UC Davis vs. UC Hastings for Bay Area Govt./PI Forum

[RadMobile]

Ok, last one I promise. Have visited both schools and loved both of them. The quality of life that Davis offers is a huge draw, but I feel like Hastings will offer more Bay Area govt/PI job prospects.

Give me some advice!

[holydonkey]

UC Davis. Davis has far better employment stats and is 14 spots higher in US News. Hastings is on the decline.

[Borhas]

Ok, last one I promise. Have visited both schools and loved both of them. The quality of life that Davis offers is a huge draw, but I feel like Hastings will offer more Bay Area govt/PI job prospects.

Give me some advice!

go to Hastings

[pootie]

Are you in the bay area now? If so, you should go to Davis' alumni/admitted students reception in SF on the 19th. You can talk to the bay area alums about how they found jobs. I going to Davis and plan to look for work in the bay area, but I'm also 0L so I can't be certain that there are advantages of one school over the other.

[bk1]

Employment stats out of the schools is similar. I would assume that Hastings larger alumni network gives it a bit of an edge. I might also venture to guess (with no data) that a larger portion of Davis students than Hastings students end up in Sac so that might give Hastings another slight edge.

In the end, I don't think you can go wrong here. Similar class rank at either will probably give you roughly exact same choices in the Bay Area.

[RadMobile]

Seems like there is no obvious correct choice. Davis does have a great LRAP and the cost of living in Davis would definitely leave me with less overall debt.

[bceagles182]

Davis is cheaper, go there.

[eth3n]

What kind of gov? Sac DA is pretty much locked up due to budget crisis, SF DA is super competitive (of course Sac had 300+ candidates for approx 5 spots as well).

In any case, I didn't really take the whole "quality of life" thing from Davis into consideration before coming here (Originally I preferred Hastings), but it really does makes a difference (my $550 rent[inc. utils] and the ability to actually enjoy fresh air notwithstanding).

Avoiding some of the common issues (employement stat drama, etc.) that come up in this debate, I think that Davis put in a lot of effort into helping 1Ls succeed (if you feel like putting in the effort to go to office hours). Every professor I have had thus far has had an open-door policy, and we have a 2L/3L tutor for each 1L class for each section (this includes LRW) who holds office hours twice a week. The whole "academic success program" at davis is defintely legit, its just that only a few people actually utilize it.

If you want to work in Bay Area, you just gotta network early and at every opportunity. I don't see a big difference just based on your class rank coming out of either school. It's about putting in the effort.

The one undeniable benefit of Hastings is that you can do SF externships during the year with ease due to the location, whereas from Davis there are some logistical issues.

[RadMobile]

Avoiding some of the common issues (employement stat drama, etc.) that come up in this debate, I think that Davis put in a lot of effort into helping 1Ls succeed (if you feel like putting in the effort to go to office hours). Every professor I have had thus far has had an open-door policy, and we have a 2L/3L tutor for each 1L class for each section (this includes LRW) who holds office hours twice a week. The whole "academic success program" at davis is defintely legit, its just that only a few people actually utilize it.

Yeah, the "academic success program" is a real draw. Nice to know that there are programs in place to help out a drowning 1L.

The one undeniable benefit of Hastings is that you can do SF externships during the year with ease due to the location, whereas from Davis there are some logistical issues.

And that is why I continue to be drawn to Hastings, its proximity to such awesome government opportunities.

[RadMobile]

Shamelessly bumping...

[Borhas]

if SF+easier access to Bay Area externships/networking > QOL+money saved at UC Davis

then go to Hastings
if not go to Davis

the formula is there, you just have to plug in your subjective values... only thing else you'd have to take into account is that Hastings LRAP is slightly better (capped at 70k, and can be used with IBR). If you are absolutely certain you want PI or Govt, I'd actually ignore the cost difference between Davis and Hastings thanks to the generosity LRAP+IBR

if you already know all of that then the choice is probably close enough that you shouldn't stress too much about it anyway on account of being so close in net benefits. Just pick one and go with it.

[RadMobile]

if SF+easier access to Bay Area externships/networking > QOL+money saved at UC Davis

then go to Hastings
if not go to Davis

the formula is there, you just have to plug in your subjective values... only thing else you'd have to take into account is that Hastings LRAP is slightly better (capped at 70k, and can be used with IBR). If you are absolutely certain you want PI or Govt, I'd actually ignore the cost difference between Davis and Hastings thanks to the generosity LRAP+IBR

if you already know all of that then the choice is probably close enough that you shouldn't stress too much about it anyway on account of being so close in net benefits. Just pick one and go with it.

+1

Thank you for your good advice. Appreciate it.