First Year Students

Information for First Years

The first year, and especially the first month, at Berkeley can be pretty overwhelming with all the tasks that you have to do. Settling into a new place, taking your prelim and fulfilling all the bureaucratic hurdles can be quite a whirlwind. The information below explains many of the situations you will probably face in your first year, and hopefully will make them all seem manageable. It's in your best interest to read through all this information at least once before arriving; they can provide a handy reference for navigating through your first year.

Residency

If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you must become a California resident after your first year. If you do not, you are responsible for the out-of-state tuition starting in your second year. The official 2008 residency checklist is here. You can find the most current version here.

The Residency Office needs to be convinced that you are not here just for educational purposes. In practice, what happens is that you convince them you are not intending to live anywhere else after you graduate.

Completing the following steps will make the residency application process go more smoothly.

1. Make a credit card purchase for something shortly after you arrive in Berkeley and save the credit card statement. It can also help if you save your boarding pass if you are flying to California. This is to establish the approximate date of your arrival in the state.

2. Once you have a California address, change the official address the university has on file for you. This can be done easily via Bearfacts, under the section 'Personal'. You will need your student ID number to access this site.

3. Get a California Driver's License or State ID to replace your one from another state, and register your vehicle here. It is very IMPORTANT to do this within your first TWO WEEKS at Berkeley, otherwise you will probably be hassled about this from the Residency Office when you file for residency.

4. Open a local checking account. Again, do this within your first month. Both these steps indicate your intent on remaining permanently within the state.

5. Register to vote in California, and if an election comes around, make sure to vote.

6. File California State Taxes your first year here and make sure that you are not claimed as a dependent that year by anyone who is not a California resident.

7. Keep credit card and bank statements and make regular purchases by credit card or use the ATM regularly to verify that you have spent your time continuously in the state. The Residency Affairs office is most wary of where you spend your time when school is not in session; spending more than a more than a couple of weeks of the year visiting your home can impede your establishment of residency. Traveling to one place at every possible opportunity (e.g. Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, summer) will make them think you intend return there when you finish your education instead of staying in California. Travel to other locations for academic purposes is less of a problem, especially if you have documentation of your time spent there. But still, plan on spending no more than six weeks outside of California your first year.

8. File an online Residence Classification Petition (available on Bearfacts) and submit the checklist and supporting documentation within a week of submitting the online petition. Instructions are given at the end of the online petition. The deadline for submission for the fall of your second year is usually towards the end of August; see the Student Calendar for an exact date.

However, the deadline for applying before fees are assessed is usually June 1. The difference between these two deadlines is that if you submit by the earlier deadline, and are classified as a resident, your fall fees will automatically be computed as if you were a resident and paid for by the department. If you submit by the later deadline, your fees will be automatically computed as if you are a non-resident and then later adjusted to the resident fees. This may mean that you might temporarily have to pay the difference between the non-resident and resident fees (a few hundred dollars), and will be refunded that money later in the semester.