BU for free vs. Berkeley w/ full tuition, vs. Michigan w/150k Forum

[BigZuck]

Actual 4th year attorney here. T20 grad. In-house.


Go Berkeley and dont look back. Its an amazing school for free. It will open plenty more doors than BU ever will. You can get back to Boston if you want. If your career goals or geographic preference change then Berkeley puts you in a much better position than BU. Approximately $40k in debt after law school is peanuts. And that is for a top law school degree at Berkeley.

Moving and having to uproot your family will be tough, no way around that. But dont forget about Berkeley's grading system (or really lack thereof),. Its essentially pass/fail. That will take a LOT of stress off your shoulders which you cannot underestimate. Especially since you will be older than the average student, living with a SO, and having kids, the more relaxed grading system will help you keep your sanity. Your personal situation is prohibitive of the all-night study benders for weeks straight that the young 20-somethings will do. The Pass/Fail system might help even the playing field for you. Plus you can be much lower in the class standings and get top jobs than you can at BU. Big Law will go down way past top 50% at Berkeley for hiring. At BU its probably top 20% or bust.

According to actual Berkeley students there are grades at Berkeley and there is some degree of gunning.

I'd be a little surprised if the grade stress at Berkeley is appreciably better than most T14s but maybe it it is the land of P/F

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... g#p8595830

[krads153]

Actual 4th year attorney here. T20 grad. In-house.


Go Berkeley and dont look back. Its an amazing school for free. It will open plenty more doors than BU ever will. You can get back to Boston if you want. If your career goals or geographic preference change then Berkeley puts you in a much better position than BU. Approximately $40k in debt after law school is peanuts. And that is for a top law school degree at Berkeley.

Moving and having to uproot your family will be tough, no way around that. But dont forget about Berkeley's grading system (or really lack thereof),. Its essentially pass/fail. That will take a LOT of stress off your shoulders which you cannot underestimate. Especially since you will be older than the average student, living with a SO, and having kids, the more relaxed grading system will help you keep your sanity. Your personal situation is prohibitive of the all-night study benders for weeks straight that the young 20-somethings will do. The Pass/Fail system might help even the playing field for you. Plus you can be much lower in the class standings and get top jobs than you can at BU. Big Law will go down way past top 50% at Berkeley for hiring. At BU its probably top 20% or bust.

It's not really pass fail though..it's HH, H, P and NP, etc. which generally equates to like A, A-/B+, the rest...

[krads153]

Actual 4th year attorney here. T20 grad. In-house.


Go Berkeley and dont look back. Its an amazing school for free. It will open plenty more doors than BU ever will. You can get back to Boston if you want. If your career goals or geographic preference change then Berkeley puts you in a much better position than BU. Approximately $40k in debt after law school is peanuts. And that is for a top law school degree at Berkeley.

Moving and having to uproot your family will be tough, no way around that. But dont forget about Berkeley's grading system (or really lack thereof),. Its essentially pass/fail. That will take a LOT of stress off your shoulders which you cannot underestimate. Especially since you will be older than the average student, living with a SO, and having kids, the more relaxed grading system will help you keep your sanity. Your personal situation is prohibitive of the all-night study benders for weeks straight that the young 20-somethings will do. The Pass/Fail system might help even the playing field for you. Plus you can be much lower in the class standings and get top jobs than you can at BU. Big Law will go down way past top 50% at Berkeley for hiring. At BU its probably top 20% or bust.

According to actual Berkeley students there are grades at Berkeley and there is some degree of gunning.

I'd be a little surprised if the grade stress at Berkeley is appreciably better than most T14s but maybe it it is the land of P/F

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... g#p8595830

Let's put it this way - you won't get biglaw with straight Ps out of Berkeley...that's like bottom third or whatever. You need to gun for at least a couple/several Hs.

I think if you're going to be around median (straight B+s all around), it's better to have grades than just straight Ps, since having straight Ps is in the bottom of the class. If you are going to have "extreme" grades on the low end of the spectrum, it's better to have Berkeley's version of grades.

[20171203]

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