UVA/Michigan/NYU/Berkeley Forum

[dabigchina]

Slight derail but who is considered generous? I thought nyu and Michigan were considered pretty good with money. Gulc is ofc stingy.

[LSCHI]

Slight derail but who is considered generous? I thought nyu and Michigan were considered pretty good with money. Gulc is ofc stingy.

I found Michigan to be quite generous. From what I hear, Duke is good with money (I'll be ale to confirm or disprove that in a few days).

[Mack.Hambleton]

Slight derail but who is considered generous? I thought nyu and Michigan were considered pretty good with money. Gulc is ofc stingy.

NYU is ok but not great

I'd say Chicago > NYU > Columbia for CCN

[k5220]

I'm gonna disagree with Jbagel boy, the matching scholarship isn't as direct as they make it seem. Like the admissions process at Berkeley, its a crapshoot. Read the last couple of pages from last years Boalt c/o thread and you'll get a sense of how many people were frustrated by how arbitrary Berkeley made matching scholarship decisions.

I gotta agree sesto elemento. I had really good numbers for Berkeley and a lot of pretty good scholarships. I applied for the matching scholarship with my $75,000 scholarship from NYU, sincerely expressing an interest to stay in California and attend Berkeley, and I still got nothing from Berkeley through a couple cycles of scholarship offers. California is broke now, and think a matching scholarship at Berkeley is far from a guarantee. Definitely worth a shot, but certainly not a foregone conclusion.

[bruinfan10]

I'm gonna disagree with Jbagel boy, the matching scholarship isn't as direct as they make it seem. Like the admissions process at Berkeley, its a crapshoot. Read the last couple of pages from last years Boalt c/o thread and you'll get a sense of how many people were frustrated by how arbitrary Berkeley made matching scholarship decisions.

I gotta agree sesto elemento. I had really good numbers for Berkeley and a lot of pretty good scholarships. I applied for the matching scholarship with my $75,000 scholarship from NYU, sincerely expressing an interest to stay in California and attend Berkeley, and I still got nothing from Berkeley through a couple cycles of scholarship offers. California is broke now, and think a matching scholarship at Berkeley is far from a guarantee. Definitely worth a shot, but certainly not a foregone conclusion.

Yeah I agree, I think jbagel had an atypical experience with this one. I had a PERFECT stats for money at Berkeley, came from the UC system with great recs from a UCLA dean, among others, had tons of money thrown at me by other T14s, didn't get a DIME from Cal. I had a buddy with like a 176 who got money from T6s who similarly got no money from Berk. Had another buddy who applied on a whim because his numbers weren't super competitive, got decent money.

Bottom line, they're insanedumb in that admissions office. That said though, god I wish I'd been independently wealthy enough to afford sticker...such a criminal waste spending so many years outside California.

[ub3r]

Just out of curiosity, with regards to Berkeley being stingy because it's part of the UC system and California is broke, UCLA seems to hand out a ton of money by comparison, so is that really the reason? Am I missing something?

[Tiago Splitter]

Just out of curiosity, with regards to Berkeley being stingy because it's part of the UC system and California is broke, UCLA seems to hand out a ton of money by comparison, so is that really the reason? Am I missing something?

The ABA disclosures suggest the amounts they give out aren't all that different. Berkeley and UCLA both have 167 LSAT medians so that probably explains whatever difference there is. Berkeley doesn't have to pay for 167's but UCLA does.

[ub3r]

Great answer, thanks.

[jbagelboy]

maybe they've grown stingier over the years, or I didn't have a typical experience. I don't mean to mislead anyone.

[Ron Don Volante]

Slight derail but who is considered generous? I thought nyu and Michigan were considered pretty good with money. Gulc is ofc stingy.

how dare you derail this thread

[drumstickies]

OP--

I was in a very similar position to yours. I'm currently at Cal, but I turned down scholarships from the rest of the schools to be here. Berkeley didn't match my 90K from Michigan nor my $50K from NYU (which I submitted later in a desperate attempt to negotiate). I ended up getting a nominal amount of need-based aid, so I'm financing the rest. That said, I really think Berkeley's a great choice for PI, but you'd have to make sure you're set on it before you take on some of these killer loans. A lot of people at Berkeley say they want PI, but end up gunning for biglaw. But if you do want PI in the west coast, Berkeley's probably one of the best. You have access to an incredible number of meaningful clinics (from which you make invaluable connections) and almost all CA PI positions will be available to you, even with bad grades, as long as you do your due diligence with clinics and networking. Berkeley also has one of the highest ceilings for its loan repayment program, so you can live somewhat comfortably while you're paying off your loans. If you're indifferent about CA or not that committed to PI (it happens), then it's hard to justify paying more at Cal, especially when you have some solid offers.

[slurpy]

OP--

I was in a very similar position to yours. I'm currently at Cal, but I turned down scholarships from the rest of the schools to be here. Berkeley didn't match my 90K from Michigan nor my $50K from NYU (which I submitted later in a desperate attempt to negotiate). I ended up getting a nominal amount of need-based aid, so I'm financing the rest. That said, I really think Berkeley's a great choice for PI, but you'd have to make sure you're set on it before you take on some of these killer loans. A lot of people at Berkeley say they want PI, but end up gunning for biglaw. But if you do want PI in the west coast, Berkeley's probably one of the best. You have access to an incredible number of meaningful clinics (from which you make invaluable connections) and almost all CA PI positions will be available to you, even with bad grades, as long as you do your due diligence with clinics and networking. Berkeley also has one of the highest ceilings for its loan repayment program, so you can live somewhat comfortably while you're paying off your loans. If you're indifferent about CA or not that committed to PI (it happens), then it's hard to justify paying more at Cal, especially when you have some solid offers.

Thanks, drumstickies. What year are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm firmly committed to PI and to California, so Berkeley has always been one of my top choices. Was there anything specific beyond those two factors that steered you toward Berkeley, even at a higher cost?

[drumstickies]

OP--

I was in a very similar position to yours. I'm currently at Cal, but I turned down scholarships from the rest of the schools to be here. Berkeley didn't match my 90K from Michigan nor my $50K from NYU (which I submitted later in a desperate attempt to negotiate). I ended up getting a nominal amount of need-based aid, so I'm financing the rest. That said, I really think Berkeley's a great choice for PI, but you'd have to make sure you're set on it before you take on some of these killer loans. A lot of people at Berkeley say they want PI, but end up gunning for biglaw. But if you do want PI in the west coast, Berkeley's probably one of the best. You have access to an incredible number of meaningful clinics (from which you make invaluable connections) and almost all CA PI positions will be available to you, even with bad grades, as long as you do your due diligence with clinics and networking. Berkeley also has one of the highest ceilings for its loan repayment program, so you can live somewhat comfortably while you're paying off your loans. If you're indifferent about CA or not that committed to PI (it happens), then it's hard to justify paying more at Cal, especially when you have some solid offers.

Thanks, drumstickies. What year are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm firmly committed to PI and to California, so Berkeley has always been one of my top choices. Was there anything specific beyond those two factors that steered you toward Berkeley, even at a higher cost?

I'm from the Bay, and I knew I wanted to stay in California. Outside of HYS, I think Berkeley's probably the best for the CA market. I know several people who turned down scholarships to CCN because they knew they wanted to lay down roots in CA. It's difficult to overestimate the impact of going to a good school in the region/state in which you want to practice. A lot of local biglaw firms host events at Berkeley (we just had one yesterday), and a lot of nonprofits respect the Berkeley name.

[k5220]

For what it's worth, I had a pretty easy time making it back to California from NYU. Only a small number of California employers come to campus, and so you have to do a little more work researching and applying to places, but it was pretty easy to get the jobs I wanted during summers and for after graduation. NYU has a pretty surprising network of public interest folks in California, the name recognition is still pretty good, and the substantive experiences offered in NYU's public interest program are pretty helpful.

I think people below median at NYU probably have a tougher time getting to California than people below median at Berkeley, though.

[Tiago Splitter]

OP--

I was in a very similar position to yours. I'm currently at Cal, but I turned down scholarships from the rest of the schools to be here. Berkeley didn't match my 90K from Michigan nor my $50K from NYU (which I submitted later in a desperate attempt to negotiate). I ended up getting a nominal amount of need-based aid, so I'm financing the rest. That said, I really think Berkeley's a great choice for PI, but you'd have to make sure you're set on it before you take on some of these killer loans. A lot of people at Berkeley say they want PI, but end up gunning for biglaw. But if you do want PI in the west coast, Berkeley's probably one of the best. You have access to an incredible number of meaningful clinics (from which you make invaluable connections) and almost all CA PI positions will be available to you, even with bad grades, as long as you do your due diligence with clinics and networking. Berkeley also has one of the highest ceilings for its loan repayment program, so you can live somewhat comfortably while you're paying off your loans. If you're indifferent about CA or not that committed to PI (it happens), then it's hard to justify paying more at Cal, especially when you have some solid offers.

Thanks, drumstickies. What year are you, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm firmly committed to PI and to California, so Berkeley has always been one of my top choices. Was there anything specific beyond those two factors that steered you toward Berkeley, even at a higher cost?

I'm from the Bay, and I knew I wanted to stay in California. Outside of HYS, I think Berkeley's probably the best for the CA market. I know several people who turned down scholarships to CCN because they knew they wanted to lay down roots in CA. It's difficult to overestimate the impact of going to a good school in the region/state in which you want to practice. A lot of local biglaw firms host events at Berkeley (we just had one yesterday), and a lot of nonprofits respect the Berkeley name.

Just so everyone's clear 1L is the answer to your first question slurpy.

[slurpy]

I'm from the Bay, and I knew I wanted to stay in California. Outside of HYS, I think Berkeley's probably the best for the CA market. I know several people who turned down scholarships to CCN because they knew they wanted to lay down roots in CA. It's difficult to overestimate the impact of going to a good school in the region/state in which you want to practice. A lot of local biglaw firms host events at Berkeley (we just had one yesterday), and a lot of nonprofits respect the Berkeley name.

Just so everyone's clear 1L is the answer to your first question slurpy.

Thanks!!

[jbagelboy]

Slight derail but who is considered generous? I thought nyu and Michigan were considered pretty good with money. Gulc is ofc stingy.

NYU is ok but not great

I'd say Chicago > NYU > Columbia for CCN

CLS actually gave me and several people in my year than either nyu or chicago, but that was a few cycles ago so now who knows

[Pikappraider]

Slight derail but who is considered generous? I thought nyu and Michigan were considered pretty good with money. Gulc is ofc stingy.

Duke is pretty generous, and the cost of living is very cheap