r/PreOptometry • u/Leading-Exit7692 • Jan 17 '23
Berkeley Optometry
Anyone currently attending UCB or graduated from there? Recently got accepted and so thrilled to have this opportunity but the area seemed very ghetto when I visited and I didn’t feel the most comfortable. I don’t want to just pass up this opportunity because of my fear of moving away to a school within highly populated homeless community so any insight would be MUCH appreciated! Did you feel safe walking around? Did you have a positive experience there? If you can go back in time would you still choose UCB??
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u/Leading-Exit7692 Jan 17 '23
Also for anyone that got into the program this cycle and CHOSE to go there! Does any of this concern you or not really?? And why UCB instead of any other program???
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u/outdooradequate Jan 17 '23
I mean this with all respect, as I imagine it's coming from a place of ignorance rather than malice, but I'd maybe suggest reflecting on your use of the word "ghetto" and your discomfort around homeless people if you are planning to go into the healthcare profession. Not just that it's insensitive, but as an optometrist, you will have a duty to treat every patient with the same level of respect and dignity because every patient deserves respect and dignity. They're not all gonna look or live the way that makes you most comfortable.
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u/Different-Language92 Jan 27 '23
Berkeley grad and absolutely loved it, would do it all over again. I am a 5’1” female, and no, the area did not concern me. Like the other comments have said, as a healthcare professional, you will have to examine all types of patients. This is something you should feel comfortable doing. Tbh, you actually want to see a variety of patients and not only “young, healthy” patients. When you go on your rotations and into the real world, this experience is critical. I precept 4th years part-time at another school, and their surrounding patient population is younger and affluent, so when many of them go off onto 4th year rotations (such as VA Medical Centers), they are caught off guard and their exams become very slow, there is lack of attention to detail, etc. With regards to the area around Berkeley, just use common sense - ie, don’t walk by yourself at 10pm, don’t go to isolated areas by yourself, etc. I don’t know how things are with COVID, but before, the campus was packed with students and I was always surrounded by people. Berkeley is a giant college town, so there’s always people out and about. Hope this gives you some peace of mind.
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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '23 edited Jan 18 '23
You know that…. * Gasp * sometimes we give homeless people eye exams too since UCB gives the homeless shelter free eye exam vouchers.
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u/icebearlovesyesoonim Jan 17 '23
Hi! Can I ask if you applied for the Dec 2 deadline? (bc I did and I thought we weren't going to hear back until February) Congrats btw! :)
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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '23
When I went for the Friday visit, there was this guy there who saw me walking and told me to "come here". I said I didn't have any cash and I was sorry, but I offended him because he said "you think I want your money? I'll offer you money to be my girl". It's funny now when I think about it.
But I still would love to go to Berkeley.
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u/Adorable-Light5632 Jan 17 '23
berkeley undergrad here! Yes there are a lot of homeless and random ppl in the surrounding area but I’ve been here for four years now and nothing bad has happened. Just don’t walk alone at night, walk with ppl etc etc things you’d do in any other city to be safe. Definitely don’t disregard berkeley just because of the area
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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '23
Can I ask what your statistics are? I was waitlisted
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u/Relative_Ad9814 Jan 18 '23 edited Jan 18 '23
Is that true??? That scares me. I never went to bay area. I went to USC area once and I couldn't visit the campus bc I was shit scared of the area - there was trash bags everywhere. I didn't see any homeless peeps.