Top Law Schools

Went to undergrad in Boston, so I have plenty of friends and family there- but would also love to live in California. Berkeley would be awesome, but obviously, the full ride to BU/having friends & family nearby makes my decision a little bit harder....


Any vote or additional input would help, so thanks in advance!

Where do you want to work?

No preference.

Any ug debt?

I vote Berkeley, but that's colored by personal preference -- I love the SF Bay Area and I would never want to work in Boston or SoCal.

If you're not so sure about where you want to live or what you want to do, Berkeley will give you more lateral freedom. But much less financial freedom...

What type of work would you like to do? How much debt are you willing to take on?

I say UCLA...berkeley will be too damn expensive to justify the extra expense.

Normally, I would have said Berk in this kind of situation, but with all those tuition increases, it's not slam dunk anymore.

I'll be the odd one out and say BU. It's still Tier1, having no debt is fantastic, and while you like California, I'm getting a vibe that you like Boston more.

UCLA. Or, suck it up and pay sticker for Berk. I can tell you want to move out west. UCLA is on the rise and it is already a better school than BU.

Sounds like you enjoy Boston. I guess it'd be a matter of whether $200,000 in debt from Berkeley would be worth it for your goals. A full ride to a T20 is extremely hard to pass up, especially when you're comfortable in Boston.

I'd rule out UCLA. It isn't ranked that much higher to justify a much higher cost of attendance.

UCLA $$ means 90K or 120K scholly?

Not that it really matters, living in SoCal is expensive. Have you ever been to California and lived here for a substantial period of time or is it just something you wouldn't mind doing, while thinking in the abstract?

Take the full ride at BU and stay on the east coast. You have a strong support base in Boston and a better network than you do in SoCal.

If you want to higher prestige, go for Boalt. If not, go to BU.

legends159 wrote:UCLA $$ means 90K or 120K scholly?

Not that it really matters, living in SoCal is expensive. Have you ever been to California and lived here for a substantial period of time or is it just something you wouldn't mind doing, while thinking in the abstract?

Take the full ride at BU and stay on the east coast. You have a strong support base in Boston and a better network than you do in SoCal.

If you want to higher prestige, go for Boalt. If not, go to BU.

+1. If you do well at BU you're probably going to be set in that area and like the poster above said, it seems like you have a lot more in Boston going for you.

I agree that UCLA should not be in the picture. Beyond that, if you have no other preferences, it's a toss up between Berkeley and BU.

If OP chooses BU and then suddenly realizes the awesomeness of California and wants to live/work there, then I can definitely see them regretting passing up Berk or UCLA. Boston's a great town, but it's not California. You have family in Boston. So what. You can fly back and visit. Or, more likely, they'll want to fly out and visit you in California.

1. Berkeley
2. UCLA
3. BU

Go big (Berkeley) or stay home (BU $$$)

I voted B

Berkeley's LRAP seems to be one of the better ones in the T14. It would also allow you to move back to Boston after law school if you need...although if you wanted to do that then BU would be fine as well. Pretty tough choice. I'd go for Berkeley.

showNprove wrote:I agree that UCLA should not be in the picture. Beyond that, if you have no other preferences, it's a toss up between Berkeley and BU.

+1 It really comes down to what you want to do after you graduate. Having no debt is a pretty liberating feeling though.

(side note: Referring to the other post about California being better than Boston -- Los Angeles is a horrible place to live. It's like San Diego except with fewer pros and so many more cons, including convicts.)

Someone mentioned this but it wasn't answered. At least I didn't see it. If you have substantial undergrad debt then take one of the scholarships. On top of that, if you want to live and practice in CA then take UCLA. If it doesn't really matter then take the full ride at BU.

If money is no object, fuck it, go to Cal.

SHARK WEEK! wrote:If OP chooses BU and then suddenly realizes the awesomeness of California and wants to live/work there, then I can definitely see them regretting passing up Berk or UCLA. Boston's a great town, but it's not California. You have family in Boston. So what. You can fly back and visit. Or, more likely, they'll want to fly out and visit you in California.

1. Berkeley
2. UCLA
3. BU

You're not stuck on the East Coast if you take BU. Of course UCLA and Berk >>>>> BU for CA, but BU's places 10-15% in CA each year and our alumni network on the West Coast is strong.

Its a tough choice.. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. Depends on your goals too. If you want to do big firm work, take Berk and don't look back. Else, I'd take BU.

Berkeley or UCLA with $$!!

Berkeley. You can apply for in-state tuition after 1 year and you'll be set if you want to live in California. Then again I'm biased because Cal is my UG and I have friends at Boalt.

Blindmelon wrote:

SHARK WEEK! wrote:If OP chooses BU and then suddenly realizes the awesomeness of California and wants to live/work there, then I can definitely see them regretting passing up Berk or UCLA. Boston's a great town, but it's not California. You have family in Boston. So what. You can fly back and visit. Or, more likely, they'll want to fly out and visit you in California.

1. Berkeley
2. UCLA
3. BU

You're not stuck on the East Coast if you take BU. Of course UCLA and Berk >>>>> BU for CA, but BU's places 10-15% in CA each year and our alumni network on the West Coast is strong.

Its a tough choice.. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. Depends on your goals too. If you want to do big firm work, take Berk and don't look back. Else, I'd take BU.

Unless the OP wants to do big firm work specifically in California. Then, Berkeley or UCLA would destroy BU. Again, it's not so much about the school as it is about the location.

OP: If you want the East Coast, I'd take BU full-ride. If you want the West Coast, then you'll have a tough choice. I'd take Berkeley in the latter case if the money doesn't matter, but if money matters, then I'd take UCLA with $$ no question.

Again, it's not about the schools. It's about the location. Until you've settled on a location, the choice among the schools you've listed is secondary.

Throw UCLA out, this is only a real debate between Berkeley and BU. I would vote for BU in this case, though if you think you'd want to live in CA at some point, Berkeley is the way to go.

caleng wrote:Berkeley. You can apply for in-state tuition after 1 year and you'll be set if you want to live in California. Then again I'm biased because Cal is my UG and I have friends at Boalt.

Except the in-state tuition is going to be ~50k by her 2L/3L year...so that doesn't really help. Boalt in-state will probably be more expensive than other schools out of state. This is NOT a reason to choose Boalt.

I think it's down Berkeley v. BU $$$, depending on where you want to live, what kind of job you want to get, and how debt averse you are. UCLA should be out of the story because you'll probably have to work in LA if you go there, its (in state and out of state) tuition is also going to be sky high so you're going to be into debt if you go there anyway, and it's probably struggling with placement in CA more than Berkeley is ite.