vesperlynd wrote:These replies are all great so far.
Is anyone at Berkeley now, or attended there as an undergrad who can tell us about the area? I heard housing was expensive and there are more homeless people than at least where I live.
Yes housing is really expensive. I shared a 2 bedroom, 1 bath and paid $700 a month. And it is not quality housing either, had a lot of problems with leaking and etc. However, I stayed there for 2 years because it was cheap, especially since my roommate had lived there for a year before me and the apartment was rent controlled since then. After I left, a few friends moved in because it was still cheap at $800 a pop. I lived on Southside about a 10 minute walking distance. Not too bad, but there were spikes of crime (rapes, armed robberies) that occurred while I was there. But you're going to get that in most of Berkeley because of the urban vibe. If you want really nice housing I would suggest Northside like in the Berkeley Hills. It's more secluded and you can get more for your money (but you'll have to share a house with 4 other people because they don't have many apartments that direction). You can find a decent place anywhere for about $800 with a roommate, but studios are both expensive and hard to come by. The farther from campus you go, the cheaper it gets because most undergrads live in apartments. Just be careful if you are looking at regions like Oakland, Richmond, or Emeryville. Housing there is hit or miss.
There are a lot of homeless people around People's Park and Telegraph, but they really leave you alone. They ask for money, but most people just ignore them. Otherwise the campus is really beautiful especially in spring and summer. It's not as hippie as everyone thinks, but it's still quite liberal. There's always something to do and you're just a BART ride away from SF. I really loved it, but it's definitely not for everyone.
, but this is a good area. So if my vote counted I would go U of M without a doubt. Good luck though, you've got a nice delimema to be in 
, but I am also careful enough not to have posted when I graduated, or even if I have yet for that matter. I've narrowed myself down on here far enough to where there are probably only a handful of people that could match up with me given the details I put out, but I don't think anyone could get exactly who I am. That's the way I like it.
) before April 15. Do schools usually allow admitted students to visit the department long after their open house is done? I'm an international, and I can visit the States only after the last week of March.
Modesto makes the top 10 
Glad you liked Merced though. Different strokes 
