speaking skills at the same time. We also got to travel across
north America. Staying a semester at UC Berkeley is strongly recommended.