But first, as always, attendance requires an application. 11.4% of UC Berkeley applicants make it into the school, deeming it as highly selective. Additionally, Berkeley boasts an average unweighted high school GPA of 3.9, which only adds to its academic high-standing. The university is also completely test-blind, meaning that standardized test scores are not required for an application and will not be considered if submitted.

Berkeley highly values an applicant’s essays, which are used to infer a student’s personality and interest in the school. Essays are an amazing opportunity for the applicant to share their experience and interest in both the university and the major that they are applying for. The school also extremely values a student’s GPA and their course rigor.

Apart from these essential points, Berkeley also values volunteerism, work experience and extracurriculars. The college aims to admit well-rounded students who also display further skill in specific fields as well as high level academic ability.

However, Oak Park High School students have a key advantage involving the school: students from California face just half the costs of attendance when compared to out-of-state students. Including boarding, tuition and other expenses, the annual costs for in-state students reach just over $44,000, while other applicants face a price tag of approximately $78,000. Attendance is by no means cheap, but it is relatively inexpensive for in-state applicants when compared to other top universities around the nation.

On the plus side, UC Berkeley does offer merit scholarships and financial aid, with 47% of first-year students at the school receiving the latter. The average need-based scholarship amount is just over $32,000, which is a little under enough to cover one year on campus. As for merit scholarships, applicants shouldn’t count on the average awarded package of $9,000 alone to alleviate much of the attendance costs.

For accepted students who are willing to pay the price to be on campus, UC Berkeley specializes in certain majors, including engineering, architecture, business, economics, political science, sociology, mathematics and various fields of biology. Even with specialization, Berkeley has top tier options in every field, with high-end research facilities available to students and professors alike. A convincing majority of Berkeley’s programs rank among the best in the country.

Moving on from academics, Division I varsity athletics have always been important on campus, and the university is a top producer of Olympic athletes. As one of the four original Pac-12 schools, men’s gymnastics, men’s rowing and men’s and women’s swimming are consistently strong performers in the conference. Further, the Golden Bears basketball team has surged in popularity, and practically everyone on campus turns out for the football team’s “Big Game” against Berkeley’s rival in the south: Stanford.

Unfortunately, not everything can be so exceptional. Berkeley’s prized residence halls have room for only 27% of the students, the lowest among the UCs. After that, Cal Rentals is a good resource for finding an apartment in town. Most students live a couple of miles off campus, where apartments are at least slightly cheaper. Overall, however, housing isn’t easy to come by for Berkeley students.