Berkeley Class of 2012 Forum

[Kohinoor]

Is out-of-state tuition really like $47K next year?

Yup. Fortunately you shouldn't ever have to pay out of state more than one year if you play your cards right.

[southernlady]

Is out-of-state tuition really like $47K next year?

Yup. Fortunately you shouldn't ever have to pay out of state more than one year if you play your cards right.

Yeah, but who knows what in-state tuition will be by then! The uncertainty is not a positive factor.

[Formerbruin]

At the town hall meeting, Dean Edley told us that after next year, the in-state tuition will remain a 10%-15% discount under the going rate of tuition at top 10 law schools.

[worldtraveler]

^ Is it going to be 40k in-state next year?

I swear somewhere I found a figure that said it's something like 36k in-state next year. I'm looking for it again but I just can't find it at the moment.

[dank4284]

Even if Berkeley doesn't offer merit aid, which I'm not sure is the case (the scholarship committee is only now convening), wouldn't their willingness to match the offers of peer schools make their program functionally identical to a school that does offer merit aid? Just get em to match!

I was told from the director of fin aid that they began meeting the first week of March and have about half the pot left. Of course that number will fluctuate if people end up withdrawing and such, since if they match, they require you to either firmly accept and deposit in 2 weeks or lose the matching money.

I was under the impression that the matching money does not come from the same pot as the institutional scholarships. It seemed that they had used up half of the money they had allotted to institutional scholarships, but still had a significant amount of matching money left. In fact, he said that the amount of money they had to spend on matching scholarships had increased this year. I may be wrong, but this is what I gathered from what the assistant dean of financial aid said at the "How will I pay for law school?" talk. He also said that last year they got about 100 apps for matching scholarships and accepted about 40 I think. Anyway I hope this helps everyone who is anxiously waiting to hear about a matching scholarship.

[legends159]

Even if Berkeley doesn't offer merit aid, which I'm not sure is the case (the scholarship committee is only now convening), wouldn't their willingness to match the offers of peer schools make their program functionally identical to a school that does offer merit aid? Just get em to match!

I was told from the director of fin aid that they began meeting the first week of March and have about half the pot left. Of course that number will fluctuate if people end up withdrawing and such, since if they match, they require you to either firmly accept and deposit in 2 weeks or lose the matching money.

I was under the impression that the matching money does not come from the same pot as the institutional scholarships. It seemed that they had used up half of the money they had allotted to institutional scholarships, but still had a significant amount of matching money left. In fact, he said that the amount of money they had to spend on matching scholarships had increased this year. I may be wrong, but this is what I gathered from what the assistant dean of financial aid said at the "How will I pay for law school?" talk. He also said that last year they got about 100 apps for matching scholarships and accepted about 40 I think. Anyway I hope this helps everyone who is anxiously waiting to hear about a matching scholarship.

I was told the 50% number in reference to my question about how much is left in the pot for matching scholarships? Institutional scholarships are very little, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.

[Kohinoor]

Even if Berkeley doesn't offer merit aid, which I'm not sure is the case (the scholarship committee is only now convening), wouldn't their willingness to match the offers of peer schools make their program functionally identical to a school that does offer merit aid? Just get em to match!

I was told from the director of fin aid that they began meeting the first week of March and have about half the pot left. Of course that number will fluctuate if people end up withdrawing and such, since if they match, they require you to either firmly accept and deposit in 2 weeks or lose the matching money.

I was under the impression that the matching money does not come from the same pot as the institutional scholarships. It seemed that they had used up half of the money they had allotted to institutional scholarships, but still had a significant amount of matching money left. In fact, he said that the amount of money they had to spend on matching scholarships had increased this year. I may be wrong, but this is what I gathered from what the assistant dean of financial aid said at the "How will I pay for law school?" talk. He also said that last year they got about 100 apps for matching scholarships and accepted about 40 I think. Anyway I hope this helps everyone who is anxiously waiting to hear about a matching scholarship.

The burning question then becomes, what are the criteria for whether or not you get matched?

[dank4284]

Even if Berkeley doesn't offer merit aid, which I'm not sure is the case (the scholarship committee is only now convening), wouldn't their willingness to match the offers of peer schools make their program functionally identical to a school that does offer merit aid? Just get em to match!

I was told from the director of fin aid that they began meeting the first week of March and have about half the pot left. Of course that number will fluctuate if people end up withdrawing and such, since if they match, they require you to either firmly accept and deposit in 2 weeks or lose the matching money.

I was under the impression that the matching money does not come from the same pot as the institutional scholarships. It seemed that they had used up half of the money they had allotted to institutional scholarships, but still had a significant amount of matching money left. In fact, he said that the amount of money they had to spend on matching scholarships had increased this year. I may be wrong, but this is what I gathered from what the assistant dean of financial aid said at the "How will I pay for law school?" talk. He also said that last year they got about 100 apps for matching scholarships and accepted about 40 I think. Anyway I hope this helps everyone who is anxiously waiting to hear about a matching scholarship.

I was told the 50% number in reference to my question about how much is left in the pot for matching scholarships? Institutional scholarships are very little, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.

Man that sucks... He said that no news was good news in terms of the matching scholarships, but it sounds like that may be wrong. I would be happy if they even just matched part of my scholarship. Anyway thanks for the info.

[legends159]

Man that sucks... He said that no news was good news in terms of the matching scholarships, but it sounds like that may be wrong. I would be happy if they even just matched part of my scholarship. Anyway thanks for the info.

well the bolded part is correct b/c they've sent out emails either accepting/rejecting people.

Oh and they match tuition not COA. So if you get 45K from a peer school they will match 45K max.

Oh and they don't always match 100%.

Finally, if you get grants you likely will not get a match unless the grant is super little and the matching scholarship amount is a lot. I know I'm not gonna get my 45k from UVA matched.

[mike_H]

i was at ASD and definitely agree with what appears to be the consensus opinion...awesome students, awesome weather/campus. anyone else really put off by the facilities though? part of me says it's no big deal, but part says if i'm going to be spending all day in a library, i want a nice library. i thought all of boalt was pretty crappy...and that's not even touching the construction that almost certainly wont be done before graduation...

[feeblemiles]

For what its worth I spoke to the construction people and they said lots of it would be done or much further along by the end of the summer and the whole project is on schedule, fully funded, and planned to be done by what will be our 3L year. I thought the main reading room was pretty nice, but there are tons of other great study spots around campus including an amazing reading room in the main library. I can't disagree that the campus buildings and layout is sorta clunky, but there's more good than bad in my opinion... a silver lining at the very least.

[Formerbruin]

i was at ASD and definitely agree with what appears to be the consensus opinion...awesome students, awesome weather/campus. anyone else really put off by the facilities though? part of me says it's no big deal, but part says if i'm going to be spending all day in a library, i want a nice library. i thought all of boalt was pretty crappy...and that's not even touching the construction that almost certainly wont be done before graduation...

We consider the facilities as constantly reminding us to go outside and enjoy the Cali sun. I personally think the new student center downstairs is a great place to study, and that the facilities, if not beautiful (or even attractive), are functional: the chairs are comfortable, the rooms have a lot of technology, and the wireless internet works. Plus, considering the passion Dean Edley is putting into the construction, I'd wager it'll be done fall 2011.

[emilybeth]

i'm seriously considering finalizing my decision to attend berkeley (waiting to hear back about a matching scholarship) but i'm also a bit worried because due to other law school visits, i won't be able to make it out to check out berkeley. does anyone know of any good pictures online of the law school, the law library, the area of campus around the law school, etc.? i know nothing compares to exploring it yourself, but for me, it seems that pictures will have to do. :/

also, for someone who's not interested in living in university-owned housing, are there plenty of options? i'm not looking for a ton of amenities, but space for the furniture that i've already accumulated (full-size bed, big desk, small dresser, lots of clothes ) i don't mind living a distance from campus as long as there's public transportation that can get me there, since i won't have a car.

how easy will it be to go in and out of san francisco if i don't have a car?

anyone know when we should hear decisions about matching scholarships? i'm basically down to two schools, but deposits are due soon for everyone but berkeley... and the money issue is a big deal for me, since my interests are pretty primarily PI.

[Kohinoor]

i'm seriously considering finalizing my decision to attend berkeley (waiting to hear back about a matching scholarship) but i'm also a bit worried because due to other law school visits, i won't be able to make it out to check out berkeley. does anyone know of any good pictures online of the law school, the law library, the area of campus around the law school, etc.? i know nothing compares to exploring it yourself, but for me, it seems that pictures will have to do. :/

also, for someone who's not interested in living in university-owned housing, are there plenty of options? i'm not looking for a ton of amenities, but space for the furniture that i've already accumulated (full-size bed, big desk, small dresser, lots of clothes ) i don't mind living a distance from campus as long as there's public transportation that can get me there, since i won't have a car.

how easy will it be to go in and out of san francisco if i don't have a car?

anyone know when we should hear decisions about matching scholarships? i'm basically down to two schools, but deposits are due soon for everyone but berkeley... and the money issue is a big deal for me, since my interests are pretty primarily PI.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 19&iwloc=A

That'll let you explore the area around campus. I've expended moderate effort in finding campus pics to no avail. The only pics on their official site seem to be of the ongoing construction. Extremely odd.

If you're not looking for university housing then you have all of the housing of a moderately sized college town available to you.

Berk to San Fran shouldn't be a problem with the train system.

[Rotor]

Emily: I spent most of my time during ASW exploring neighborhoods and housing. As you'd expect mid semester, there weren't many vacancies...but craigslist seems to have a few popping up each day. I expect that as we get deeper into April and into May it'll start opening up as we get closer to summer break. But I can't imagine you'd have ANY problem. Just be prepared for a little sticker shock.

Public transport is great and the bus is free with your UC IDcard. We found lots of interesting neighborhoods and I have no worries about housing and I have family and pets (and all the furniture and other stuff that accumulates as a result).

Good luck in making your decision.

[worldtraveler]

i'm seriously considering finalizing my decision to attend berkeley (waiting to hear back about a matching scholarship) but i'm also a bit worried because due to other law school visits, i won't be able to make it out to check out berkeley. does anyone know of any good pictures online of the law school, the law library, the area of campus around the law school, etc.? i know nothing compares to exploring it yourself, but for me, it seems that pictures will have to do. :/

also, for someone who's not interested in living in university-owned housing, are there plenty of options? i'm not looking for a ton of amenities, but space for the furniture that i've already accumulated (full-size bed, big desk, small dresser, lots of clothes ) i don't mind living a distance from campus as long as there's public transportation that can get me there, since i won't have a car.

how easy will it be to go in and out of san francisco if i don't have a car?

anyone know when we should hear decisions about matching scholarships? i'm basically down to two schools, but deposits are due soon for everyone but berkeley... and the money issue is a big deal for me, since my interests are pretty primarily PI.

You don't want to drive to SF anyway. It's a $4 bridge fare plus parking in a lot of places. Just take the BART or the bus.

[tobey2]

i know this has probably been posted elsewhere, but does anyone know just how hard it is to get off the waitlist at berkeley? i know they rank the list and will let you know about quartiles, but does anyone know how many people ended up getting in last year?

[IzziesGal]

There is a "Berkeley 1L taking questions" thread...I would try that one instead, since they are already established at the school and probably know people who got in off the list last cycle.

[legends159]

Fall 2009 Out of state tuition: $48,152

instate tuition $35,907

It's interesting that they're still keeping the in-state out of state difference at $12,245. I thought their goal was to increase in-state to become more competitive with their peers.

I didn't know that their out of state tuition would be the highest of every schools.

I got this info from my financial aid:

Basic Liv Expnse - Ac Yr 20226
Fees-Law-Ac Yr 35907
BDESCPA 12245
Books & Supplies-LAW-Yr 1495
Graduate Loan Fees 244
Total Student Budget 70117
Less Student Contribution 0
Gross Financial Need 70117
Less Other Resources 0
Net Financial Need 70117

[Kohinoor]

:'( If we don't hear back on schollies today the office is closed for the rest of the week.

[Formerbruin]

Fall 2009 Out of state tuition: $48,152

instate tuition $35,907

It's interesting that they're still keeping the in-state out of state difference at $12,245. I thought their goal was to increase in-state to become more competitive with their peers.

I didn't know that their out of state tuition would be the highest of every schools.

Dean Edley wanted to raise in-state more quickly, but the Board of Regents wouldn't let him. There will still be one more large raise (in 2010-2011) bringing in-state tuition to about $40k.

[mllerustad]

Fall 2009 Out of state tuition: $48,152

instate tuition $35,907

It's interesting that they're still keeping the in-state out of state difference at $12,245. I thought their goal was to increase in-state to become more competitive with their peers.

I didn't know that their out of state tuition would be the highest of every schools.

Gross. If they're trying to be *competitive* with peer schools, why is their tuition higher than any of them? (And with ridiculous CoL expenses to boot!)

Sigh. I loves me some Berkeley, but if they don't give me money there's no way I can afford going there.

[worldtraveler]

Fall 2009 Out of state tuition: $48,152

instate tuition $35,907

It's interesting that they're still keeping the in-state out of state difference at $12,245. I thought their goal was to increase in-state to become more competitive with their peers.

I didn't know that their out of state tuition would be the highest of every schools.

Gross. If they're trying to be *competitive* with peer schools, why is their tuition higher than any of them? (And with ridiculous CoL expenses to boot!)

Sigh. I loves me some Berkeley, but if they don't give me money there's no way I can afford going there.

You can also achieve residency in CA after one year. The same can't be said for Michigan or UVA, even if Berkeley's tuition is a bit higher.

[legends159]

I just sent in my admission response form with the tentative plan to attend option. Not very exciting.

there's a form?

[Rotor]

I just sent in my admission response form with the tentative plan to attend option. Not very exciting.

there's a form?

Yes, it is due on April 15. It's pink, in your admissions packet.

You can also email. Directions are on the form :-p

(PS: I think mine was on plain white paper.)