Columbia(?) v. NYU($) v. Berkeley(?) Forum

[calbear15]

Hi Everyone,

Waited a pretty long time to be able to make one of these as I've been on TLS since I was a young naive college freshman but now I can finally post as a young naive college senior

CLS, NYU, Berk
-Total COA of each: CLS: $257,265 (sticker - they haven't given out non-named scholarships yet, but I have a feeling sticker or very close to sticker); NYU: $188,666 (after $62.5k scholarship); Berkeley: $212,571 (in-state sticker - still need to wait and see if Berkeley will match but I heard you're less than likely to get a match, so I'm assuming sticker).

-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings
Fortunately, my parents and brothers will be covering my law school costs, although we're not rich by any means, so $ is still a big consideration for me.

-Your general career goals
This isn't set in stone but for now, big law -> in-house somewhere at a company in the bay area after a few years. Does Columbia keep anymore doors open than Berk or NYU would if I ever decided to change my mind?

-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any)
Born and raised in the bay area and went to Cal for undergrad. Ultimately want to end up back in the bay, but I'm not too thrilled about spending another 3 years at Berkeley. Really really love the place but just want a change of scenery and I know I'm going to be back in Cali at the end of the day so part of me wants to experience NY and get out of the state for a bit (my SO is flexible but they really want to work and live in NY for a couple years too). If I went to Columbia or NYU, I would ideally come back and do biglaw in the bay area right after I graduate, but I'm definitely not opposed to NY biglaw if its necessary. Just definitely want to be back in CA in like 6 or 7 years.

So ultimately I guess what I'm wondering is if I want bay area big law, is Berkeley the totally obvious answer (if they match NYU vs. if they don't match)? How does Berkeley's placement into SF/SV big law in comparison to CLS and NYU? I'm not totally opposed to being in berkeley for another three years if its the absolute best for me career wise, but for the reasons I mentioned above I would just prefer-strongly prefer going to school in NY. Lastly, I'm assuming my born and raised ties are strong enough to get me back here if i did go to school in New York. Does CLS place significantly better than NYU in CA biglaw? Would CLS ever be worth $70k more than NYU?

-Your LSAT/GPA numbers
3.83, 172

-How many times you have taken the LSAT
twice

I'll definitely update once I hear back from CLS about scholarship and whether Berk will match (though I dont think they give our matching decisions until May). Thanks all in advance!

[GreenEggs]

If you want to end up in the bay area, I think getting the Berk match is the best option.

[Tiago Splitter]

I think you'd be fine at NYU. Hopefully CLS gives you some money. Getting back to CA isn't that hard, especially if you are cool with starting in NYC for a few years. Berkeley is a great option too.

Do you have any other schollies that could potentially net a better match from Berk than the 62.5k from NYU? Also make sure to tell Berk that's actually 75k assuming NYU gave the standard 62.5/75k split.

[jbagelboy]

With those numbers CLS should give you $50-65k scholarship. Then I'd head there. As of now, NYU, but I'm very skeptical you'd receive nothing from Columbia. Congrats!

[CanadianWolf]

NYU since you want a change of scenery & have received an offer of money.

[kingpin101]

Why aren't you mentioning the great offers you should be getting from lower t14 schools?

[calbear15]

Why aren't you mentioning the great offers you should be getting from lower t14 schools?

I actually haven't been accepted to any of the lower T14 yet. For every school except Berkeley and some non-T14's, I asked them to hold my app until I got my February LSAT score. I was at 167 when I applied, so basically for schools where I thought my app was strong enough, I went ahead and let my app go under review (Berkeley, USC, UCLA, WashU). After I got my February LSAT score and went complete at most schools in early march, I got into CLS, NYU, and WL at Michigan and UVA. Have yet to hear back from cornell, penn, northwestern, duke, gtown.

So for those saying either NYU or CLS, do you guys think they place equally or not significantly worse than Berkeley into bay area big law (right out of law school I mean) And if CLS came somewhat close to Berkeley/NYU in COA, is that TCR?

[jbagelboy]

So for those saying either NYU or CLS, do you guys think they place equally or not significantly worse than Berkeley into bay area big law (right out of law school I mean) And if CLS came somewhat close to Berkeley/NYU in COA, is that TCR?

If you absolutely want to work at a large firm in the bay area after graduation, Berkeley is better than CLS or NYU for that specific goal. I think everyone would agree on that point. However, I don't think CLS w/ ties places significantly worse, it's just difficult to crack SF without any convincing reason why you'd want to be there, and it's a small market generally. You have the Berkeley alumni network already established for yourself, and plenty of local ties. You'll probably spend your 1L summer there. I know a lot of people who summered/are summering at great firms in SF/SV; I also do know of people who struck out in NorCal but none of them were from there, they were just throwing shit at the wall all over the map and seeing what stuck.

The greater point is that even if you don't start in San Francisco, you can get back there either by starting at a large firm in New York or a California firm in Los Angeles/Orange County and transitioning after a year or two.

[stephcurry]

In a similar situation as OP and wondering how much more people think CLS is worth than NYU with same goals of SF/SV big law.