Broncos847 wrote:Okay I'm a little confused. Even if your parents pay for all of your living expenses, three years of tuition at Cornell is going to set you back at least 185k. Subtract your 75k scholly and you are left with 110k, not 105. Add in loan fees and interest and your numbers don't add up. I'm not trying to be a dick, but you need to do the research and know much you will owe at time of repayment. There is no use in deluding yourself about your debt to make law school seem more attractive financially.
As far as the decision not to retake goes, I get it. The idea of putting off school for another year and drilling LSAT sections sounds like the worst thing in the world. Just be aware you are potentially leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table.
I threw this together pretty quickly and so there are some errors. I just found out about the cost of Cornell thanks to a previous poster. I had not seriously researched the cost until today. I only received the scholarship this week and was not seriously considering the school until then. I am not trying to make law school seem attractive financially, I don't see how I could even do that lol. But I will definitely do more research tonight.
I understand the retake argument but like I said, I only have one more retake and I am terrible at standardized tests.
rpupkin wrote:This advice (and the poll results) are nuts. I get the argument that the OP is taking on too much debt from Berkeley. But he also would be taking on a ton of debt from Cornell. And Cornell is basically a regional school that doesn't place all that well in the OP's target market.
OP: If you're fine with NYC big law, then Cornell. But if your heart is set on California, it's Boalt or don't go.
Yeah, I really do not want NYC at all...
Lavitz wrote:I agree with the title of the thread that Berkeley is worth 40K more than Cornell for someone who wants to work in LA.
Sticker is probably a bad idea, but if parents are really covering all CoL and debt at repayment is really just 145K for Berkeley, that's not bad. But it looks like OP is just multiplying tuition by 3 and not factoring in interest on loans.
Yes, I did not factor in interest rates yet. But parents are covering most of my CoL.
BruceWayne wrote:You're in a tough spot. That's too much money for Boalt but you're going to have a huge drop off in placement ability at Cornell for the type of job you want. And by huge drop off I mean you may not be able to get a job in LA from Cornell at all while you almost certainly will at Boalt. Normally I'm pretty anti debt but that's the kind of difference that may make it worth it.
And contrary to what some are saying: that Berkeley grading system does matter and in exactly the way you described. If you end up pulling off what amounts to bottom 1/3rd grades with Boalt's system an employer won't readily be able to discern that from your transcript--you'll basically look just like a median student. On the other hand if they see a 2.9 GPA at Cornell a lot of firms will instantly toss your resume in the can. That could mean the difference between a job and no job--especially with you wanting to work in a market that Cornell does not have a lot of sway in.
The other thing is that's still a lot of money for Cornell--especially for someone who is trying to work in LA. You have to look at it like this: high debt at Cornell with an unclear and possibly poor shot at getting the job you want; vs. higher debt at Boalt with a dramatically (almost as high as you're going to get outside of going to Stanford etc,) higher chance of actually getting the job you want. Plus, I believe that Boalt may have a better LRAP than Cornell so that's something to consider.
But Good Lord I forgot Boalt is now at $50K+ a year. That is just insane. Do they offer any need based grants at all?
This is exactly my sentiment as well. I feel that Berkeley would be the safer choice for my goals even with more debt. But I would love to hear from Berkeley alums as well.
They do offer need based grants but I do not currently qualify.
Winston1984 wrote:The OP edited the post. If it's truly $145k vs. $105k, then yes Berk is a no brainer. Before, it read, (unless I'm totally wrong). Sticker price (which I assumed meant COL too at Berk) and $75k off at Cornell. I think it's hard to advise someone go to $300k into debt for law school, and because he wants biglaw (and would likely get it) those loan payments will be insane. So of the two options, I said retake, but Cornell would be better than sticker at Berk.
Sorry about that Winston1984 - meant to re-post. I was under the assumption Cornell's tuition was much lower.
So it looks like Berkeley is pulling ahead of the poll and I tend to agree.
