Berkeley, CA

[strawberry fields]

Does anyone have any advice re: looking for a place in Berkeley if you have a dog? I'd ideally be biking distance from campus and prefer to have roommates. Is craigslist my best bet?

[JonesPhill]

Hey mosquito0016 , I'm also goin to take admit in UC and i'm looking ofr house on rent so i just want to know that which option you took for housing? and how's your experiecne there also how much the cost was?

Looking forward for your reply..

 

[machine]

I'm planning to start at Berkeley in the fall, but will be traveling throughout the summer (backpacking in California, so I could interrupt my trip if necessary but would prefer not to). Does anyone have advice about looking for housing in the area when I won't be there? I'm hoping for an apartment or house for myself and my partner.

 

I have a few ideas for how to go about this and am interested in people's feedback:

1. just go on my trip, come back in mid-August, and stay in an extended stay hotel while looking for places to start Sept 1.

2. get an apartment at the beginning of the summer and try to sublet it over the summer.

3. apply for University Village housing (any idea how competitive this is?).

4. look for a place now that would start in August or September (do those even exist?)

 

I'd appreciate any advice anyone here has! 

[maelia8]

Machine, I'd like advice on this too!

 

I'm going to be overseas until June 30th, and I'd like to know if it's more practical for me to start looking now (would anyone even rent to me without meeting me/this far in advance?), or whether I should wait until July when I can be there in person. I have relatives and friends in the Bay Area whom I can stay with while looking/moving in, I'm just wondering when I should start, and how to get started from over here (if that's even something that's possible).

 

Any tips from experienced distance movers to Berkeley?

[davidipse]

I'm planning to start at Berkeley in the fall, but will be traveling throughout the summer (backpacking in California, so I could interrupt my trip if necessary but would prefer not to). Does anyone have advice about looking for housing in the area when I won't be there? I'm hoping for an apartment or house for myself and my partner.

 

I have a few ideas for how to go about this and am interested in people's feedback:

1. just go on my trip, come back in mid-August, and stay in an extended stay hotel while looking for places to start Sept 1.

2. get an apartment at the beginning of the summer and try to sublet it over the summer.

3. apply for University Village housing (any idea how competitive this is?).

4. look for a place now that would start in August or September (do those even exist?)

 

I'd appreciate any advice anyone here has! 

 

Another option, similiar to your hotel one but likely cheaper, would be to sublet a room for a month or longer. That way, you'd have a month to look for housing.

[machine]

That's a pretty good idea, Davidipse - I hadn't thought of subleting for that short of a time, but if I can find a sublet out there, that would be great!

[x13LadeZx]

Does anyone know how available off-campus housing is during the year? I'm thinking maybe I'll living in graduate student housing for a semester and then look for off campus housing for the second semester and beyond?

[bicsy]

Rejuvenating this thread to ask about housing in Berkeley!

I'm thinking of accepting my PhD offer, and trying to consider cost of living. How easy is it to find a place within walking distance (20 mins or less) from UC Berkeley for $1,100 or less per month? I would of course have one or more roommates in a 2+ BR house or apartment. 

Going off of that, can anyone provide rent ranges for the different areas in and around Berkeley?

[HopefulPHD14]

On 3/5/2014 at 11:53 PM, maelia8 said:

@hj2012, I was worrying about some of the same things in terms of cost of living. I would also prefer a spot in a roommate situation for under $1000 within biking distance from campus, and I also live abroad right now and am having a hard time getting a feeling for what the costs/environment will be like. I will, however, make it to the visit day in my department the weekend after next, so I'd be happy to let you know about anything I find out  

 

@davidipse, I was wondering if it's realistic to hope I can live entirely on the stipend I've been offered ($22,000/year). I looked it up on a comparison site, and that apparently only covers about 92% of the average cost of living in Berkeley as a student. From your experience, will I be able to live on that sum (rent/utilities/food/transportation/personal expenses), or should I start looking for outside funding/a side job asap? This is honestly my biggest concern about choosing Berkeley.

I live near Berkeley and I am working but I can still give you a bit of a perspective.

I live as frugally as possible and my expenses are about 20k/year.  That is my rent ($700/mo), food, transportation, phone, insurance, and other expected expenses.

[johnsmith007]

Hi there,

 

Last Thursday I got an email with what appears to be an offer to the M.Eng program. Here's the exact email with personal identifying info removed:

 

Dear --snipped--,

Congratulations! Our admissions committee has enthusiastically recommended you for admission to the Master of Engineering degree offered by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership at UC Berkeley for Fall Semester 2016, with a concentration in the area of --snipped--. You can read about this program at http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/MEng

Your primary area of concentration is very important because it determines the courses and capstone project that you will participate in throughout the program. To assist with evaluation and planning, we have posted the degree components for your area of concentration on our website athttp://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/MEng/prospective.shtml#dss, including at least three technical courses from that area based on this list of courses, and a capstone project advised by a faculty member from that area. “Based on the list of capstone projects you must choose one in your area.” The capstone is an opportunity for you to bridge your technical and leadership skills and work with others to create a project that goes beyond the scope of an individual project. You will have an opportunity to express your preferences among the capstone projects in your area, and we will do our best to assign you to a project that interests you.

For more information about the leadership courses, visit the Fung Institute website athttp://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/berkeley-master-engineering.

The combination of in-depth technical courses with an engineering leadership curriculum and integrated capstone project optimally prepares you for your professional career. We find that the capstone together with the technical courses constitute a challenging program that requires your full-time commitment.

Our Visit Days, Sunday, April 3rd to Monday, April 4th, are a great opportunity to meet with our faculty and students and learn more about the program. Further details on our Visit Days event are available athttp://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/newadmit. For those who cannot attend, there will be an online Q&A session for M.Eng. Admits on Tuesday, March 15, and you can register online at the Visit Day webpage linked above under the “Admit Webinars” section.

Once you receive the formal admission packet from the Graduate Division Office, follow the instructions on the page titled "Taking the Next Step" and complete the "Statement of Intent to Register" (SIR). The SIR is to confirm whether or not you are accepting the offer of admission. We urge you to inform us of your decision on this important matter as soon as possible but no later than April 15, 2016.

We hope you will accept our offer, and we look forward to welcoming you to our community. Please contact us atGradAdmissions@eecs.berkeley.edu with any questions you may have.

Sincerely, --snipped-- --snipped--, Master’s Programs Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences University of California, Berkeley

 

From what I've heard from friends who did undergrad at Berkeley, the "formal admission packet" is coming by physical mail right? How long should I expect this to take? I still haven't received anything in my mailbox as of now.

 

Additionally, I came across this snippet on the Graduate Admissions page:

 

When a program recommends admission of an applicant, and the applicant fulfills the minimum requirements or an exception is sought and granted, and the program has not used up its admissions allocation or has sought and been granted an additional admissions allocation, the Graduate Division will issue an admission notification from the Dean to the student. Only written notice from the Dean of the Graduate Division constitutes an offer of admission.

 

Does this mean that I might end up not getting an offer after all? I know I sound paranoid, but I'm one of the less stellar applicants with a CGPA of around 3.3/4 (did poorly in my first 2 years, but had honours standing in the last 2), and good-but-not-great GRE scores (161V/170Q/5.0A). I've been on the edge of my seat ever since getting that email, and am dying to break the news to my office but don't want to risk disappointing anyone especially myself.

 

Additionally, I'm very interested in attending the "Visit Day", but do not want to book my airfare until getting the "formal admission packet", otherwise I might end up wasting over $1000 along with paid vacation days at work.

 

Any clarifications would be much appreciated! I hope I do end up attending

[mbfox125]

Don't worry pretty much all schools phrase it that way because if someone has a GPA below 3.0 or GRE scores below 150, then the department has to get a waiver for them. You're stuff id fine so you should be fine.

[Guest tarsila89]

Hi everybody,

I was wondering if anyone here lives in the Berkeley area and is planning on / currently is attending UC Davis. If so, what are you thinking about the commute? Is the Amtrak the only option? Because it is definitely an expensive ride to take every day. Does anyone know of a ride sharing option?

 

Thank you!

[RydraWong]

If you're a student at Davis or Berkeley, you should have access to the Davis-Berkeley shuttle. Not actually sure if it's cheaper than Amtrak but maybe worth checking out: http://fleet.ucdavis.edu/davisberkeleyshuttle

There are probably ride sharing Facebook pages for each school too - I go to Davis and I know we have a ride sharing Facebook page where people post if they're driving somewhere/looking for rides.

[virionoftomorrow]

You can also get a monthly pass for Amtrak which would allow for unlimited travel between two stations. Between Davis and Berkeley that would come out to $385 a month, which is a lot, but still a huge savings compared to paying the full ticket price every time. If you plan on going every day it definitely worth it. Personally I wouldn't want to drive that much every day but its a decent train ride and you can usually get a lot of work done on the train if its not too crowded. 

[Guest tarsila89]

On 1/30/2017 at 4:29 PM, RydraWong said:

If you're a student at Davis or Berkeley, you should have access to the Davis-Berkeley shuttle. Not actually sure if it's cheaper than Amtrak but maybe worth checking out: http://fleet.ucdavis.edu/davisberkeleyshuttle

There are probably ride sharing Facebook pages for each school too - I go to Davis and I know we have a ride sharing Facebook page where people post if they're driving somewhere/looking for rides.

Thank you very much, this shuttle sounds perfect. 

[iphi]

The shuttle does always run at convenient times (or at least it didn't a few years ago). Amtrak is your best option!

[tere93]

Hi there!

 I will be moving to Berkeley in August - September to start the PhD! I have no idea of where to start to look for a house. I won't be able to go there before summer (I assume by August all flats will be gone?) so, do you know of any complexes or flats that are safe to rent online? I would be moving with my partner (non student), and we are looking for a one bedroom flat (we don't want to share). Any ideas?

Thanks!

[hj2012]

2 hours ago, tere93 said:

Hi there!

 I will be moving to Berkeley in August - September to start the PhD! I have no idea of where to start to look for a house. I won't be able to go there before summer (I assume by August all flats will be gone?) so, do you know of any complexes or flats that are safe to rent online? I would be moving with my partner (non student), and we are looking for a one bedroom flat (we don't want to share). Any ideas?

Thanks!

You might look into University Village in Albany (https://housing.berkeley.edu/universityvillage), which is definitely safe and a good price for a one-bedroom in the area. What's your budget? My sense is that it will be challenging to find a one-bedroom apartment for less than $2,000 a month in Berkeley. Do you have geographical constraints? If you're open to living outside of Berkeley (e.g. Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, Emeryville etc) that will give you more options. 

I'd start the search now (join relevant Bay Area housing Facebook groups, check the Cal listings site, etc) but also make contingency plans, i.e. moving to the Bay in August w/ a 2 week AirBnB rental to search for housing. The uncertainty might be stressful but it will definitely be doable to find someplace to live in August. 

[ssrrxx]

The above answer has the best recommendation, which is University Village. Here's some more information about options that definitely aren't scams, but may not have online applications/leasing processes.

Some well-known realty companies include Premium Properties, K&S, and North Berkeley Properties. I personally know Premium's application process can technically be done online/over email, but I'm not sure if they want to meet you in person (since I signed my lease in person.)

Some major apartment buildings near campus, which are run by reputable but greedy companies that jack rent up a bit above even Berkeley market rates, include:

- New Californian Apartments

- Gaia

- The Berk (not sure if this available to grad students)

- Hillside Village

- Berkeleyan

- El Granada (relatively cheap studios available sometimes)

There are a ton more of these "luxury apartment buildings"; you can probably find them on Zillow or Google Maps.

I also agree you should try to add yourself to the Berkeley Housing Facebook group, if you haven't already. Also consider finding a temporary sublet when you first move here (there's usually an oversupply over the summer), while looking for a more permanent place in person.

Take a look at this too, if you haven't: https://och.berkeley.edu/

Edited June 15, 2017 by ssrrxx

[waltzforzizi]

Posting because this thread is dead. 

 

Any of you still living in Berkeley? Haven't decided if I will accept the offer, but I would like to see how everyone is doing there. What decisions did you make? How helpful was all of the advice from others?

I hope everyone is well! 

[madamoiselle]

Hey all, 

I wanted to know what options there would be/livability for somebody offered 30k a year (26k over 2 semesters, 4k summers). I know someone mentioned a similar question a while up, but seeing as how the market is getting so expensive so quickly, I wanted to ask in regards to current value. 

[miesvanderrohe]

Anybody living in Berkeley care to chime in with some insights on living there?

Here are some tidbits I've found through my research (Berkeley people please correct me if I'm wrong):

• International House (I-house) is the most desirable on campus housing
• North Berkeley/north of campus is the safest area within walking distance of campus
• "Gourmet Ghetto" in North Berkeley is a collection of very nice and unique restaurants
• Stay away from Peoples Park
• South of campus gets sketchy very quickly
• If there are protests/riots they often start south of campus and end up in Downtown Berkeley
• Use campus shuttle/door-to-door/escort service at night, don't walk home alone at night
• Don't put your guard down even on campus
• Parking is often at capacity plus parking garages have been targets for muggers so commuting isn't desirable

Edited March 13, 2018 by miesvanderrohe

[lordtiandao]

20 hours ago, miesvanderrohe said:

Parking is often at capacity plus parking garages have been targets for muggers so commuting isn't desirable

That is an understatement. My friend had this car stolen while parked inside a gated apartment complex.

[gradapp2k18]

On 3/12/2018 at 10:36 PM, miesvanderrohe said:

Anybody living in Berkeley care to chime in with some insights on living there?

Here are some tidbits I've found through my research (Berkeley people please correct me if I'm wrong):

• International House (I-house) is the most desirable on campus housing
• North Berkeley/north of campus is the safest area within walking distance of campus
• "Gourmet Ghetto" in North Berkeley is a collection of very nice and unique restaurants
• Stay away from Peoples Park
• South of campus gets sketchy very quickly
• If there are protests/riots they often start south of campus and end up in Downtown Berkeley
• Use campus shuttle/door-to-door/escort service at night, don't walk home alone at night
• Don't put your guard down even on campus
• Parking is often at capacity plus parking garages have been targets for muggers so commuting isn't desirable

I finished undergrad at Berkeley in 2016.  My responses to each of your points in italic:

• International House (I-house) is the most desirable on campus housing I guess, but it's very expensive.  The vast majority of students (grad and undergrad) do not live in campus housing.
• North Berkeley/north of campus is the safest area within walking distance of campus I literally never felt unsafe anywhere around campus.  I'm a 6' tall male so that probably helps.  Northside is quieter than Southside.  More grad students live on Northside compared to Southside. A lot of co-ops over there too.
• "Gourmet Ghetto" in North Berkeley is a collection of very nice and unique restaurants True but there's good food in every direction.
• Stay away from Peoples Park You can walk by it during the day with zero issue.  You can mostly likely also walk by it at night with zero issue.  People camping out there rarely bother passersby and if they bother you it's usually just yelling...pretty harmless.
• South of campus gets sketchy very quickly Nah.  With the exception of People's Park, Southside is fine.  Tons of undergrads live over there, there are plenty of shops and restaurants too.
• If there are protests/riots they often start south of campus and end up in Downtown Berkeley Sure, but the protests are rarely as dramatic as the media makes them out to be.  Once I got secondhand teargassed on my way home (Southside) but honestly that's on me because I knew the protests were going on and I chose to take the shortest path home (through the protest) rather than go around.
• Use campus shuttle/door-to-door/escort service at night, don't walk home alone at night Campus shuttle/Bear Walk are great, but certainly not necessary.  Campus and streets are well lit.  I've taken the shuttle because I'm lazy and don't want to walk.  Tons of people take it for safety and/or convenience.
• Don't put your guard down even on campus Ok this is bonkers.  Don't be dumb, but it's not like someone is gonna come snatch your laptop out of your hands in broad daylight.  Be smart and aware of your surroundings at night, don't leave your stuff unattended, and lock your bike up very very well (U-lock for the frame and one wheel, cable for the other wheel, and probably a seat lock for good measure). Also don't go in the eucalyptus grove at night.
• Parking is often at capacity plus parking garages have been targets for muggers so commuting isn't desirable True.  I've been in the area for 5+ years and haven't owned a car.  Don't need one (shout out to BART and AC Transit)

 

ld;dr Berkeley isn't anywhere near the level of unsafe/scary that people on the internet seem to think it is.  It's and awesome place.

I hope you (and others) find this helpful.  Also, based on your username, I'm assuming you're a M.Arch. candidate, so I might see you around.  I might be starting the Architecture MS this fall.

Go Bears.

[DnD]

On 3/22/2018 at 3:23 PM, gradapp2k18 said:

 

ld;dr Berkeley isn't anywhere near the level of unsafe/scary that people on the internet seem to think it is.  It's and awesome place.

 

I hear most people that go to Berkeley are smug and overly defensive about their school since it's in an undesirable city, is this true? Oh wait nevermind you already answered.