Berkeley Class of 2012 Forum

[southernlady]

So for the out-of-staters, is tuition the in-state $32,498 + $15,306??? There are different places in the log-in area with different numbers that are confusing.

[Kohinoor]

Whoa. The reality of owing that much just hit me. May not be able to justify Berkeley depending on the package they offer me...

[mallen210]

Whoa. The reality of owing that much just hit me. May not be able to justify Berkeley depending on the package they offer me...

Given the grant money they've offered me, Berkeley is actually looking good compared to the lack of financial information received from my other comparable schools

[unionorganizer02]

I don't have anything on there yet (no offer), but I can log in. I am being counted as an independent student according to UCB (under track on the status tab). Is this because they agreed I was independent since I submitted the "Statement of Independence" or are all law students getting this?

And my budget amount is $57,872.00 in state - was the 70,117 out of state?

I submitted my statement of independence today. Kind of a hassle. They wAnted my parents' income tax forms from the last five years. They just finished 2008. I am married and had owned a home in texas. I also stated my independence on the. Need Access form. I hope I gt something for my efforts. I am driving back to so cal from sac right now. Will check my status later and report.

[TopCat]

Whoa. The reality of owing that much just hit me. May not be able to justify Berkeley depending on the package they offer me...

Given the grant money they've offered me, Berkeley is actually looking good compared to the lack of financial information received from my other comparable schools

^Same here (actually, in my case, even when compared to the deals I got from the T30 schools). The grant money if I am indeed getting that much makes it entirely justifiable to attend Berkeley! However, the "Financial Aid Summary" section shows LAW GRANT and amount and says I have already "accepted" the offer. I am a bit confused. When I try to access the "Offer Letter" section, I get this message: "Sorry, there are no Official or Preliminary Awards to view at this time." That section also has an option for "Accept/Decline Awards" and when I click it I get: "Sorry. At this time your file is incomplete so you cannot accept or decline Your awards. Look at your Academic Year Awards to find out what is missing from your file."

I hope this is not a fluke and that I am indeed getting that much in grants. It would be a huge disappointment if all this is just a technical error and things change 4/1.

[mallen210]

Whoa. The reality of owing that much just hit me. May not be able to justify Berkeley depending on the package they offer me...

Given the grant money they've offered me, Berkeley is actually looking good compared to the lack of financial information received from my other comparable schools

^Same here (actually, in my case, even when compared to the deals I got from the T30 schools). The grant money if I am indeed getting that much makes it entirely justifiable to attend Berkeley! However, the "Financial Aid Summary" section shows LAW GRANT and amount and says I have already "accepted" the offer. I am a bit confused. When I try to access the "Offer Letter" section, I get this message: "Sorry, there are no Official or Preliminary Awards to view at this time." That section also has an option for "Accept/Decline Awards" and when I click it I get: "Sorry. At this time your file is incomplete so you cannot accept or decline Your awards. Look at your Academic Year Awards to find out what is missing from your file."

I hope this is not a fluke and that I am indeed getting that much in grants. It would be a huge disappointment if all this is just a technical error and things change 4/1.

I don't think it's a fluke. Usually (at least it's this way at my undergrad) you are only asked to accept/decline loan money (b/c you'll have to pay it back with interest usually) and scholarship money (b/c there might be academic requirements that you have to keep up). They don't ask about general grant money because... well, no one turns down free grant money! I'm assuming it is saying that (when you click on it) because they haven't put loan/scholarship money up yet. Could be wrong but I think that makes a lot of sense. Enjoy your grant! I know I am!

The brochure must not be lying when it says avg. grant money for out-of-state last year was over 26k!

[legends159]

woah unless I'm reading it wrong I got a grant of 27K a year. Is this official?

[TopCat]

woah unless I'm reading it wrong I got a grant of 27K a year. Is this official?

Yeah, I apparently got something like that too. I can't believe it. And to think that I was ecstatic when Fordham gave me $10K a year grant.

And thanks, mallen210, for the reassurance. I hope all you guys will choose Berkeley. I know I am definitely going now

[TopCat]

woah unless I'm reading it wrong I got a grant of 27K a year. Is this official?

Congrats!

I am still getting "No financial aid awards found for student."

Did you check out the "Award Summary" link? That's the only place where it shows that I received a grant, FWIW.

[legends159]

I called financial aid. The grant money is just for 1L year.

2L and beyond the numbers will change dramatically for 3 reasons:

1. They expect you to get instate tuition (so you gotta live there for a year and get a driver's license or register to vote)

2. Summer employment. They give you a 7K living allowance for summer employment. Then expect that 60% of what you make after that 7K cushion will be applied to tuition. E.g., if you make 10K over the summer, they expect 60% of 3K or 1800 to go towards tuition. Now if you make the typical 30K that 2L firm jobs give, you'll be paying 13,800 of that towards tuition.

3. Probably won't have an effect, but the state of California's economy might influence grants. The financial aid officer told me they're pretty insulated but that it could be a unlikely possibility.

[mallen210]

I called financial aid. The grant money is just for 1L year.

2L and beyond the numbers will change dramatically for 3 reasons:

1. They expect you to get instate tuition (so you gotta live there for a year and get a driver's license or register to vote)

2. Summer employment. They give you a 7K living allowance for summer employment. Then expect that 60% of what you make after that 7K cushion will be applied to tuition. E.g., if you make 10K over the summer, they expect 60% of 3K or 1800 to go towards tuition. Now if you make the typical 30K that 2L firm jobs give, you'll be paying 13,800 of that towards tuition.

3. Probably won't have an effect, but the state of California's economy might influence grants. The financial aid officer told me they're pretty insulated but that it could be a unlikely possibility.

There ya go... the grant money is for real.

See you all at BOALT! haha... I know I'm going now 100%!

[legends159]

I called financial aid. The grant money is just for 1L year.

2L and beyond the numbers will change dramatically for 3 reasons:

1. They expect you to get instate tuition (so you gotta live there for a year and get a driver's license or register to vote)

2. Summer employment. They give you a 7K living allowance for summer employment. Then expect that 60% of what you make after that 7K cushion will be applied to tuition. E.g., if you make 10K over the summer, they expect 60% of 3K or 1800 to go towards tuition. Now if you make the typical 30K that 2L firm jobs give, you'll be paying 13,800 of that towards tuition.

3. Probably won't have an effect, but the state of California's economy might influence grants. The financial aid officer told me they're pretty insulated but that it could be a unlikely possibility.

There ya go... the grant money is for real.

See you all at BOALT! haha... I know I'm going now 100%!

It's kind of hard to predict the total cost of attending Boalt since their grants fluctuate yearly. I'm still trying to figure out the total cost of Boalt v. Virginia

[mp2012]

I'm in-state and I got $23,350 a year! This makes it SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than other schools. I'll be at the ASD so we'll see soon enough if I'll be attending Berkeley. Hope everyone else is loving their financial aid package!

[Rotor]

Congrats everyone who got $$. Very exciting. I too was able to log in and when I clicked on financial aid all I saw was:



Actually, I'm hoping it's because there's no letter on file yet. (Could everyone who saw awards see the pdf letter? Or did you all get a number in the summary and not see a formal letter?)

[legends159]

Congrats everyone who got $$. Very exciting. I too was able to log in and when I clicked on financial aid all I saw was:



Actually, I'm hoping it's because there's no letter on file yet. (Could everyone who saw awards see the pdf letter? Or did you all get a number in the summary and not see a formal letter?)

no official letter

[elliej]

I haven't gotten a letter yet either.

Somewhat relatedly, has anyone been notified of a matching scholarship award yet?

[mallen210]

Congrats everyone who got $$. Very exciting. I too was able to log in and when I clicked on financial aid all I saw was:



Actually, I'm hoping it's because there's no letter on file yet. (Could everyone who saw awards see the pdf letter? Or did you all get a number in the summary and not see a formal letter?)

no official letter

No letters just numbers...

[TopCat]

I called financial aid. The grant money is just for 1L year.

2L and beyond the numbers will change dramatically for 3 reasons:

1. They expect you to get instate tuition (so you gotta live there for a year and get a driver's license or register to vote)

2. Summer employment. They give you a 7K living allowance for summer employment. Then expect that 60% of what you make after that 7K cushion will be applied to tuition. E.g., if you make 10K over the summer, they expect 60% of 3K or 1800 to go towards tuition. Now if you make the typical 30K that 2L firm jobs give, you'll be paying 13,800 of that towards tuition.

3. Probably won't have an effect, but the state of California's economy might influence grants. The financial aid officer told me they're pretty insulated but that it could be a unlikely possibility.

There ya go... the grant money is for real.

See you all at BOALT! haha... I know I'm going now 100%!

It's kind of hard to predict the total cost of attending Boalt since their grants fluctuate yearly. I'm still trying to figure out the total cost of Boalt v. Virginia

Legends, forget UVA. We want you at Boalt [see, I am already a convert. It's really easy. Try it. We are building a religion...]

[TopCat]

Legends, forget UVA. We want you at Boalt [see, I am already a convert. It's really easy. Try it. We are building a religion...]

I think there already is one.

But we're gonna build it bigger, add some more lanes, widen the corridors and, and...hey, where's the pendant key chains?

[worldtraveler]

I'm still waiting for my info . I think since I was practically the last person admitted my financial aid info might not be ready yet. Is there any way to get the CALNet ID without waiting for the letter in the mail?

[mallen210]

Legends, forget UVA. We want you at Boalt [see, I am already a convert. It's really easy. Try it. We are building a religion...]

I think there already is one.

But we're gonna build it bigger, add some more lanes, widen the corridors and, and...hey, where's the pendant key chains?

+1

I turned down Virginia (with in-state tuition) for Boalt! You can too! Baby steps...baby steps...

oh...and p.s... I was biting my fingernails over that decision until I got that nice grant today

[Rotor]

Meetup info posted.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 8#p1430038

or

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event ... wall_posts

[dank4284]

Nuts, my CalNet ID still isn't working Did you all just click on the link on the admitted students site to create a CalNet ID and then click on the link for students?

[mightydinosaur]

Nuts, my CalNet ID still isn't working Did you all just click on the link on the admitted students site to create a CalNet ID and then click on the link for students?

Yes, that's what I did. Mine failed all weekend and then worked fine today. When I clicked the link to change my CalNet ID, I was told that I needed to create a self-selected one first. I went ahead and did that and now I can log in with no trouble to an account full of no financial aid offer.

If you can't get it to work, you should email the support address they give you, since everyone else's seems to be okay now.

[legends159]

did you successfully create a Calnet id?

you have to create a pass phrase with at least 3 of these characteristics:

1 6 characters,
2 one upper case
3 at least one number.
4 a symbol (!$@!#$@)

and then go to http://bearfacts.berkeley.edu/ and click on "for students" and it should be under award summary.