If you are applying for Financial Aid, you should file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You still have time before the deadline, until March 2nd, to help you finance your education. The website is right here at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.

If you are looking for a great job with options to work with students indoors and out, you may want to consider applying to be a College of Letters and Science Peer Adviser! The link to the application page is here: http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/peer/. Some of the benefits include advising at the Dining Commons (expenses paid), cool peer advising gear (fleece jackets, hoodies, mugs, etc.), and of course, a high wage! You can ask any peer adviser at the blue carts on Sproul and the Moffitt Library for a hard copy of the application as well as their opinion about the job.

To be exact, it's Monday-Thursday next week. Major Madness on Sproul is a four-day event dedicated to helping you make the most of your academic experience at Cal. Every day, there will be a fair with representatives from different majors and other offices on campus that can help you enrich your academics and learn about career options. Check out the details and schedule at http://majormadness.berkeley.edu/.

Ever been speed dating? You may have, but it's not like this... So what is this all about? On March 4, 2009 from 6-8pm in the Lipman Room (8th Floor Barrows Hall), up to 30 Cal alumni and working professionals from a wide variety of career fields will be available for you to meet in a speed dating format. This is a great way to learn if what they do is a fit for you too. I'll see you there. I'm going to RSVP right now at https://berkeley-csm.symplicity.com/students/.

Last day to add/drop classes/change grading option from P/NP to letter grade
Today, Friday, February 20 is the last day to add or drop classes for this Spring semester. Don't wait until the last minute! Make sure you don't have any classes that you don't know about on your schedule. (This actually happens sometimes!) Also don't forget that it is also the last day to change the grading option from P/NP to letter grade. A good strategy is to keep the grading option letter grade now and then change it later if you need to.

If you are planning to fly, buy your ticket now to get a good price. Airlines are suffering these days too, and so I wouldn't put it past them to squeeze every penny out of traveling college students!

This day was meant to introduce females into a career field that has very little women in the field. Girls in K-12 are exposed to more math and science so that they may be more interested in the science and engineering fields. This means good news for the people who think the engineering classes at Cal are a little unbalanced. O.K, a lot unbalanced.

5th Week Deadline
It's coming up next week. February 20, 2009 is the deadline date to drop non EDD classes, add all classes and the last day to change grading option from P/NP to letter grade. Waitlists will end so you're either in or out of the class. If I were you, I'd recheck my schedule.

President's Day Holiday February 16th
This coming Monday is President's Day, and that means one thing. No school. That's it. I'm done.

Well, maybe not. Here's something you may not have known. President's day originally came from George Washington's birthday, which is on the 22nd, then expanded to encompass celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday which is on the 12th and now is often a day to celebrate all presidents. The President's Day holiday is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of every February, originally because Congress wanted to give people more three day weekends and for economic reasons.

Valentines day in other countries
In countries like Japan and Korean, Valentines day is split between two months, February 15 and March 14. In February, girls give their sweethearts chocolate and in March, guys give their gals candy. In Denmark, men give joking cards, in which they write a love letter, but only leave dot's in place of each letter of their name. If the female guesses who the writer is, she will receive an Easter egg later on.

Making adjustments to your schedule?
It now costs $10 to drop a class and $5 to add a class! If you are strapped for cash, make sure you keep your Tele-BEARS transactions to a minimum.

Thinking about summer school?
I've felt the pain of trying to sign up for classes and getting stuck on that waitlist. Number 1 and I couldn't get in!? Well, Summer Session is a great way to catch up or get ahead. It's first come first serve and registration has already begun for UC students so hurry up and get on Tele-BEARS!

The semester has just started and I think it is safe to say that we haven't received too many bad grades yet. That means it's the perfect time to start roaming around Berkeley looking for great places to eat, especially for the Spring admits, who may not have sampled the exquisite taste of Cheeseboards Pizza yet. Or, nearby you can go up the street to Gregoire's for some great potato puffs. Now's the time folks - ditch the ghetto, get on that Yelp train, and enjoy Berkeley life/cuisine before Math1b or CS61 saps away your life.

You can get units for hanging out with kids!
Clubs such as Oakland Asian Students Educational Services (OASES) and other tutoring groups on campus offer a variable amount of units(1-2) that count toward your degree. This is good if you are at 12 units and need that last unit to get to 13. More importantly, students enrolled in these programs can really use a positive role model in their lives. If you really like kids, or if you need those units (and are a nice person), then after school tutoring/mentoring programs are definitely worth looking up.