Mr. Thornton writes a nice column on the Berkeley vs. Yale approach to the 'Real World.'

But one striking similarity exists between Yale and UC Berkeley—the exorbitant amount of depressed students juggling academics and their own health.

It's enough of a similarity to characterize the two campuses. In that regard, Yale and UC Berkeley are twins.

For some strange reason, UC Berkeley seems to implicitly celebrate this. No, you won't find CalSO counselors and campus administrators trumpeting the prospect of clinical depression to incoming students.

Instead, we call it the "real world." Most students and administrators cite this as one of UC Berkeley's greatest strengths, something that instills in students a sense of self-reliance.

I find it to be more of an excuse.

It's an excuse for the lack of services the university offers aside from academic opportunities. UC Berkeley admits students, sets them up in lackluster residence halls for a year and thrusts them into a fast-paced learning environment.

I'm completely opposite. I like the 'Real World' part, the sink-or-swim approach. Advisors are for wimps. 4 years of housing are for weenies and Regent Scholars-- but I'm repeating myself.

I get this based on personal experience. Given half a chance I would've coccooned myself for four easy years of reasonably high grades and dorm living. Instead, I got out into Berkeley, got the nerve to join a Fraternity, put my balls out on page 3 of the Daily Cal, that sort of thing. Gained a lot of self-confidence. So it really worked out for me. But then, I ended up swimming.Email This Post!