Berkeley Students (Boalties) Taking Questions Forum

[manu4ever882001]

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[gymboree]

Best way to get from BART station to Boalt Hall? Walk? Bike? Electric Bike?

edit: for new tar. Seems I was always a golden bear.

[bilbobaggins]

Anyone who says 1.5 miles away from school is far doesn't know what they're talking about. Most students live within 1 to 3 miles.

[doomswitched]

Best way to get from BART station to Boalt Hall? Walk? Bike? Electric Bike?

From Rockridge, probably bus, but you could bike it.

From downtown Berk, the bike ride would be uphill, so I'd say bus, but you could bike or walk.

Would you guys happen to know a decent place to live that is a little bit more social? I'm fairly young and still want to have a bit of fun while attending Boalt. Some friends of mine are finishing up their undergraduate work at Cal and suggested I live with them in a building called Gaia. Thoughts?

Gourmet Ghetto along Shattuck in North Berk or you could live in the Rockridge area; both are fairly good, but I defer to any of the younger folks who answer.

[los blancos]

Berk is my top choice and I got FRed. My numbers were borderline (slightly below 25th GPA and slightly above 75th LSAT) and I'm not sure if my softs are mediocre or very good - I suspect the Berk-loving portion of my PS and de facto ED helped me avoid the ding so far. Anything you guys would suggest putting into a LOCI that might help me win over a faculty member?

[bilbobaggins]

Boalt is a 5-10 minute bike ride and a 10-20 minute walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART Station. It's also about a 5 minute bus ride.

Many students bike and walk to school further distances than the Downtown Berkeley BART every day. Many also take the bus.

[Rotor]

Boalt is a 5-10 minute bike ride and a 10-20 minute walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART Station. It's also about a 5 minute bus ride.

Many students bike and walk to school further distances than the Downtown Berkeley BART every day. Many also take the bus.

+1 (I bike 2 miles every day and it's up hill nearly the whole way; and I am not Mr. Fitness...)

I would suggest Sacramento Ave as the western edge of the box suggested above-- but not because of distance. Neighborhoods get more hit-or-miss beyond there.

[sirchristaylor]

A few links that I've found interesting and somewhat helpful:

-http://theshark.typepad.com/weblog/2008 ... itted.html
-http://www.law.berkeley.edu/alumni/even ... index.html
-http://www.flickr.com/photos/29370912@N ... 570920505/
-http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/re ... law-school
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University ... ool_of_Law
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Be ... ghborhoods
-https://calrentals.housing.berkeley.edu ... rhoods.pdf
-http://calparents.berkeley.edu/guide/visiting/eat.html
-http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2 ... oduction-i
-http://www.sfgate.com/neighborhoods/eb/berkeley/
-http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g3206 ... hoods.html
-http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/h ... rhood.html
-http://www.yelp.com/find?location=Berkeley%2C+CA

[sirchristaylor]

I have a question about deposits. I understand that seat deposits are not required by the law school, but is there a tuition deposit that is due at any time? I'm trying to figure out how much I'll need to save for that sort of thing. Is any money at all due before scholarships, grants, loans, etcetera come out? I'm thinking not just tuition, but fees as well, including health insurance, campus parking, etc. Thanks in advance!

[General Tso]

Why do you guys like to hate on Hastings? 1/2 our class are Bears.

[General Tso]

Why do you guys like to hate on Hastings? 1/2 our class are Bears.

I don't think we hate on Hastings at all. IIRC, we had ~6 transfers from there this year.

Thats cool...but I think xoxo is full of Boalties hating on Hastings. And lets not forget the Boalt guy who joked about doing a VA Tech repeat at Hastings.

[General Tso]

I am glad I don't know these people, if they exist.

Also, I am jealous of the location of your school. East bay FTL.

I have to admit, it is pretty nice walking off BART and being a 5 minute easy walk to school. Walking up that hill in Berkeley is a biatch. I'd have done it happily though if I could have

[bilbobaggins]

I'm still waiting on my admitted student packet, but need to plan for admitted students weekend asap. This year it will be held on the weekend of 9 April. Is the weekend generally just a weekend? Or is it longer than that in your experience? Also, does the school pay for a hotel, or is that something you'll arrange on your own?

In addition, I'm coming from the east coast. How do leases generally work? Is it like most other places where you wait until about a month before you need an apartment to really look, or do landlords offer leases a year in advance as they do in places like Boston?

Finally, while I don't mind selling most of my belongings, there are a few things that i'd like to bring over, including a chair and a piano. Does anyone here have experience in moving cross-country? If so, any advice? I'm not willing to drive a U-Haul the entire way, so I'm looking to ship things for under 1k if at all possible. My research has only returned very expensive options, even for shipping a small amount of stuff.

Thanks!

Theres stuff to do on thurs night fri night and saturday during the day, I regretted leaving Saturday morning because more stuff was goin on. The school will send you a request form for a student host, and you can just stay at some student's place for free. This is a great chance to answer questions about what being a student is like.
Leasing is generally done like a few days or so before maybe 10 days. Use craigslist, craigslist is the THE BEST source for housing. Don't make the mistake a lot of people make and SEE HOW FAR AWAY THE PLACE IS FROM CAMPUS. 1 MILE IS FAR, MORE THAN A MILE IS SUPER FAR. Berk's bus system takes forever, so while a place 1.5 miles away may seem close IT IS NOT, Berkeley's roads were not meant for vehicles.

General advice for housing. Don't go past San Pablo in that direction, Dont go past 62nd in the other direction, and not past Marin or so the other way. try make a square of that on mapquest. You don't wanna spend an hour of your free time on a bus!

I would read the above as changed.

Tons of students live outside of those boundaries and don't have a tough time. Albany Village is nice if you have a family. Sure, it's a little farther away, but not by much if you have an auto or bike.

[Tangerine Gleam]

Did any of you Boalties turn down significant T10 scholarships to attend Boalt at sticker?

If so, can you elaborate (or PM me if preferred)?

[calawbiz]

Are any of the current students posting here participating in a Curricular Program? What's the advantage of taking the courses, completing the writing requirements that some of them have, etc, as opposed to just taking a few courses in a area of specialization that interests you? Has anyone experienced any boost during OCI for telling the interviewer that you are pursuing a certificate through the environmental law or law and technology program?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I am curious. The way that Berkeley deals with specializations is confusing me, since it sounds like most of the Curricular Programs are informal suggestions for a way to plan out a course of study for 2L/3L, but then a couple of others seem to have quite a bit of structure. I'm basically wondering if all of the Curricular Programs are considered to be equally useful for OCI hiring, or if participating in them have any impact on hiring at all. I like the idea of being able to specialize by taking law and non-law courses that are relevant to a specific discipline or practice area, and Berkeley's emphasize on interdisciplinary study and extracurricular involvement sound cool, so I'd be interested in learning more about these options than what I've found on the website.

[sirchristaylor]

I have a question about deposits. I understand that seat deposits are not required by the law school, but is there a tuition deposit that is due at any time? I'm trying to figure out how much I'll need to save for that sort of thing. Is any money at all due before scholarships, grants, loans, etcetera come out? I'm thinking not just tuition, but fees as well, including health insurance, campus parking, etc. Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if anyone can comment on this. Thanks!

[bilbobaggins]

I have a question about deposits. I understand that seat deposits are not required by the law school, but is there a tuition deposit that is due at any time? I'm trying to figure out how much I'll need to save for that sort of thing. Is any money at all due before scholarships, grants, loans, etcetera come out? I'm thinking not just tuition, but fees as well, including health insurance, campus parking, etc. Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if anyone can comment on this. Thanks!

You pay nothing until you pay tuition.

[sirchristaylor]

I have a question about deposits. I understand that seat deposits are not required by the law school, but is there a tuition deposit that is due at any time? I'm trying to figure out how much I'll need to save for that sort of thing. Is any money at all due before scholarships, grants, loans, etcetera come out? I'm thinking not just tuition, but fees as well, including health insurance, campus parking, etc. Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if anyone can comment on this. Thanks!

You pay nothing until you pay tuition.

Excellent, thanks. I just formally accepted the offer of admission.

[doomswitched]

Berk is my top choice and I got FRed. My numbers were borderline (slightly below 25th GPA and slightly above 75th LSAT) and I'm not sure if my softs are mediocre or very good - I suspect the Berk-loving portion of my PS and de facto ED helped me avoid the ding so far. Anything you guys would suggest putting into a LOCI that might help me win over a faculty member?

I don't have any great insight here, but I'd suggest extolling the virtues of the school and how you will contribute to them. Or something like that.

@calawbiz
The rigor/structure of the programs differ. The tech law program is more established than others. I am not aware of any significant boost, but that's just me. I didn't pick a program to specialize in because I wanted complete control over the courses I take and felt the control was worth more than a program certification. I also have broad interests, so the program route was just not a good fit for me. But if you want to specialize in a particular area, there's nothing bad about it.

@sirchristaylor
Yay. Come to Admit Day. Actually everyone should come to Admit Day. The more the merrier.

[gymboree]

I have a question about deposits. I understand that seat deposits are not required by the law school, but is there a tuition deposit that is due at any time? I'm trying to figure out how much I'll need to save for that sort of thing. Is any money at all due before scholarships, grants, loans, etcetera come out? I'm thinking not just tuition, but fees as well, including health insurance, campus parking, etc. Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if anyone can comment on this. Thanks!

You pay nothing until you pay tuition.

Excellent, thanks. I just formally accepted the offer of admission.

It's official - Congrats!!!

[sirchristaylor]

Thanks, I'm excited. I'm about to book my flight to Cali for ASW! Anyone else official yet?

[gymboree]

I couldn't click the button yet. I'm still basking in the glow of dream acceptances. But I'll be at ASD with bells on!!! Just sent my flight preferences to the travel agent they suggested.

[manu4ever882001]

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[sirchristaylor]

Booked my flight for ASW. Very excited! March needs to go by really fast

I'm waiting on my flight confirmation. The Cal travel agent used so many smiley faces in every email to me that she made me even happier than I was before...

[manu4ever882001]

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