I got into Cornell as well but I chose Berkeley because I wanted to be near a city and in warmer weather and a school which is more fun. I chose to major in Econ because Berkeley has very highly acclaimed economics professors. I have also taken many legal studies classes because Berkeley has a culture and history of activism and I really liked all the professors.
Course Curriculum
The classes especially the economics classes are very big and it can be very hard to get attention or understand concepts! Most of the actual teaching is done by my graduate students and some of them are really not good at teaching. I would recommend just trying to go to as many office hours as possible. The course syllabus is extremely updated and relevant Berkeley tries to include some coding language in a lot of classes. I also do feel like the GPA system is a great way to learn continuously.
Exams
I had to submit my cv and four short essays about my personality/ experience each essay had a different prompt.
Placement
I think it depends on your major. For CS majors it is very easy to get jobs. The big 4 consulting firms and many other ones also come to campus. Most companies are tech and from Silicon Valley. Investment banks don't really recruit from Berkeley except for engineers and data scientists
Internship
Yes, I am interning at UMA protocol it is unpaid - I applied through Angel List.
Events
There is a huge professional club culture but they are extremely cut thirst and competitive and very hard to get into. Social clubs are very racially segregated. White people are mostly in Greek life and this is the most fun community but it is very racist and problematic at the same time.
Fees
60,000 Usd per year
Scholarship
No
Hostel
I did freshman year and the facilities were absolutely terrible and disgusting. The only freshman usually lives in dorms but even the apartments around campus are quite bad and overpriced. The are is also very unsafe with a huge homeless people problem.
