Top Law Schools

I am pretty sure I want to live and practice in California, specifically San Francisco area after law school. Essentially a full ride at Cornell, $120,000 at UCLA and nothing from Berkeley.

Career path: Big Law in San Fran potentially then moving to in-house counsel for a tech start-up of some kind.

What is my best bet? I am debt averse, but I really liked Berkeley and if its career options in the bay area are far superior to UCLA and Cornell I would consider going there without money.

Thoughts?

Don't consider going to Berkeley without money. See if they will come close to matching Cornell. If not, go to Cornell.

miraclewhip wrote:but I really liked Berkeley and if its career options in the bay area are far superior to UCLA and Cornell I would consider going there without money.

Thoughts?

Why oh why would you ever consider this a good idea?

As stated above, Berkeley at sticker is a bad idea.

See if Berkeley will match your offer from Cornell. If they don't, show your Cornell offer to UCLA and see if they'll bump you up to a full-ride. If UCLA tells you to get lost, go to Cornell. If cost is equal, deciding between UCLA and Cornell for CA biglaw is a little tricky. If you're outside of the top 30% at UCLA, you probably won't get biglaw and will be stuck doing whatever law-related job you can find (and its possible you won't be able to find one, given UCLA's total employment score). With this in mind, even though UCLA places more of its graduates in Cali, Cornell is the better school and will get you biglaw (though probably in NYC) even if you're (slightly) below median. Long story short, it depends on whether you prefer living in California or working in biglaw. If the former, go to UCLA; if the latter, go to Cornell.

Someone with more information can comment on Cornell's placement in California. With ties, I imagine its definitely doable, though I'm not sure what kind of grades one would need.

Would you rather biglaw in NYC or non-biglaw/unemployment in California? Also, is a retake on the table? Money at Berkeley is probably your best bet for CA biglaw.

None of the options work well for your goals

If biglaw >> working in CA go Cornell
if working CA non biglaw >> biglaw then UCLA

Berkeley at sticker is not a good idea. The debt burden could be overwhelming. Consider Cornell and UCLA as your only realistic options among the three law schools.

Berkeley is much better for your goals, but sticker at Berkeley is a bad idea.

It's definitely possible to get big law in SF from Cornell, but you'll need good grades and ties to the Bay Area. Chances are it won't happen for you.

If you can adjust your expectations such that NYC big law seems like an acceptable outcome, then Cornell. Otherwise, retake/reapply or don't go to law school.

If nobody will match take the fullride at Cornell. You might need to work in NYC for a while, but you should be able to make your way back to CA.