Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley? Forum

[Ayeshabelle]

I've hid this from my parents because they would demand that I go to U minnesota... But I have spent most of my life in NYC and am irrationally afraid of going into the middle of America. Maybe it is because I am a URM, but I feel like I would not belong there.

Any thoughts

[avacado111]

sticker at berkeley of course....

[watts]

I got a full ride from Min too, so I'm sort of in the same boat...I'm interested to hear what people have to say. I don't think I'm considering Min as seriously as you OP, but every once and a while the prospect of very little debt pops into my mind and I get a fuzzy feeling.

Also, would one who attended Min be relegated to MN or secondary Midwest markets?

[jclaw]

sticker at berkeley; t14 school and name recognition nation/worldwide. What type of law do you want to practice? Where do you want to practice when you graduate?

remember debt is very real; so have a plan on how you would pay off over 100k in debt if you take sticker at boalt.

[Ayeshabelle]

I want to do public interest work, then work at a firm, then do in-house counsel (probably for a non-profit)

[ogman05]

Berkeley no doubt.

[puppleberry finn]

this should be a poll

[Cestjustemoi]

Minn. !

[daviddel03]

i would vote berkeley. I have a similar situation, uminn gave me 20k a yr and berkeley will no doubt be full price, so my situation is not as sticky as yours.

Good luck!

[Chichaca]

I would say UMN if you were sure you wanted to practice in Minnesota or the Midwest, but it doesn't seem like that's the case.

Go to Boalt.

[bmtripp]

You would be crazy to pass up a full ride at Minnesota. Also, you would fit in just fine in Minneapolis as a URM. It's very diverse and a beautiful/fun place to live (even in the winter).

[Neelio]

go to MN... open up a spot for me off the WL at Berk...

[starstruck393]

Did you try to get Berkeley to match any of the UMN offer? Maybe you could get something out of it.

Conventional wisdom would probably say Berkeley, but as an out of state student, with the way Berkeley's tuition is going up, you'd easily be $200k+ in debt. You have to decide how debt averse you are, and if the bump from T20 to T10 is worth $200k. I personally would almost lean towards UMN (the Twin Cities are very nice, fwiw), but it would be a tough call...

[oneforship]

this should be a poll

[opus127]

Before you decide, I highly recommend visiting MN. I am in a similar position, and I visited recently. Someone from the admissions office showed me all around, took me out to lunch, and arranged for me to meet with people in various offices (career services, clinics, etc), and I observed a class. It was very informative, and I came away with a list of pros and cons that was somewhat different than I anticipated. (Feel free to PM me if you're interested in hearing more.)

Also, see if you can take some time to see more of the area than just the campus. The Twin Cities, as someone already said, are surprisingly diverse, and most people there are very open-minded.

[webbylu87]

UMN. Minneapolis is badass.

[starstruck393]

UMN. Minneapolis is badass.

I never would have thought it, but it could easily be the nicest large city between the coasts...

[Blindmelon]

Berk Berk Berk.

[kumba84]

I've hid this from my parents because they would demand that I go to U minnesota... But I have spent most of my life in NYC and am irrationally afraid of going into the middle of America. Maybe it is because I am a URM, but I feel like I would not belong there.

Any thoughts

This is a tough question to answer without knowing your career goals. But I don't think you should be "afraid" of leaving NYC for the Twin Cities. I am from the Midwest and it is definitely a lot different from NYC, but the Twin Cities are pretty diverse and you should definitely be able to entertain yourself there for three years. Honestly, I don't really like the Midwest but Minneapolis/St. Paul is somewhere I would be happy to live long-term.

[kittenmittons]

1) visit both
2) decide
3) ????
4) profit

hth

[ToadGoDead]

berkeley 100% is what i would do

[lmagged]

i think it really depends on where you want to practice. if you think you'll stay in the midwest for a while after law school then go for MN in a heartbeat. once you have some years of experience in practicing law, it will matter less where you went to school. i'm from the east coast and lived in chicago for about 5 years - went to grad school and then worked afterwards. there are things to love about the midwest, even though i couldn't wait to get out after 5 years. minneapolis is supposed to be beautiful, and it's amazing what you get for your money! i will never again have as nice an apt as i did in chicago.

however, if you think you want to be on one of the coasts after law school then definitely go to berkeley. the job market is tight and will certainly be on the upswing by 2013, but it's really important to have competitive advantage. the northeast is going to be saturated with top 10 competition, and the bay area has berkeley and stanford. that's not to say you couldn't get a job on the coasts coming from MN, but i think it would be very difficult if you target highly competitive markets like NY, MA, or CA.

also - to give you an idea of where i'm coming from...i'm at berkeley law now. i have been financially responsible for my undergrad, grad, and now law education with no help from family. what i didn't realize when i got into berkeley was how GENEROUS their need-based aid can be. i thought i was going to be paying full price until they evaluated my need. i don't know what your situation is - if you don't have any educational debt and no reason to get a lot of aid then you may be paying close to full price. on the other hand, you may be pleasantly surprised at how they offer to help you out. if you're going to do public interest work, there are also berkeley-based and federal loan forgiveness programs.

good luck!

[scribelaw]

I also got a full ride at Minn, but I'm not considering it that much. They have very low BigLaw placement and I'm guessing the path to bigger markets, Chicago or DC, is all but shut down ITE. Minneapolis is a great town, but I don't think I'd be OK living there for the forseeable future.

I think that should be the test -- are you OK with getting a median job out of Minnesota, i.e. a decent-to-good firm job in Minneapolis?

I think I've decided I'd rather take on the debt at NYU and have much stronger odds at a higher-level job.

[gymboree]

Boalt, hands down. They have a great LRAP, if you want to go back to NYC there's huge name recognition/prestige, and there's no snow.

[rogerlodge]

As an URM you will fit in just fine at MN. The city and school are diverse. I'd still say pay for Berkeley.