Best choice for California biglaw Forum

[admiringatticus]

Hi everyone,

It's coming down to the wire now and I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do next year but I'm curious to see what others would do in my position.

The schools you are considering (I'm just going to throw them all at you):
Chicago @ 75k scholarship
Berkeley @ 75k scholarship
Virginia @ 135k scholarship
Cornell @ 150k scholarship
UCLA @ full-tuition scholarship

COA:
My SO is moving with me and is covering the entire cost of our living expenses. So I will only be covering my tuition and fees with loans. I've also included some savings in these final COA calculations.

Chicago: $101,000
Berkeley: $99,000
Virginia: $41000
Cornell: $42000
UCLA: nothing

If I do one summer of biglaw those numbers could come down substantially since my SO will continue paying living costs in the summers and I can put all of my salary into lowering the debt. So these COAs could be approximately 20-30k lower.

My goal is California biglaw at least for a few years after graduation because as an international student it's easier to be sponsored for employment in a large firm and because I'd like some financial security if in debt. Eventually I would like to move into some sort of PI or public service capacity.

I want to be in CA after graduation, preferably the Bay Area but would also consider LA.

LSAT was 171, GPA 4.xx. LSAT attempts exhausted.

Thoughts??

[Onomatopoeia]

Hi everyone,

It's coming down to the wire now and I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do next year but I'm curious to see what others would do in my position.

The schools you are considering (I'm just going to throw them all at you):
Chicago @ 75k scholarship
Berkeley @ 75k scholarship
Virginia @ 135k scholarship
Cornell @ 150k scholarship
UCLA @ full-tuition scholarship

COA:
My SO is moving with me and is covering the entire cost of our living expenses. So I will only be covering my tuition and fees with loans. I've also included some savings in these final COA calculations.

Chicago: $101,000
Berkeley: $99,000
Virginia: $41000
Cornell: $42000
UCLA: nothing

If I do one summer of biglaw those numbers could come down substantially since my SO will continue paying living costs in the summers and I can put all of my salary into lowering the debt. So these COAs could be approximately 20-30k lower.

My goal is California biglaw at least for a few years after graduation because as an international student it's easier to be sponsored for employment in a large firm and because I'd like some financial security if in debt. Eventually I would like to move into some sort of PI or public service capacity.

I want to be in CA after graduation, preferably the Bay Area but would also consider LA.

LSAT was 171, GPA 4.xx. LSAT attempts exhausted.

Thoughts??

Chicago, unless berkeley matches UVA's scholarship -- in which case: berkeley.

[aboutmydaylight]

Do you have ties to CA? Without them you can pretty much rule out UVA and Cornell. It'll be tough getting big law out of UCLA. I think the choice is between Chicago and Berkeley but I'm surprised Berkeley would only give you 75k with Chicago doing the same thing. I'm guessing you sent them your Chicago offer and they matched it? Tough call but I'd probably take Chicago for the added security + you should be ok targeting LA.

[jbagelboy]

I'd go to Berkeley, but Chicago is a great call too. Congrats!