Golden Bear Prep is mandatory and gives you a comprehensive overview of UC Berkeley and your overall transition to campus. You’ll be introduced to Berkeley’s traditions, safety, wellness, diversity, and community.
This is important because Berkeley offers a vast array of resources, and you gain a huge advantage if you familiarize yourself with them as an incoming student.
You’ll be invited through a task in CalCentral to complete this portion of your Golden Bear Experience. Your Golden Bear Prep task on CalCentral is updated manually. Please allow up to five business days once you have completed all quizzes for your task to be marked as complete.
What you learn in Golden Bear Prep
Berkeley Traditions
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Get Berkeley spirit (and bragging rights)! Learn about our traditions, past and present (including the 4.0 Ball and Dead Week), the Free Speech Movement, and all of the aspects that make our culture unique. Go Bears!
Getting to Know Campus & Bay Area
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The Berkeley campus enjoys classic architecture, open green spaces, cutting-edge research facilities, and world-class libraries. You'll want to learn how to get around and, as always, find where the food and coffee spots are.
Berkeley's unique location in the Bay Area is a valuable part of your college experience and another reason why you chose to attend this campus. This will help you get acquainted with the world just outside of our campus: San Francisco, Oakland, and the beautiful Bay Area.
Finding Community
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We know you and other incoming students worry about how you will fit in and find your peeps. You start here, by defining what community is and what it means for you at Berkeley. Learn about our standards (Honor Code, Principles of Community, Code of Conduct), where to find help and be a good citizen, and also how to access campus community-building opportunities: Residential Life, Transfer Student Resources, LEAD Center, and more. Just know, going in, you belong!
Diversity & Inclusion
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Berkeley values diversity for the dynamism and richness it adds to our campus culture. This is where you find out about the spaces we create at Berkeley for diversity and inclusion, including support, resources, and organizations. No matter who you are, which group you identify with, or where you are from, you are welcome.
Safety & Wellness
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Your safety and wellness is of top concern to all of the Berkeley community. Here is where you'll learn all of the aspects around these issues: how to protect yourself, how to find help, how to access Tang Center (university health services) and mental health resources, and how to manage your basic needs (finances, food security, etc.)
Transition Overview
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As you move to campus, settle into your new living space, and prepare to begin the term, you need support. This gives you the help you need to adjust and answer the question: "What should I expect when I come to campus?"
Countdown to Cal: Student Life Basics
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This part of Golden Bear Prep identifies the basics: the student portal CalCentral, managing finances (including Bears for Financial Success and personal finance tips), move-in, and the next steps toward the final two steps of your Golden Bear Experience: on campus Golden Bear Orientation and Getting Your Bearings.