Drawn by the sea, sunlight and UC Berkeley’s renowned reputation, Keyang Pan traveled from Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen—where he is currently a third-year studying quantitative finance—to participate as a visiting student in our Berkeley Global Access Program during the Spring 2023 semester.

“UC Berkeley offers some of the best CS courses in the world,” Keyang enthuses about his decision to study with us. “I wanted to experience the top CS education.”
He took “super-well-organized” courses in computer science and data science, including The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (CS 61A), Data Structures (CS61B) and Principles and Techniques of Data Science (CS C100). These classes gave Keyang a thorough understanding of object-oriented programming, features hidden behind different data structures and real-world techniques in data processing.

“These skills have greatly prepared me for my internship as a data analyst at a quantitative private fund in Shanghai,” Keyang adds. “These courses also make me a strong candidate for graduate programs.”

Keyang’s favorite classes were CS61B and CS C100, which provided him with particularly useful knowledge for his internship.

“The job involves lots of coding, and luckily the CS courses I took at Berkeley well-equipped me for all the challenges,” Keyang enthuses. “My leader graduated from UC San Diego with her bachelor’s, so she knows the quality of UC courses and my programming skills were trusted for achieving good grades at Berkeley.”

These skills have greatly prepared me for my internship as a data analyst at a quantitative private fund in Shanghai.

Keyang appreciated that BGA gave him the opportunity to study and live in the lovely city of Berkeley. Here are his list of top picks for you to consider:

Enjoying the sunlight on Memorial Glade, hiking to the Big C, and visiting San Francisco tourist attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge and Twin Peaks.

“How I miss the days with my friends lying on the Memorial Glade enjoying the sunlight at noon or walking beside the San Francisco Bay in the breeze!” Keyang wistfully recalls.

When he returned to his home university in Shenzhen, Keyang had no trouble receiving credit for his Berkeley courses.

“It is quite easy for me to submit an application for transferring credits to my university and I also got approved quickly,” Keyang reports. “I would recommend future students study their own university policies carefully and reach out to a school consultant if necessary.”

For future BGA students, he encourages them to take advantage of the experience.

“Be proactive, believe that everything is possible at UC Berkeley, follow your heart and enjoy your time,” he says.