In at Berkeley! Forum

[bilbobaggins]

I wouldn't really judge any school by the official programming at ASW. What I think it shows at Berkeley is that they don't feel the need to sell you in a super slick fashion.

I had a great time at both the activities fair, the student center thing and the house party, but I'm also a 2L who was drinking all day.

[re-applicant]

I wouldn't really judge any school by the official programming at ASW. What I think it shows at Berkeley is that they don't feel the need to sell you in a super slick fashion.

That's a good point and I've definitely tried to keep that in mind.

[WonkyPanda]

I had a blast at ASW. To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming by midday and I spaced out during some of the events Overall though, I think Berk presented itself well and showed that they're a small community of people who are there for one another.

[sad_squirrel]

Anybody else have an outstanding Matching Scholarship request for a scholarship that's supposed to expire tomorrow?

I'm a little frustrated. Come on, Berkeley

[aesis]

Any consensus/thoughts on Berkeley's "ranking" for those who want CA and are from CA? Trying to decide if it'd be worth it to ride the waitlist at Columbia even though that environment seems ... too gunnery for my taste. I'm just vague on job prospect advantage. I know there's a thread in Choosing Law Schools, but I felt there'd be more input here.

According to my TLS research and discussions with WC/EC attorneys, it seems:
- SF market would be big on ties because it's so small -- SoCal ties don't count that much
- After HYS, T14 geographic ties become much more significant

Based on that it seems:
YHS (give S advantage)
Boalt
Columbia/Chi
NYU/Mich
PVDNCG

Not trying to start a major debate, as there are threads on this if you search.

[Kiwi917]

Anybody else have an outstanding Matching Scholarship request for a scholarship that's supposed to expire tomorrow?

I'm a little frustrated. Come on, Berkeley

I would give them a call. I called a few days before my 4/1 deadline (which ended up being extended until 4/15 anyway) and the person there was able to look up my file and confirm it was complete. I got a decision by email later that afternoon.

[Kronk]

Any consensus/thoughts on Berkeley's "ranking" for those who want CA and are from CA? Trying to decide if it'd be worth it to ride the waitlist at Columbia even though that environment seems ... too gunnery for my taste. I'm just vague on job prospect advantage. I know there's a thread in Choosing Law Schools, but I felt there'd be more input here.

According to my TLS research and discussions with WC/EC attorneys, it seems:
- SF market would be big on ties because it's so small -- SoCal ties don't count that much
- After HYS, T14 geographic ties become much more significant

Based on that it seems:
YHS (give S advantage)
Boalt
Columbia/Chi
NYU/Mich
PVDNCG

Not trying to start a major debate, as there are threads on this if you search.

Opportunities in the Bay Area are way better here. I think your list is probably right, but some of the big Bay Area firms actively seek out Boalt 1Ls for SAs. I doubt they seek out YH students--although I'm guessing they wouldn't turn away their application if they received them.

Anyhow, tons of 1Ls here got 2-3 interviews for 1L SAs even before grades came out. Needless to say a lot of those students were rejected, and even moreso were rejected after grades DID come out. But they at least had the opportunity to interview with a firm (Kirkland) and see the process, maybe make some connections.

[cornhusker]

So did any of you NOT enjoy ASW(I couldnt go)?? If so, want to give some details on why? I have 2 days before my UCB scholarship offer officially expires and turning it down is officially starting to freak me out.

One really cool perk (others than being so close to SF) attending Berkeley is the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals deliberates on cases all over the 9th circuit region. Less than 2 years ago they heard arguments for a big case seated at BOALT. Maybe for a month or so. The brother of my roommate, and a Boalt 1L at the time, talked about it. Very cool; students got to go hear arguments, meet justices etc.
Doubt that will happen at NYU or CLS. Northern Cali, UC Berkeley is way more laid back than anywhere FWIW

[WonkyPanda]

Kronk, how would you guess Boalt places up and down the west coast? Do you think that Boalt easily trounces LA and SC in So-Cal? How would a Boaltie do somewhere like Seattle? To take it even further, do you have any info on how Boalties do in the NY/DC markets? I always seem to bug kronk with these questions, but he's so damn informative!

[re-applicant]

Can any Boalt students speak to the ease/difficulty of getting desired classes in 2L/3L?

[Kronk]

Kronk, how would you guess Boalt places up and down the west coast? Do you think that Boalt easily trounces LA and SC in So-Cal? How would a Boaltie do somewhere like Seattle? To take it even further, do you have any info on how Boalties do in the NY/DC markets? I always seem to bug kronk with these questions, but he's so damn informative!

I definitely don't know as much as the 2Ls because I haven't been through OCIP so a lot of what I say is anecdotal. However, I've heard Boalt does great in NYC and DC. All of the 2Ls I know that wanted the east coast got it except for one, and he didn't get any biglaw offers at all. Boalt will not hurt you up and down the west coast. It is definitely the second strongest school here and people know it. Some recruiters have told me they feel Boalt's curriculum makes more practice-ready lawyers than Stanford, to the point where they consider SLS and Boalt grads on equal footing. I don't know how widespread that is, but it's there. We have a good class size; enough to have a larger network than Stanford but not oversaturate the market, so I would imagine Seattle market would be pretty kind to us. I don't know anything of that market in particular however. I really only follow my hometown (Denver), SF, and NYC because those are the places I'd like to work later. Which leads me to...

I don't know if Boalt definitely trumps UCLA and USC in SoCal. I know that UCLA and USC are having trouble putting many of their students into BigLaw period. So I would lean towards saying Boalt has a SLIGHT edge unless the interviewer is a Trojan or a Bruin. I would venture to say that once given a callback, UCLA / USC / Boalt students are all on equal footing, but that a Boalt student might be more likely to get an interview than a UCLA student (as in, they might have a more favorable cutoff for grades at Boalt than at UCLA/USC).

But like I said, that is just anecdotal (friends with jobs in LA) combined with what I know about the job market (5-10% into the V50).

[Kronk]

Can any Boalt students speak to the ease/difficulty of getting desired classes in 2L/3L?

+1, I'm actually very interested in this too. Although I can tell you how my own registration goes in about a week.

[r6_philly]

Can any Boalt students speak to the ease/difficulty of getting desired classes in 2L/3L?

+1, I'm actually very interested in this too. Although I can tell you how my own registration goes in about a week.

Good luck and let us know! Boalt has some awesome offerings, but if you can't get in them it would kind of defeat the purpose.

[Rotor]

Can any Boalt students speak to the ease/difficulty of getting desired classes in 2L/3L?

+1, I'm actually very interested in this too. Although I can tell you how my own registration goes in about a week.

Good luck and let us know! Boalt has some awesome offerings, but if you can't get in them it would kind of defeat the purpose.

I think it'll be hard to assess this question, because it is class specific. What I can say is that every class I've been in with sizable waitlists, the profs have done everything they could to accommodate the waitlist.

REgistration goes down in two phases. The first phase is limited to 12 credits so that those with early slots don't sign up for 30 credits and shop&drop the rest at the start of the semester.

[r6_philly]

I think it'll be hard to assess this question, because it is class specific. What I can say is that every class I've been in with sizable waitlists, the profs have done everything they could to accommodate the waitlist.

REgistration goes down in two phases. The first phase is limited to 12 credits so that those with early slots don't sign up for 30 credits and shop&drop the rest at the start of the semester.

Thanks. Is there a way to find out which classes were full from the past 2 semesters? Are there any classes that's notorious for being harder to get in?

[forward]

Are Berkeley's need offers fairly consistent from year to year in typical cases? I'm pretty sure I'll be doing PI work, so I won't have a ton of summer earnings. I'm also an independent student, so I don't need to worry about parental income/assets. Just want to make sure that I won't lose a massive chunk for 2L or 3L years. Can anyone speak to this?

[r6_philly]

Are Berkeley's need offers fairly consistent from year to year in typical cases? I'm pretty sure I'll be doing PI work, so I won't have a ton of summer earnings. I'm also an independent student, so I don't need to worry about parental income/assets. Just want to make sure that I won't lose a massive chunk for 2L or 3L years. Can anyone speak to this?

I asked this at ASW. They told me the maximum grant actually increase a lot this year from years past (makes sense) but funding won't be known for future years until then. You will get similar assessments if nothing changes, but it really depends on what's available.

[absolut86]

Why does it make sense that the grant amount would increase this year?

On another note, I wasn't able to attend ASW and was wondering if anyone posted pictures of the event? I will be on campus Thursday/Friday next week. Are any other admitted students going to be visiting then?

[r6_philly]

Why does it make sense that the grant amount would increase this year?

On another note, I wasn't able to attend ASW and was wondering if anyone posted pictures of the event? I will be on campus Thursday/Friday next week. Are any other admitted students going to be visiting then?

Tuition increase.

[Rotor]

Why does it make sense that the grant amount would increase this year?

On another note, I wasn't able to attend ASW and was wondering if anyone posted pictures of the event? I will be on campus Thursday/Friday next week. Are any other admitted students going to be visiting then?

Tuition increase.

And possibly more paying jobs=less reliance on need based funding.

[Rotor]

I think it'll be hard to assess this question, because it is class specific. What I can say is that every class I've been in with sizable waitlists, the profs have done everything they could to accommodate the waitlist.

REgistration goes down in two phases. The first phase is limited to 12 credits so that those with early slots don't sign up for 30 credits and shop&drop the rest at the start of the semester.

Thanks. Is there a way to find out which classes were full from the past 2 semesters? Are there any classes that's notorious for being harder to get in?

I don't think so. Even if the schedule of classes had registration info, it would be those who remained in the class-- not those who WL'd or dropped.

You'll get a sense talking with 2Ls/3Ls what tends to be popular. And if the time comes and you haven't gotten a sense, you can always check with the TLSers.

[paisaaa]

Why does it make sense that the grant amount would increase this year?

On another note, I wasn't able to attend ASW and was wondering if anyone posted pictures of the event? I will be on campus Thursday/Friday next week. Are any other admitted students going to be visiting then?

I have tons of pictures that I've been wanting to post (really, there end up being 5 or 6 of the law school itself) but I've had trouble figuring out how to do so. Please don't make fun of me.

If someone explains, I can go ahead and do this when I get home from work later today. If not, absolut, feel free to PM me and we can exchange emails or something.

[WonkyPanda]

Why does it make sense that the grant amount would increase this year?

On another note, I wasn't able to attend ASW and was wondering if anyone posted pictures of the event? I will be on campus Thursday/Friday next week. Are any other admitted students going to be visiting then?

I have tons of pictures that I've been wanting to post (really, there end up being 5 or 6 of the law school itself) but I've had trouble figuring out how to do so. Please don't make fun of me.

If someone explains, I can go ahead and do this when I get home from work later today. If not, absolut, feel free to PM me and we can exchange emails or something.

Many people love Flickr and it's very easy to use. Just set up an account and then upload your photos to an album. You actually motivated me to finally post my photos even though I didn't take as many photos as I hoped. I was too enthralled with learning about the campus that it kept slipping my mind. Anyways, too lazy to caption anything so ask here if you have any questions: http://gallery.me.com/gabemili#100035&b ... &view=grid

All the interior shots are the law building even though there's only like 4 of em, lol.

[mistermister]

apologies if this is in the thread elsewhere, but is today the response deadline?

[aesis]

Yep, commit/tentatively commit/withdraw.