Berkeley Class of 2012 Forum

[iamlife1001]

Truth be told I am quite scared of the damn test. Roll call on a date most agree to and we can set it up

Test? You had me scared for a second - I was thinking driving test.

As you may know, if you have a driver's license from another state you only need to take a vision test, no road test. Which is great because it took me three tries to pass it in Minnesota

It looks like everyone has to pass the traffic laws and sign test, which judging from the samples tests on the DMV site may include questions like,
"You just sold your vehicle. You must notify the DMV within ___ days."

Not exactly common knowledge

I hate to think that we may tarnish Boalt's reputation within one week of arriving in town by going to the DMV as a group and all failing the written test

And I'm in for any date/time after August 3rd.

Edited because I forgot the last part.

If you fail it you can take it again that day. I'm not sure if there is a limit to how many times in one day, but I failed it the first time and they let me do it again. The first test I got had all these weird questions about jail sentences for doing stupid things. The second one was a lot more normal and easier. They also ask a lot of questions about CA specific laws (they have a ton of them) so don't feel bad if you fail it at first.
I will also be going on the 6th since I lost my license, but I'll be at the one in Concord.

Edit: You also get your license in hand that day.

do you mean claremont ave, because I couldn't find a street named concord.

If everyone is ok with the 6th we can meet early by the cafe across the street from the school

[worldtraveler]

Truth be told I am quite scared of the damn test. Roll call on a date most agree to and we can set it up

Test? You had me scared for a second - I was thinking driving test.

As you may know, if you have a driver's license from another state you only need to take a vision test, no road test. Which is great because it took me three tries to pass it in Minnesota

It looks like everyone has to pass the traffic laws and sign test, which judging from the samples tests on the DMV site may include questions like,
"You just sold your vehicle. You must notify the DMV within ___ days."

Not exactly common knowledge

I hate to think that we may tarnish Boalt's reputation within one week of arriving in town by going to the DMV as a group and all failing the written test

And I'm in for any date/time after August 3rd.

Edited because I forgot the last part.

If you fail it you can take it again that day. I'm not sure if there is a limit to how many times in one day, but I failed it the first time and they let me do it again. The first test I got had all these weird questions about jail sentences for doing stupid things. The second one was a lot more normal and easier. They also ask a lot of questions about CA specific laws (they have a ton of them) so don't feel bad if you fail it at first.
I will also be going on the 6th since I lost my license, but I'll be at the one in Concord.

Edit: You also get your license in hand that day.

do you mean claremont ave, because I couldn't find a street named concord.

If everyone is ok with the 6th we can meet early by the cafe across the street from the school

No, Concord is another suburb in the area. I'll be staying with my aunt in another area so it makes more sense for me.

Also, you can schedule appointments with the California DMV. Google the website and find the right center. Then pick a date and a time. Then you don't have to wait in line.

[madison12991]

Also, you can schedule appointments with the California DMV. Google the website and find the right center. Then pick a date and a time. Then you don't have to wait in line.

--LinkRemoved--

We'll have to agree on a date (August 6th so far) and time if we want to make appointments and head out there together. I'm pretty much free from August 4-August 13th

[iamlife1001]

so let's make appts for Aug 6th @10-11 am if everyone is cool with that.

[madison12991]

so let's make appts for Aug 6th @10-11 am if everyone is cool with that.

We're talking Oakland - Claremont, right?

[iamlife1001]

so let's make appts for Aug 6th @10-11 am if everyone is cool with that.

We're talking Oakland - Claremont, right?

right

[madison12991]

so let's make appts for Aug 6th @10-11 am if everyone is cool with that.

We're talking Oakland - Claremont, right?

right

I'm booked for August 6th at 10:30. Hopefully that will give me enough time to fail the test once and retake it before anyone with an 11:00 appointment is finished

[iamlife1001]

so let's make appts for Aug 6th @10-11 am if everyone is cool with that.

We're talking Oakland - Claremont, right?

right

I'm booked for August 6th at 10:30. Hopefully that will give me enough time to fail the test once and retake it before anyone with an 11:00 appointment is finished

1030 as well AUG 6th
on the bold part

[unionorganizer02]

can you rent a locker in the gym, and if yes, do you know how that works? I read something about it but first hand experience is always better

also how is the gym?

so i went to the gym today ($10/semester). i set my expectations low because i had heard from others that it was a little janky, but i thought it was great. this past year, i've worked as a personal trainer at 2 different gyms and the berkeley gym has a good mix of everything you need. it's also interesting that there are three different weight rooms, each with a set of benches and a complete set of dumbbells. it has several assisted pull machines, a bunch of bar bells for deadlifts and squats. and the weight plates are not metal -- they are the newer rubber kind. they also have stability balls, group classes (with a separate room for spin classes). they even provide towels. they have hand sanitizers all over and even have these "hands free" water filling stations. on the negative side, i didn't like the fact that MTVU was playing on every single TV and the dumbbells did not come in 1/2s (i.e there are no 7.5 or 12.5 lbs). there is also only 1 cable cross machine. in terms of the lockers, you cannot have your own. you can't even use your own lock. you have to check out a lock like a library book and return it after you are done. i also didn't like that even though you put all your stuff away in the locker, you still have to carry your Berkeley ID card with you to get into the main exercise area. also, some of the weight rooms had no music playing!

anyway, overall it was pretty nice.

[emilybeth]

i'm set at the DMV for august 6 at 10:30a.m. as well

[iamlife1001]

i'm set at the DMV for august 6 at 10:30a.m. as well

3 people so far, emilybeth, madison12991, me

[unionorganizer02]

I had a productive weekend. Met with candi at the financial aid office. Glad I had my car because their new location is a more than a mile away from the law school. Also ran into dean tom. I also was looking for the law library and met the boalt hall archivist who is responsible for preserving the history of the law school. I got my new MacBook from the student store, got the discount and free ipod-touch and printer. Finally I got a place in Oakland 5 miles from boalt. Outside of my building is Lake Merritt which has a 3 mile perimeter. People are jogging all the time and there are lots of dogs. Beautiful area, much more affordable, and worth checking out for those still looking. Lots of nice restaurants, farmers market Saturdays. I will be commuting by bus or Bart. I looked at places near campus and found them overpriced and unimpressive. I think the commute will be worth it. I want to do a house warming party a few days before the orientation. It'd be great if some of you can make it.

[madison12991]

I'm in for the housewarming too.

I happened upon Boalt's academic calendar:

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/182.htm

and see that we get a week off in September. When I was in undergrad, "fall break" was a strange and foreign concept to me (my school didn't have one) - who needs a break after one month?

I will probably be eating my words in a couple of months.

Anyway, does anyone know if this is the kind of "break" where people do fun stuff, or is this really just a week where all of the 1Ls desparately try to catch up on everything from their first month of school? I am curious because I didn't know we had this so I have no sense of what most students do - I would love to plan some travel or other activities but don't want to regret it if I do.

[worldtraveler]

For fall break I am most likely flying to visit my parents. I have stuff at their house that I would like to have, and I don't have a chance to go home before law school. I also only get to see them about once a year.

[unionorganizer02]

[quote="madison12991"

Anyway, does anyone know if this is the kind of "break" where people do fun stuff, or is this really just a week where all of the 1Ls desparately try to catch up on everything from their first month of school? I am curious because I didn't know we had this so I have no sense of what most students do - I would love to plan some travel or other activities but don't want to regret it if I do.[/quote]

i was wondering about the exact same thing. i plan on flying to princeton to visit my wife.

[purplemonkey]

I booked my flights to visit family/friends in the Midwest over break but am only going from Tuesday-Saturday. I figure that gives me a couple of days beforehand to study/catch up, if need be.

[madison12991]

I'm really excited about all this.

I can't believe the transition from working (10 vacation days and 3 sick days per full calendar year) to school (about 30 vacation days per 9 month academic year). What will I do with all my time?

Again, I'm probably going to eat my words in two months.

[Arrow]

Did anyone else sign up for the berkeley.edu email and realized they gave you 1GB of space? I was like woah. Also, these passwords/passphrases requirements are insane. I am totally going to forget all of them when school starts.

By the way, the "fall break" is actually used for upperclassmen to schedule their callbacks for after OCI. They call it a fall break and have it be week long for that very reason so upperclassmen do not all miss a ton of class. To be fair, they extend it to 1L's as well, so you guys all get a week off. (I think)

[Rotor]

Did anyone else sign up for the berkeley.edu email and realized they gave you 1GB of space? I was like woah. Also, these passwords/passphrases requires are insane. I am totally going to forget all of them when school starts.

You can also get some aliases so you can have several email personas:

first.last@, flast@ (if you don't want to advertise your first name, etc.)

Personally, I like the passphrase concept. My work network is 16 characters upper, lower case, numbers AND characters (but not ALL characters are permitted); none of which can be based on dictionary entries or common names. So much easier to type a favorite quote. (IMO)

[Formerbruin]

^^^

Good job! As for the housewarming, count me in. I got a place about 2 mi from campus, and plan on taking the bus or maybe getting a scooter/small bike. Anyone know about the scooter/bike parking situation? I know there are spaces in front of boalt - are they free?

Yes, they are free. Yay!

I'm in for the housewarming too.

I happened upon Boalt's academic calendar:

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/182.htm

and see that we get a week off in September. When I was in undergrad, "fall break" was a strange and foreign concept to me (my school didn't have one) - who needs a break after one month?

I will probably be eating my words in a couple of months.

Anyway, does anyone know if this is the kind of "break" where people do fun stuff, or is this really just a week where all of the 1Ls desparately try to catch up on everything from their first month of school? I am curious because I didn't know we had this so I have no sense of what most students do - I would love to plan some travel or other activities but don't want to regret it if I do.

It's not really intended for 1Ls. It's intended for 2Ls for callback interviews ("Flyback week") and for 3Ls doing clerkship interviews.

Each person did his own thing during break. From personal experience, it seemed that at the end of the semester, the people who used it to study ended up wishing they used it as a break ("I'm sooo burned out"), and the people who used it to have fun ended up wishing they used it to study ("I'm sooo far behind"). I ended up taking 5 days of leisure and then spent the rest catching up.

[worldtraveler]

Did anyone else sign up for the berkeley.edu email and realized they gave you 1GB of space? I was like woah. Also, these passwords/passphrases requirements are insane. I am totally going to forget all of them when school starts.

By the way, the "fall break" is actually used for upperclassmen to schedule their callbacks for after OCI. They call it a fall break and have it be week long for that very reason so upperclassmen do not all miss a ton of class. To be fair, they extend it to 1L's as well, so you guys all get a week off. (I think)

Don't forget the passwords. I did that and it's a gigantic pain. You have to e-mail some office or go there in person.

[dueprocess14]

Did anyone else sign up for the berkeley.edu email and realized they gave you 1GB of space? I was like woah. Also, these passwords/passphrases requirements are insane. I am totally going to forget all of them when school starts.

By the way, the "fall break" is actually used for upperclassmen to schedule their callbacks for after OCI. They call it a fall break and have it be week long for that very reason so upperclassmen do not all miss a ton of class. To be fair, they extend it to 1L's as well, so you guys all get a week off. (I think)

Don't forget the passwords. I did that and it's a gigantic pain. You have to e-mail some office or go there in person.

I recommend forwarding it into gmail or another email service - then you won't ever need to log in again.

[TopCat]

I am in Berkeley right now looking for a place. I found a couple for $1200 (large studio)/ $1250 (1bdrm with private balcony) that are actually decent. The other ones I looked at (through rental companies listing on craigslist etc) were lousy. I have yet to look at a couple more, though. I am still conflicted about whether I should go farther away and pay less for better (like some of you are doing). I don't know if paying that much to be near UC is worth it.

Anyway, this is how it is right now in front of Boalt Hall (for those of you who aren't here yet):

--ImageRemoved--

--ImageRemoved--

And this is for Amy et al. who are looking to get a scooter:

--ImageRemoved--

That's in front of Simon Hall (Piedmont) and iHouse is in the background. Btw, there was a banner outside iHouse saying something like "accepting housing applications" or something to that effect. So I asked the people at the iHouse reception thingie and they said that they're still taking applications online. The Cafe there, btw, is fantastic. I don't know how the dorm cafeteria is though (didn't try it - we can indeed buy meals there).

Enjoy.

[worldtraveler]

I'm thinking about getting a scooter, too. For some reason I picture Amy on a bright pink one and I'll be very disappointed if it's not.

[cupofcoffee]

Does anybody know what an "in law studio" is as opposed to a regular studio?