Why is UC Berkeley Law So Hard to Get Into? Forum

[kjunfood]

anyone know? it's ranked #6 and i've read that it is one of the hardest schools to get into. but just looking at their numbers, it isnt that daunting (relatively speaking). LSAT is 163/169.

What is it that I am missing? Do they give a large # of seats to Cali undergrads or something? like 50%?

[muddywaters]

# of applicants, smaller than average ( for t6) class sizes, look at the whole package.

[mcds]

Also you really have to have at least a 3.8 and they don't practice Affirmative Action

[Other25BeforeYou]

Then do they care more about GPA than LSAT?

[badfish]

Because it is the shit.

/thread

[kjunfood]

i hope they care more about gpa than lsat for my sake -- it's my #1 realistic goal. i have a 4.0 undergrad gpa, but im sure my LSDAS gpa will be a bit lower. my lsat is up in the air, im 167-174 on this oct one. crossing my fingers lol!

im chinese so not URM -- affirmative action doesnt tend to help me. and i dont live in cali.

[badfish]

i hope they care more about gpa than lsat for my sake -- it's my #1 realistic goal. i have a 4.0 undergrad gpa, but im sure my LSDAS gpa will be a bit lower. my lsat is up in the air, im 167-174 on this oct one. crossing my fingers lol!

im chinese so not URM -- affirmative action doesnt tend to help me. and i dont live in cali.

you should be in good shape at Berkeley if your LSAT comes back above a 168 with the 4.0 (or anything close to it)

[Other25BeforeYou]

Gah. I'm hoping they care less about GPA. I graduated with a 3.55, but it was at a wicked hard school. Princeton Review gives the school a higher academic rating than all but one of the ivies.

EDIT: I take that back. Princeton and Stanford's rankings have gone up since last year, so now three of the ivies have a higher academic rating than my school.

[muddywaters]

Gah. I'm hoping they care less about GPA. I graduated with a 3.55, but it was at a wicked hard school. Princeton Review gives the school a higher academic rating than all but one of the ivies.

MIT, chicago, CalTech or Stanford?

[Other25BeforeYou]

Gah. I'm hoping they care less about GPA. I graduated with a 3.55, but it was at a wicked hard school. Princeton Review gives the school a higher academic rating than all but one of the ivies.

MIT, chicago, CalTech or Stanford?

No. But in my class there were two people who transferred to University of Chicago and then transferred back because they said it wasn't challenging at all.

[Other25BeforeYou]

Isn't Stanford an Ivy? I guess not. So I take back my last edit of my second to last post. Two Ivies have higher academic scores.

[muddywaters]

hopkins, harvey mudd?

[Other25BeforeYou]

x

[muddywaters]

adcomms will have heard of it.

im from MA, and have heard of it.

they will look past it, to a certain extent. on your LSDAS report, the avg. gpa will show, and adcomms will see you did much better than most.

[mcds]

Academically I would say the Ivies go Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Columbia/Dartmouth/Penn, Brown, Cornell.

From a strictly academic perspective Swarthmore, Amherst and Williams - in my opinion - could rank equal or higher in that department than any of the lower Ivies.

[mcds]

Simon's Rock. Or, technically, Bard College at Simon's Rock. It's a small college that's part of Bard College but is over in Massachusetts, and it kicks academic ass. But the point is, no one's ever heard of it, I worked my ass off and got a 3.55 and was one of five people to graduate magna cum laude (three graduated summa cum laude), but now I'm concerned that schools won't look past the 3.55.

What is the median LSAT score?

Because they look at your GPA in the context of the median LSAT from my understanding. Which is the theory why HYP grads get a bit of a boost - their median LSATs are like 166 or 167.

[muddywaters]

Academically I would say the Ivies go Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Columbia/Dartmouth/Penn, Brown, Cornell.

From a strictly academic perspective Swarthmore, Amherst and Williams - in my opinion - could rank equal or higher in that department than any of the lower Ivies.

care to add stan, MIT or CalTech?

[Other25BeforeYou]

Simon's Rock. Or, technically, Bard College at Simon's Rock. It's a small college that's part of Bard College but is over in Massachusetts, and it kicks academic ass. But the point is, no one's ever heard of it, I worked my ass off and got a 3.55 and was one of five people to graduate magna cum laude (three graduated summa cum laude), but now I'm concerned that schools won't look past the 3.55.

What is the median LSAT score?

Because they look at your GPA in the context of the median LSAT from my understanding. Which is the theory why HYP grads get a bit of a boost - their median LSATs are like 166 or 167.

I have no idea. How would I find that out?

[DanielCA]

Go to your LSAC transcript analysis (if you've sent your transcripts in).

I sometimes wish I went to a small liberal arts college that was heavy on academics -- like Wesleyan or Amherst. Can't have it all I suppose. :/


And I know Bard College! Isn't that where one (or both) of the Coen Brothers went to college?

[Other25BeforeYou]

.

[calipaki]

I have noticed that Stanford and Berkeley Law School's seem to take a higher GPA/lower LSAT score as opposed to the other top 5-10 law schools. This is just from talking to law students. I live in the bay area.

[uclabruins]

People say that Berkeley's admission process is a black box, they will reject applicants with high LSAT in favor of those who have had amazing life experiences. Kinda makes it hard to ensure acceptance or predict who can get in.

[DanielCA]

So, see? You can tell people you went to the same place as the Coen Brothers. I think that's really cool (even if I, personally, haven't liked a lot of their more recent works).

[Other25BeforeYou]

So, see? You can tell people you went to the same place as the Coen Brothers. I think that's really cool (even if I, personally, haven't liked a lot of their more recent works).

Yeah, for some reason my school has had a lot of relatively well known people attend, considering the school has about 350-400 students. Actually, it's mostly been the children of well known people.

[DanielCA]

I'm jealous.

Many well known people from small school = that school is "teh awesomeness" on the college scale.

I read up on it and many students start at 16! That is all kinds of cool.

You know, I must ask too if you have the time.
What is the school really like? The classes? Professors? Setting? (Opposite-sex? )

You're my only link to that sort of academic world, and I'm endlessly fascinated by it. Small east coast schools with beautiful scenery, I'm a total sucker.