Students' favorite places around campus
The UC Berkeley campus's rolling green hills, park-like feel, and architecturally diverse setting offers countless places to study, snooze, and even sunbathe. Here are five favorites of the Visitor Center's tour guides.
The Campanile Esplanade
Elina Sheykh-Zade likes to curl up and study on the benches in the esplanade below the Campanile, the third tallest bell and clock-tower in the world.
Doe Library and its reading rooms
Leighna Baxter loves the quiet, sun-flooded North Reading Room in the Doe Library, with its high windows and ornate, barrel-vaulted ceiling.
Sproul Plaza
Sarah Gold loves the excitement of Sproul Plaza, a venue where the passions of today's students take Berkeley's history of student activism in new directions.
Memorial Glade
Joshua Cella visits Memorial Glade, aka the "Berkeley beach," where students nap, lollygag in the sun, and play ultimate football. The Glade honors students, staff, and faculty who served during World War II.
The Free Speech Movement Café
Jace Hadfield likes to hang at the Free Speech Movement Café, where the activism of the past joins up with the local, sustainable food movement of today.Popular majors and schools
Each of these informal videos is hosted by a Cal Ambassador, a student tour guide who knows the school or major firsthand. (The videos were also produced by a Berkeley tour guide majoring in film studies.)
College of Letters & Science
The largest of the university's 14 colleges and schools, L&S offers 80-plus majors. L&S alumni include Joan Didion, '56, writer; and Alice Waters, '67, founder of Chez Panisse restaurant.
Molecular and Cell Biology
One of the most popular majors, MCB includes Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Cell and Developmental Biology; Genetics, Genomics and Development; Neurobiology; Immunology and Pathogenesis.
College of Engineering
All eight of its focus areas are ranked in the top 10 nationwide by the National Research Council. Alums include Steve Wozniak, '86, cofounder of Apple; Eric Schmidt, MS '79, CEO of Google; and Andrew Grove, Ph.D. '63, cofounder of Intel.