UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) Law Class of 2018 Forum

[LoganCouture]

Need-based finaid e-mail just now.

+1

Disappointed in it, my other need-based offers have been significantly (20K+) greater.

[wonka]

Need-based aid award came via email. I imagine no merit aid with it means no merit aid at all? Still can't log in to MyFinAid. :/

False. Those are separate. Sometimes the scholarship committee would take into account your need-based aid, but as a general rule the two are independent.

Excellent, thank you!

[arose928]

Also the email said that financial aid would be viewable on MyFinAid starting tomorrow.

[wonka]

Also the email said that financial aid would be viewable on MyFinAid starting tomorrow.

Ahh, yes it did. Can't read words.

[Oskosh]

Did they say all financial aid? Currently have 24k in need based. Assuming it will be more when I'm not a teacher.

[leslieknope]

Just go the need aid email too. Anyone know what the max amount Berkeley gives out in need based aid is?

[sheishkabob]

Just go the need aid email too. Anyone know what the max amount Berkeley gives out in need based aid is?

When I met with the financial aid advisor, they said ~24k (a little less than that)

[Oskosh]

Just go the need aid email too. Anyone know what the max amount Berkeley gives out in need based aid is?

When I met with the financial aid advisor, they said ~24k (a little less than that)

Then I got that much. Damnit. It was like 23.something

[NOLAboy]

I would also be curious to know how much the need-based grant typically trends throughout the 3 years, assuming your parents' situation and your own assets don't change much.

For me, I've been working for the last five years so I assume that my personal financial situation has no where to go but downward over the next three years...

[sheishkabob]

So can we pretty much count on need-based aid for 2 years at least (assuming that 1L's don't often get paid summer internships)? And then the third year it will most likely be reduced with an associate position at a firm in 2L summer?

[sheishkabob]

Just go the need aid email too. Anyone know what the max amount Berkeley gives out in need based aid is?

When I met with the financial aid advisor, they said ~24k (a little less than that)

Then I got that much. Damnit. It was like 23.something

Me too!!! Literally cried

[Comma.Split]

I would also be curious to know how much the need-based grant typically trends throughout the 3 years, assuming your parents' situation and your own assets don't change much.

For me, I've been working for the last five years so I assume that my personal financial situation has no where to go but downward over the next three years...

They adjust your grant based on the COA, which changes with the CA budget. Since the COA rarely goes down, unless you win a lottery your need-based aid should be going up over time. Except your 2L summer earnings of course.

[NOLAboy]

They adjust your grant based on the COA, which changes with the CA budget. Since the COA rarely goes down, unless you win a lottery your need-based aid should be going up over time. Except your 2L summer earnings of course.

Thanks- that makes the most sense to me but I didn't know if reality reflected those numbers.

[Comma.Split]

Ok, so I did some research + analysis on need-based aid at Berkeley. I hope you find this info useful.

The way Berkeley determines you need-based package is:

TUITION AND FEES ($55k) – BASE LOAN (same for everyone around $25k) – PARENTAL/STUDENT CONTRIBUTION (calculated based on FAFSA) – STUDENT CONTRIBUTION FROM SUMMER EARNINGS ($2000 for 1L) = NEED AID

So far, based on the data points I gathered from the forum, this is what the distribution looks like:

14,500; 16,000; 17,000; 19,000; 23,000; 23,700; 23,700; 24,000.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[emly888]

I would also be curious to know how much the need-based grant typically trends throughout the 3 years, assuming your parents' situation and your own assets don't change much.

For me, I've been working for the last five years so I assume that my personal financial situation has no where to go but downward over the next three years...

+1
Also wondering this. Didn't get anything. Been working for several years and have a bunch saved up that I intend to exhaust during 1L.

[leslieknope]

I... don't get how Berkeley got from my EFC=0 on the FAFSA to my grant, then.

[sheishkabob]

Need-based finaid e-mail just now.

Me too. Anyone know whether this has any relationship to matching scholarships, or is it a totally separate process? My instinct says the latter but just wanted to check.

Based on what I heard at ASW, need-based is separate from everything else. However, if let's say you got 100k from a peer school in scholarships and applied for the matching scholarship program. Also suppose you got 50k from Berkeley in need-based. The Matching people may give you 50k in scholarships to "match" the total package as opposed to a 100k scholly. That's what the director of matching program said at the ASW. I don't know how often they do it, but she certainly mentioned that when there is not enough money to go around, she would take into account your need-based package.

Also this is different than what I was told by my advisor? He said that the need-based department and scholarship department are completely separate, and that need-based aid won't affect any merit offers because each department isn't aware of the other's offer. Not sure how accurate this is as it sounds too good to be true

[Comma.Split]

Need-based finaid e-mail just now.

Me too. Anyone know whether this has any relationship to matching scholarships, or is it a totally separate process? My instinct says the latter but just wanted to check.

Based on what I heard at ASW, need-based is separate from everything else. However, if let's say you got 100k from a peer school in scholarships and applied for the matching scholarship program. Also suppose you got 50k from Berkeley in need-based. The Matching people may give you 50k in scholarships to "match" the total package as opposed to a 100k scholly. That's what the director of matching program said at the ASW. I don't know how often they do it, but she certainly mentioned that when there is not enough money to go around, she would take into account your need-based package.

Also this is different than what I was told by my advisor? He said that the need-based department and scholarship department are completely separate, and that need-based aid won't affect any merit offers because each department isn't aware of the other's offer. Not sure how accurate this is as it sounds too good to be true

In principle, that is true. However, I clearly remember the scholarship person saying something like "when I don't have enough money to match offers from competing schools, I will stop by the grants office [need-based aid] and see if we can work something out together to give the person a chance to attend Berkeley." Interpret it as you want.

[sheishkabob]

Need-based finaid e-mail just now.

Based on what I heard at ASW, need-based is separate from everything else. However, if let's say you got 100k from a peer school in scholarships and applied for the matching scholarship program. Also suppose you got 50k from Berkeley in need-based. The Matching people may give you 50k in scholarships to "match" the total package as opposed to a 100k scholly. That's what the director of matching program said at the ASW. I don't know how often they do it, but she certainly mentioned that when there is not enough money to go around, she would take into account your need-based package.

Also this is different than what I was told by my advisor? He said that the need-based department and scholarship department are completely separate, and that need-based aid won't affect any merit offers because each department isn't aware of the other's offer. Not sure how accurate this is as it sounds too good to be true

In principle, that is true. However, I clearly remember the scholarship person saying something like "when I don't have enough money to match offers from competing schools, I will stop by the grants office [need-based aid] and see if we can work something out together to give the person a chance to attend Berkeley." Interpret it as you want.

Gotchya

[Comma.Split]

I... don't get how Berkeley got from my EFC=0 on the FAFSA to my grant, then.

Sorry, I didn't make it clear. It is not just your EFC. They also take into account assets, such as your parents house value and other things (so they use the info from FAFSA, not just your EFC). In other words, EFC=0 doesn't mean Student + parent contribution = $0 for Berkeley purposes.

[slurpy]

I... don't get how Berkeley got from my EFC=0 on the FAFSA to my grant, then.

Sorry, I didn't make it clear. It is not just your EFC. They also take into account assets, such as your parents house value and other things (so they use the info from FAFSA, not just your EFC). In other words, EFC=0 doesn't mean Student + parent contribution = $0 for Berkeley purposes.

According to the website, they also factor in a "base loan amount" which is a loan that everyone is expected to take out.

[JFO1833]

Do folks know it the Need Grant is adjusted for being OOS? Trying to figure out if that will adjust the offer down 2L year.

[hawnee86]

This is prob better place for this Q than on the 1L forum...

I dont qualify for need-based aid as a 0L, I assume because of my parents owning a home and due to my current earnings (decent 5 fig job but I have almost 0 savings due to undegrad loans). Naturally my income will drop once I start law school. Will I be able to qualify for need aid in subsequent years? (After first year I'll be 30 and parents have never been involved in my finances, nor would they be able to contribute financially)

[morningstar]

Add another 24000 need grant to the list! I thought for sure we'd see merit aid first.

[D.Kim]

So I'm a newb when it comes to this need grant business. Until this morning, I'd only received merit aid or aid packages comprising both merit and need awards.

While I understand the process at Boalt thanks to the helpful information above, would anyone here be able to shed light on how the process works at other T14s? I'm most interested in Michigan. They awarded me decent merit aid, but the award letter stated that, because it covered a significant portion of tuition, I would be ineligible for need aid. Is this common?

Boalt and Michigan are two of my top options at the moment, and since Boalt's need grant nearly matches what I got from Michigan, if they award me any merit aid it will be a much more attractive offer. Wondering if I can ask Michigan to consider me for need aid as a way to up their offer.