Should I stay at UC Davis? Forum

[nikkynosh]

Should I stay at UC Davis? I'm in kind of a unique situation. Got into UC Davis with a half scholarship (or close to it. Got $25,000 a year and with in-state tuition it's just over half) and I have an uncle who went there and lives there so I have free room and board (but no job afterwords though) and he's willing to front the rest of my tuition money but only if I go to Davis. So my degree would be free from Davis, minus like campus food or whatever. My major has high unemployment so I don't have good career prospects without law school, and I have no biglaw aspirations, and I want to stay in the Sac area.

two questions: in general, is a free degree from where I want to work worth it from Davis?

also, do they stack their sections? group assignments came out today and I'm in a section with a bunch of people who seem to be legit gunners and even a doctor and even the people I don't know all seem to have really impressive backgrounds. Some sections seem to be all or mostly people who i wouldn't say they're less smart but they definitely have less impressive background from less prestigious schools. My scholly didn't have stips beyond good academic standing, and I don't think anyone else's did either, but it seems weird that so many of us in my section seem to be the type of admit who would have solid schollys. the vibe around school is that they did some stacking but why would they with no scholarship stips?

looking for input. thank you.

[rpupkin]

My major has high unemployment so I don't have good career prospects without law school, and I have no biglaw aspirations, and I want to stay in the Sac area.

two questions: in general, is a free degree from where I want to work worth it from Davis?

Yes.

also, do they stack their sections?

Stacking sections only makes sense for the law school if the scollys come with substantive stipulations. I don't believe that UCD has stips beyond maintaining good academic standing (i.e., not flunking out of school). I really doubt that UCD stacks sections.

group assignments came out today and I'm in a section with a bunch of people who seem to be legit gunners and even a doctor and even the people I don't know all seem to have really impressive backgrounds. Some sections seem to be all or mostly people who i wouldn't say they're less smart but they definitely have less impressive background from less prestigious schools.

As you will soon learn, someone who appears to be a "legit gunner" at the start of 1L will not necessarily turn out to be a good student. In my experience, some of the more superficially impressive people were the ones who struggled more academically, while several of the quieter students—who had relatively unimpressive backgrounds and who would become flustered when called upon in class—ended up getting the top grades. Trust me, your current perceptions won't match up to how people end up doing on exams.

[BigZuck]

In general I think that schools like Davis are poor choices if you want to be employed as a lawyer. At this point in time it might be like the 5th best school in CA but that's not saying a ton because USC/UCLA are also risky-ish bets.

But, it's free and employment prospects with just a BA are pretty terrible right now so knock yourself out I guess. If I cared about my uncle's money I wouldn't do it but if you don't then have at it. It might work out and there's no real risk to you personally, other than possibly wasting three years. But then you're probably in a similar situation as you are in now so whatevs.

[timbs4339]

group assignments came out today and I'm in a section with a bunch of people who seem to be legit gunners and even a doctor and even the people I don't know all seem to have really impressive backgrounds. Some sections seem to be all or mostly people who i wouldn't say they're less smart but they definitely have less impressive background from less prestigious schools.

As you will soon learn, someone who appears to be a "legit gunner" at the start of 1L will not necessarily turn out to be a good student. In my experience, some of the more superficially impressive people were the ones who struggled more academically, while several of the quieter students—who had relatively unimpressive backgrounds and who would become flustered when called upon in class—ended up getting the top grades. Trust me, your current perceptions won't match up to how people end up doing on exams.[/quote]

This. You may be experiencing confirmation bias.