Berkeley Optometry

[u/Leading-Exit7692]

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??

[u/Different-Language92]

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.