Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley? Forum

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Ayeshabelle

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Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by Ayeshabelle » Thu Feb 25, 2010 8:42 am

I've hid this from my parents because they would demand that I go to U minnesota... But I have spent most of my life in NYC and am irrationally afraid of going into the middle of America. Maybe it is because I am a URM, but I feel like I would not belong there.

Any thoughts

avacado111

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by avacado111 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 8:57 am

sticker at berkeley of course....

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watts

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by watts » Thu Feb 25, 2010 8:59 am

I got a full ride from Min too, so I'm sort of in the same boat...I'm interested to hear what people have to say. I don't think I'm considering Min as seriously as you OP, but every once and a while the prospect of very little debt pops into my mind and I get a fuzzy feeling.

Also, would one who attended Min be relegated to MN or secondary Midwest markets?

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by jclaw » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:01 am

sticker at berkeley; t14 school and name recognition nation/worldwide. What type of law do you want to practice? Where do you want to practice when you graduate?

remember debt is very real; so have a plan on how you would pay off over 100k in debt if you take sticker at boalt.

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Ayeshabelle

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by Ayeshabelle » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:04 am

I want to do public interest work, then work at a firm, then do in-house counsel (probably for a non-profit)

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ogman05

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by ogman05 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:11 am

Berkeley no doubt.

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puppleberry finn

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by puppleberry finn » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:25 am

this should be a poll

Cestjustemoi

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by Cestjustemoi » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:43 am

Minn. !

daviddel03

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by daviddel03 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:57 am

i would vote berkeley. I have a similar situation, uminn gave me 20k a yr and berkeley will no doubt be full price, so my situation is not as sticky as yours.

Good luck!

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Chichaca

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by Chichaca » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:05 am

I would say UMN if you were sure you wanted to practice in Minnesota or the Midwest, but it doesn't seem like that's the case.

Go to Boalt.

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by bmtripp » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:21 am

You would be crazy to pass up a full ride at Minnesota. Also, you would fit in just fine in Minneapolis as a URM. It's very diverse and a beautiful/fun place to live (even in the winter).

Neelio

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by Neelio » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:24 am

go to MN... open up a spot for me off the WL at Berk...

starstruck393

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by starstruck393 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:28 am

Did you try to get Berkeley to match any of the UMN offer? Maybe you could get something out of it.

Conventional wisdom would probably say Berkeley, but as an out of state student, with the way Berkeley's tuition is going up, you'd easily be $200k+ in debt. You have to decide how debt averse you are, and if the bump from T20 to T10 is worth $200k. I personally would almost lean towards UMN (the Twin Cities are very nice, fwiw), but it would be a tough call...

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oneforship

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by oneforship » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:35 am

puppleberry finn wrote:this should be a poll

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opus127

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by opus127 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:38 am

Before you decide, I highly recommend visiting MN. I am in a similar position, and I visited recently. Someone from the admissions office showed me all around, took me out to lunch, and arranged for me to meet with people in various offices (career services, clinics, etc), and I observed a class. It was very informative, and I came away with a list of pros and cons that was somewhat different than I anticipated. (Feel free to PM me if you're interested in hearing more.)

Also, see if you can take some time to see more of the area than just the campus. The Twin Cities, as someone already said, are surprisingly diverse, and most people there are very open-minded.
Last edited by opus127 on Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

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webbylu87

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by webbylu87 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:42 am

UMN. Minneapolis is badass.

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by starstruck393 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:56 am

webbylu87 wrote:UMN. Minneapolis is badass.
I never would have thought it, but it could easily be the nicest large city between the coasts...

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Blindmelon

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by Blindmelon » Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:58 am

Berk Berk Berk.

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kumba84

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by kumba84 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:02 am

Ayeshabelle wrote:I've hid this from my parents because they would demand that I go to U minnesota... But I have spent most of my life in NYC and am irrationally afraid of going into the middle of America. Maybe it is because I am a URM, but I feel like I would not belong there.

Any thoughts
This is a tough question to answer without knowing your career goals. But I don't think you should be "afraid" of leaving NYC for the Twin Cities. I am from the Midwest and it is definitely a lot different from NYC, but the Twin Cities are pretty diverse and you should definitely be able to entertain yourself there for three years. Honestly, I don't really like the Midwest but Minneapolis/St. Paul is somewhere I would be happy to live long-term.

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kittenmittons

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by kittenmittons » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:04 am

1) visit both
2) decide
3) ????
4) profit

hth

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ToadGoDead

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by ToadGoDead » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:07 am

berkeley 100% is what i would do

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by lmagged » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:29 am

i think it really depends on where you want to practice. if you think you'll stay in the midwest for a while after law school then go for MN in a heartbeat. once you have some years of experience in practicing law, it will matter less where you went to school. i'm from the east coast and lived in chicago for about 5 years - went to grad school and then worked afterwards. there are things to love about the midwest, even though i couldn't wait to get out after 5 years. minneapolis is supposed to be beautiful, and it's amazing what you get for your money! i will never again have as nice an apt as i did in chicago.

however, if you think you want to be on one of the coasts after law school then definitely go to berkeley. the job market is tight and will certainly be on the upswing by 2013, but it's really important to have competitive advantage. the northeast is going to be saturated with top 10 competition, and the bay area has berkeley and stanford. that's not to say you couldn't get a job on the coasts coming from MN, but i think it would be very difficult if you target highly competitive markets like NY, MA, or CA.

also - to give you an idea of where i'm coming from...i'm at berkeley law now. i have been financially responsible for my undergrad, grad, and now law education with no help from family. what i didn't realize when i got into berkeley was how GENEROUS their need-based aid can be. i thought i was going to be paying full price until they evaluated my need. i don't know what your situation is - if you don't have any educational debt and no reason to get a lot of aid then you may be paying close to full price. on the other hand, you may be pleasantly surprised at how they offer to help you out. if you're going to do public interest work, there are also berkeley-based and federal loan forgiveness programs.

good luck!

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scribelaw

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by scribelaw » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:41 am

I also got a full ride at Minn, but I'm not considering it that much. They have very low BigLaw placement and I'm guessing the path to bigger markets, Chicago or DC, is all but shut down ITE. Minneapolis is a great town, but I don't think I'd be OK living there for the forseeable future.

I think that should be the test -- are you OK with getting a median job out of Minnesota, i.e. a decent-to-good firm job in Minneapolis?

I think I've decided I'd rather take on the debt at NYU and have much stronger odds at a higher-level job.

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gymboree

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by gymboree » Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:52 am

Boalt, hands down. They have a great LRAP, if you want to go back to NYC there's huge name recognition/prestige, and there's no snow.

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Re: Full ride at U Minnesota or Sticker at UC Berkeley?

Post by rogerlodge » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:02 pm

As an URM you will fit in just fine at MN. The city and school are diverse. I'd still say pay for Berkeley.

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