A Week in my Life at UC Berkeley | EECS Student-Athlete 

Thank you so much for your kind words, there's nothing like EECS, really! Go bears!

The piano wow! That was good is their anything you can’t do?

This is good it’s motivating shows. You work hard you can achieve what you desire ! Keep staying up! And get it done ! That Hershey drink looked so good just had to add that

Thanks so much!!

Thank you so much, love you too! 😊

Thank you, and congratulations!! Go bears!

Thank you Vince! For sure! hmu on Instagram @marcosricop

Thanks so much!! I'll teach you anyday haha

Thank you for your kind words and for watching! I feel like time management is the most important skill for managing a hectic schedule. I like to use a calendar where I efficiently schedule my time so that I can continue improve as a swimmer and student. I also try to turn off notifications on my phone when I am studying so I do not get distracted by social media. When getting closer to exams, I like to first review notes, make sure I understand and the do lots of practice exams. I think on average I study 3/4 hours a night. Lmk if you have other questions!

Thanks so much!! Hope to see you in my next vid then ;)

That's amazing! Lmk if you have any questions!

Generally no. We do have fixed practice schedules but if you have a class conflict, then yes, you would schedule practice at a different time

Hmmm to clear potential misconspetions the only way a person can swim for cal would be through official recruiting for the team in which you would have to talk to the coaches. If you would like to just swim at Berkeley and not for Berkeley, then there's no need to even be good at swimming to swim there! The olympic size pool is open for public for many hours during the day, you can pop in whenever you like during those hours. Finally, I am not quite sure what you're asking tips on but I can think of two things: tips on swimming faster would involve me knowing a bit more on how you swim but generally speaking, swim for more hours, focus on the technique (i.e. freestyle and high elbow catch or the turns), and go to practice every day trying to get better at one specific thing. If you're asking for tips on how to swim for Cal (Berkeley) then I recommend watching my video on "how to get recruited as a D1 Athlete", I explain what the process is and some general tips there. Lmk if you have any other questions and good luck on your application!

@marco

Congratulations! That's great! And it's hard to say, I recommend comparing your times to the times of the current roster and see how you would place (you can search up our names on college swimming). Important to note that it may be the case where you're better than most of us and Cal doesn't accept you or vice versa, but nonetheless, it should give you a rough estimate on your chances of getting in.

Larissa Ala We are in the exact same position! I’m so scared and afraid to fail

Hey Larissa Ala and Zania Gonzalez, congratulations on even getting into EECS, that's such an accomplishment in itself! I also came to Berkeley with no prior experience and was super scared. As for some tips, try and work in groups for the projects, it's a lifesaver. The first cs class (cs 61a) goes fast for people that don't have experience and even for people that do, so try not to fall behind. Maybe this summer take some online Python classes to prep. Otherwise, don't stress too much about it, the classes are fun, the professors are geniuses and a lot of your classmates are probably in the same boat as you! Feel free to reach out to me @marcosricop or leave a replyif you have any more questions ;)

Any online website can do the trick. EdX and Coursera have pretty good (and free) python courses

Ayeee :) I’m attending Berkeley this fall as a EECS major too maybe I’ll see you around

Alejandro Marquez for sure for sure :)

I am very VERY fast!!😂

Hahaha that is my same reaction too 😭

Those are oddly specific questions hahah but I'm around 6'3", I'm from Madrid, Spain and I've been swimming since I was around 4 years old :)

Our major is called EECS so yeah, we graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, both included!

I'm full of surprises!

The stories that Berkeley is extremely competitive are somewhat a myth. Berkeley is a prestigious school so it is competitive by nature. But your classmates, from what I'm aware of/ experienced, aren't going to go out of their way to bring others down (to bring themselves up). Berkeley's also a huge school, so in that sense it may be hard to find friends. But there are many, many opportunities to meet other people/ to make friends like discussion sections and Decals. For example, most of my friends right now are from my group back in Golden Bear Orientation! I hope I answered your question, don't be concerned about not making friends, you definitely will if you put yourself out there! :)

Haha you're welcome! I'm glad you watched! And yep, I'm pretty sure berkeley does

@@marcosricopeng Thanks! Looking forward to it!

Haha thanks!

Nah not really haha

Hmm I like to plan my weeks beforehand and try and stick to it. So l identity the stuff that needs to get done the following week and right down in a calendar/agenda what day of the week I want to do them and basically just try and stick to it! It’s okay to miss it a couple times but once it starts to settle as a habit it gets pretty automatic and easy! Hope this helps

Just by managing my time well haha and lots of naps!

Marcos Rico mad respect. Nothing else to say. See ya in class then... I guess

hahaha nahhh but thanks!

Normally go back homeee

It's above the Kresge Engineering library!

La campanella by Liszt!

@@marcosricopeng Amazing! Thank you for your great vlogs!!

I used to live at Blackwell hall!

Thanks! That's the only part I know haha

Hmm to be quite honest I’m not sure how it works but i don’t see why not! You would have to apply and get accepted like any other postgraduate education

Marcos Rico because i want to go to EECS but i'm not really really good at Math & Physics. So i go to Physics & math degree first at Bachelor then EECS at master degree. Also why whenever i go to EECS site of youtube is Always UC Berkeley, i never heard people from MIT or CalTech?

That sounds like a plan! Again I'm not too sure on how the process works but I'm sure there is more info on Berkeley EECS masters website. As far as I know Caltech doesn't have an eecs program per say but a very similar program called ECE. Not sure why Berkeley EECS has more results than MIT, there may not be that many people from eecs mit making youtube videos I guess haha

@@marcosricopeng you know i'm thinking about the best public college either UC Berkeley or United State Naval Academy (USNA) Annapolis. how's UC Berkeley? and What do you think about USNA Annapolis? :D

I can’t exactly say much about USNA as i don’t know much about it but after a quick search on google it seems like it really comes down to personal preference. I think USNA is more oriented to people who want to form part of the Navy (or of that type) but take my advice with a grain of salt. However, I can tell you about Berkeley EECS! It really is a wonderful program and I really like it. The professors are top in their field and the whole major is extremely rigorous and well-known around the world. There are many opportunities postgraduation due to the location close to tech hubs like silicon valley and the people you’re surrounded with are very smart but also super outgoing and helping (at least in my experience). I think you definitely wouldn’t be disappointed by the program here but comparing it to USNA is kinda of like comparing oranges and apples - I think it really depends on what you’re trying to do later on. Hopefully this was somewhat useful!

You can take Swimming as a Recreational class but I am currently on the Cal men's team :)

@@marcosricopeng eres de españa? Super..yo fui de visita.

Haha yeah. I mean I am half Taiwanese half Spanish, but born and raised in Spain!

@@marcosricopeng oh you were? Do you count as an international student then? I'm in the UK but thinking about applying for PhD

If you do, what's the process of applying as an international student like?

Yeah I'm an international student! The process was pretty much the same as a regular non-international student, except I had to take the toefl english exam. Otherwise, regular portal and process!

@@marcosricopeng u lucky to not be hairy? Or u have to shave? I know swimmers are always smooth.is it for better speed?