Berkeley v. Duke v. UVA Forum

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nonamer49

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Berkeley v. Duke v. UVA

Post by nonamer49 » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:50 am

Location and surroundings aside (I think Charlottesville beats all), how would you rank Berkeley, Duke, and UVA if its just the three of them?

Any particular specializations better or worse at these schools (i.e. international law, litigation)?

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just a girl

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Post by just a girl » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:52 am

I think that Boalt is probably the least stressful environment, and it's the highest ranked in USNWR (not that it really matters).
Duke is a really nice campus, and it's not huge, which Boalt unequivocally is.
UVA is fabulous, and incredibly collegial I've heard.

I would probably rank:
UVA>Boalt>Duke

nonamer49

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Post by nonamer49 » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:58 am

Yeah, my instinct in terms of raw reputation value was
Berkeley>Duke>UVA

for quality of living et al it was
UVA>Berkeley>Duke

for academic value it was
Berkeley/UVA>Duke

I wasn't really solid on any of those though--just kind of the feeling I got

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Post by zeezoo » Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:09 am

UVA does significantly better in top firm placement, and their reputation scores are better than Duke and Berkeley, so I am not sure where you are coming up with this stuff.

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Post by YoungFogey » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:04 am

Duke's the definite trailer of that pack. National reputation is lower across the board. I'm sure their academic rep is going to get dinged when Chermensky leaves next year (he accounts for a sizable number of the citations Duke profs have).

UVA and Berkeley are pretty close. A lot of their difference is in self selection. Berkeley gets a lot more PI applicants and grads tend to stay on the west coast.

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Probity

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Post by Probity » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:08 am

I'm pretty impartial about this...okay, I am not. But I did start out that way and I came to believe that UVA's superior placement (of these three) combined with what could be the best QOL of any school gives UVA the lead. Berkeley is tempting, but at no point would I pick Duke over either of those two schools.

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Post by The Agitator » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:29 am

Duke has better layman reputation, but UVA definitely has a better reputation in the legal field.

citric

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Post by citric » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:50 am

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Last edited by citric on Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

bauerahl

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Post by bauerahl » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:35 pm

It is just too hard to tell between Berkeley and UVA. Berkeley is better for IP and better on the west coast and is just a great school in pretty much every facet. I can't think of any particular fields where I would put UVA above Berkeley but UVA is collegial, fun, beautiful, provides spectacular firm placement and for some reason does absurdly well in supreme court clerk placement As others have pointed out, they are both a notch above Duke.

I would put Berkeley and UVA right up with Penn and Michigan in the rankings (in some order). Personally, I would put Berkeley just above UVA but I'm not sure even about that. Visit both and choose for yourself.

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snap

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Post by snap » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:39 pm

JAG, I wouldn't call Boalt huge at all. What is the class size, something like 250? Sure, that's a little bigger than Duke, but compare it to Harvard, GULC, NYU, etc...

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just a girl

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Post by just a girl » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:04 pm

No, Boalt itself is small. Berkeley's campus is ginormous, and Duke wasn't overwhelmingly large when I visited.

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snap

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Post by snap » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:05 pm

Hmm...Berkeley to me doesn't seem all that big. Then again, I'm from Davis, where the campus is much larger...

zeezoo

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Post by zeezoo » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:18 pm

How on Earth can people continue to berate the lacrosse players, whose lives were ruined for doing nothing wrong?

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YoungFogey

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Post by YoungFogey » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:47 pm

How on Earth can people continue to berate the lacrosse players, whose lives were ruined for doing nothing wrong?
There is a difference between doing nothing criminal and doing nothing wrong. 100% believing their side of the story they still rate as people I would never choose to associate with.

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Post by zeezoo » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:15 pm

I sure hope you think even less of the prosecution.

YoungFogey

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Post by YoungFogey » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:22 pm

I sure hope you think even less of the prosecution.
I have absolutely zero respect for the DA as well.

One really doesn't have anything to do with the other, though.

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thisabyssisbliss

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Post by thisabyssisbliss » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:14 pm

I think Charlottesville beats all
seriously? Charlottesville beats the bay area?

If you think that I would choose UVA, I think the biggest difference between the two is going to be location. Actually i would try and visit both and see what you think.

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schadenfreude

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Post by schadenfreude » Sat Dec 22, 2007 2:05 am

I would definitely rather live and work in the Bay Area over Virginia and certainly North Carolina. Duke is a great school but I bet I would be heading directly without pass/go to D.C. upon graduation from Dook.

I have an idea. Let football be your guide. Go to the place with the best football team. CAL>Virginia>doook

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Post by johnyk » Sat Dec 22, 2007 2:07 am

UVA is best law school in every way...

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Formerbruin

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Post by Formerbruin » Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:41 am

My decision between UVa and Boalt went to the last day during last cycle. This was my list. Note that education quality is not on here because the difference was barely discernable, and IP was not a particular interest of mine.

UVa:
Pros:
Better facilities/architecture
More scholarship money
Actual seasons
Inroads to market in DC
Cute little town
Cons:
Charlottesville is not the most exciting place in the world
Middle o' nowhere
Actual snow (yeah i'm a softie)
People seemed relatively fratty/clique-ish
Obsession with beer and softball (and really, it's an obsession)
Seemed a little too big

Boalt:
Pros:
Cute town
SF and Oakland are less than 30 minutes away by BART
Great weather year-round
People were incredibly chill and relaxed
Access to Berkeley's other amazing grad programs (including Haas next door)
Great for west coast jobs
Cons:
Ugly building/rooms that are not completely up to date (though they're working on it)
Tuition going up over the next few years
Law school seemed pretty secluded with the B school; not a whole lot of attempt at interaction with other departments
Less representation on the east coast

Those were my main concerns that I can remember right now. Again, it was a very hard choice to make and I'm very happy I visited both (along with Duke, though Duke did not compare with UVa in my mind).

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Post by beckerdx » Sat Dec 22, 2007 4:28 am

beer and softball is a con?

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Re:

Post by 005618502 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:45 am

Did you decide on Berkeley?
Formerbruin wrote:My decision between UVa and Boalt went to the last day during last cycle. This was my list. Note that education quality is not on here because the difference was barely discernable, and IP was not a particular interest of mine.

UVa:
Pros:
Better facilities/architecture
More scholarship money
Actual seasons
Inroads to market in DC
Cute little town
Cons:
Charlottesville is not the most exciting place in the world
Middle o' nowhere
Actual snow (yeah i'm a softie)
People seemed relatively fratty/clique-ish
Obsession with beer and softball (and really, it's an obsession)
Seemed a little too big

Boalt:
Pros:
Cute town
SF and Oakland are less than 30 minutes away by BART
Great weather year-round
People were incredibly chill and relaxed
Access to Berkeley's other amazing grad programs (including Haas next door)
Great for west coast jobs
Cons:
Ugly building/rooms that are not completely up to date (though they're working on it)
Tuition going up over the next few years
Law school seemed pretty secluded with the B school; not a whole lot of attempt at interaction with other departments
Less representation on the east coast

Those were my main concerns that I can remember right now. Again, it was a very hard choice to make and I'm very happy I visited both (along with Duke, though Duke did not compare with UVa in my mind).

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clintonius

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Re: Berkeley v. Duke v. UVA

Post by clintonius » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:04 am

I came in thinking about placement, clerkships and reputation, and was going to recommend UVA without reservation. Then I started thinking honestly about where I'd rather go. And goddamn, it's a toss-up. I really think visits to both places are necessary. Duke doesn't really compare, in my opinion.

005618502

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Re: Berkeley v. Duke v. UVA

Post by 005618502 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:42 am

I agree with alot of what has been said. I would say you cannot go wrong with a decision here. My two top choices are UVA and Berkeley, yes even over CCN (no chance at HYS im guessing). But are you "in state" in cali? that would make a considerable difference. Where you would rather love should be a big deal here, though i believe you could find a great job on either coast from either of these two schools

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clintonius

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Re: Berkeley v. Duke v. UVA

Post by clintonius » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:44 am

jt1341 wrote:But are you "in state" in cali? that would make a considerable difference. Where you would rather love should be a big deal here
Berk trolling

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