Top Law Schools

I have made too many pros and cons lists and at this point they have all been blurred into a mess with, so i defer to the help and wisdom of the forum

Berkeley COA ~$240,000
NYU COA ~$210,000

Finance method - Through a combination of loans (federal, private, and family($$))
GPA - 3.78 LSAT 168, 168

Goal - Big law
geographical preference -none

Cost of attendance for both schools are almost the same for me (under $100,000 in debt), so right now I am just considering post graduation career aspects. From my understanding I should go to Berkeley if I want to stay work in California after, but breaking into the SF is much harder than breaking into NY. NYU was my top choice though I'm not keen on finance/ tax law, which seems to dominate the NY market? From my visits I feel Berkeley's atmosphere is less cutthroat/ competitive and more my speed (but then again I have heard mixed things from mixed company), but honestly I love both schools.
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You might get better responses if you put your COA (after parental contributions, etc.) right now it seems pretty unclear what you'll actually be paying.

Assuming NYU will cost you 30,000 less, I'd go with that.

If biglaw is what you want and you really don't care where you end up, NYU has a better chance of getting you there.

LDC423 wrote:I have made too many pros and cons lists and at this point they have all been blurred into a mess with, so i defer to the help and wisdom of the forum

Berkeley COA ~$240,000
NYU COA ~$210,000

Finance method - Through a combination of loans (federal, private, and family($$))
GPA - 3.78 LSAT 168, 168

Goal - Big law
geographical preference -none

Cost of attendance for both schools are almost the same for me (under $100,000 in debt), so right now I am just considering post graduation career aspects. From my understanding I should go to Berkeley if I want to stay work in California after, but breaking into the SF is much harder than breaking into NY. NYU was my top choice though I'm not keen on finance/ tax law, which seems to dominate the NY market? From my visits I feel Berkeley's atmosphere is less cutthroat/ competitive and more my speed (but then again I have heard mixed things from mixed company), but honestly I love both schools.
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Did you ask B to match?

Generally, for a goal of wanting biglaw with no geographical preference I would recommend going with the cheaper option among these two really good schools. It seems like right now that's NYU, right?

Regarding NY biglaw, yes, the major transactional focused firms are headquartered in NY, but there are a tons of excellent firms in NY that either focus on litigation or just do it really well.

Post removed.

I could not get Berkeley to match as I was accepted after being WL'ed and got the scholarship after the deadline for matching at Berkeley. In terms of price, i'll be under $100,000 in debt in both, I got some outside scholarships for Berkeley, but my parents will match it should I decide on NYU. Price is not really a concern for me in my choice.
I have visited both schools, and love them both; I'm originally from California, but I moved to China in middle school (and would like to keep the option of returning open). A decent network of family and friends in both cities.
My major considerations are employment aspects and, in a sense, student life and how well I"ll do. From what I can gather, it sounds like the Berkeley grading system is a double edged sword, it helps mitigate the risk associated with lower grades but also makes it harder to distinguish yourself from your class. Thus, making Berkeley less "competitive" and more "laid-back" when compared with other T14 schools. Is this true?

LDC423 wrote:I could not get Berkeley to match as I was accepted after being WL'ed and got the scholarship after the deadline for matching at Berkeley. In terms of price, i'll be under $100,000 in debt in both, I got some outside scholarships for Berkeley, but my parents will match it should I decide on NYU. Price is not really a concern for me in my choice.
I have visited both schools, and love them both; I'm originally from California, but I moved to China in middle school (and would like to keep the option of returning open). A decent network of family and friends in both cities.
My major considerations are employment aspects and, in a sense, student life and how well I"ll do. To me it sounds like the Berkeley grading system is a double edged sword, it helps mitigate the burden low grades but also makes it harder to distinguish yourself from your class.

So, in terms of atmosphere, I'm a B alum, and in my opinion there's an unrealistic view expressed on these boards by some 0Ls that the atmosphere at B is totally relaxed.

In my particular class, there were gunners aplenty, and many people openly, publicly, and obnoxiously discussed their grades and exams. Grades do matter at B just like they do just about everywhere else, and there are many smart students competing for top grades.

What I felt was great about B's atmosphere (at least with regards to my class) was that there was a larger number of older/non-traditional students than I think you'd find at the run of the mill t-14. Having a good core of non-traditional students created an atmosphere that I felt was overall more mature - (i.e. more like grad school and less like high school).

tldr --> B, yes, stressful, but, also, more sophisticated and intellectually engaging.

It would be interesting to know of any other options that you have. Cornell ?

L’Étranger wrote:Generally, for a goal of wanting biglaw with no geographical preference I would recommend going with the cheaper option among these two really good schools. It seems like right now that's NYU, right?

+1

A 168/3.78 should have better financial options within the T-14.

l'etranger, were you class of 2015? Because that class was outlandingly obnoxious about discussing grades and gunning, and was kind of atypical. In general I would say the vibe was pretty relaxed, at least in comparison to having actual grades.

worldtraveler wrote:l'etranger, were you class of 2015? Because that class was outlandingly obnoxious about discussing grades and gunning, and was kind of atypical. In general I would say the vibe was pretty relaxed, at least in comparison to having actual grades.

I was class of 2014.

It's definitely all subjective, but I found there to be plenty of gunning and grade whoring in my class at B.

But again, all that being said, I think there were many people in my class who were great people that created a positive environment that I don't believe exists everywhere.

So not trying to crap on B in any way. Just wanted to speak up against what I believe to be a misconception among incoming 0Ls.

c/o 2015 here. I guess it goes to show everyone has a different experience, because I barely discussed grades with anyone or have any idea what grades other people got. Only once did one person try to pull one of those gunner moves on me 1L year, and I just walked away. It's true B has real grades, and they can be stressful for sure, but the HH/H/P scale does tend to make the atmosphere a bit less competitive, I think, as does the fact that B does not release class rankings publicly and you are prohibited from disclosing your class rank with classmates.

CanadianWolf wrote:A 168/3.78 should have better financial options within the T-14.

This is funny because when I was applying back in 2010, these were borderline T14 numbers.