UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) Law Class of 2018 Forum

[morningstar]

Alright Berk, we know today is the day the first round of scholarships expire and we're all good and ready to have them redistributed!

Any chance they'd be willing to honor a "dibs" sort of arrangement on other TLSers that got $ but put their deposits elsewhere?

[DiniMae]

Alright Berk, we know today is the day the first round of scholarships expire and we're all good and ready to have them redistributed!

Actually, they sent an email saying it's extended to 4/15.

However, I declined mine already so hopefully that goes to someone else deserving it.

If someone wants to take over as OP, please PM me.

[trynalaw123]

Alright Berk, we know today is the day the first round of scholarships expire and we're all good and ready to have them redistributed!

Actually, they sent an email saying it's extended to 4/15.

However, I declined mine already so hopefully that goes to someone else deserving it.

If someone wants to take over as OP, please PM me.

Wow, that's nice that those conflicted by other offers have more time, but frustrating if it continues to push back the timeline for the rest of us.
Best of luck at wherever you chose DiniMae!

[wonka]

Post removed.

[DiniMae]

Alright Berk, we know today is the day the first round of scholarships expire and we're all good and ready to have them redistributed!

Actually, they sent an email saying it's extended to 4/15.

However, I declined mine already so hopefully that goes to someone else deserving it.

If someone wants to take over as OP, please PM me.

Wow, that's nice that those conflicted by other offers have more time, but frustrating if it continues to push back the timeline for the rest of us.
Best of luck at wherever you chose DiniMae!

Thank you. That was my hardest decision.

[hopeboaltberkeley]

If a school on the matching list has given us just a few days to accept a scholarship offer do you think that it's worth emailing the merit office to ask for an expedited decision?

[strugglebus]

If a school on the matching list has given us just a few days to accept a scholarship offer do you think that it's worth emailing the merit office to ask for an expedited decision?

Yes, they explicitly told people to do this at AS. Good luck!

[Blue0613]

Please delete

[Mack.Hambleton]

At equal cost I would go Cornell, Berkeley obviously has a lot of people who self select out, but Cornell has a proven track record of sending 70+% to NY biglaw. I also would not say there is a little extra academic gravitas, they are peers.

[Comma.Split]

Does anyone have any insight on how Berkeley grads do in NYC big law recruitment? I am just weighing my options and trying to determine if going out to California from the east coast makes sense just to return to NYC when I am also admitted at Cornell.

Is that little extra academic gravitas really worth the 2000 miles?

Also, how do employers actually view the grading system. Obviously kids are getting jobs, etc., but I'm curious if it hurts kids in the middle of the class who get lumped together.

Thanks!

If your only goal is to get a NYC BigLaw, then Cornell. Most generally, Berkeley and Cornell place equally well into NLJ 250 (the rate is 45%, but given Berkeley's strong public interest focus, aka self-selection, Berkeley's "real" BigLaw placement is probably stronger). However Cornell is very NY heavy (57% of grads end up in NY) compared to Berkeley's 11%. So, all else equal, Cornell will give you a better shot in NYC.

P.S. My girlfriend (econ and math quantitative analyst) and I spent three days analyzing the crap out of the existing data. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Bird Lawyer]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

[Mack.Hambleton]

Does anyone have any insight on how Berkeley grads do in NYC big law recruitment? I am just weighing my options and trying to determine if going out to California from the east coast makes sense just to return to NYC when I am also admitted at Cornell.

Is that little extra academic gravitas really worth the 2000 miles?

Also, how do employers actually view the grading system. Obviously kids are getting jobs, etc., but I'm curious if it hurts kids in the middle of the class who get lumped together.

Thanks!

If your only goal is to get a NYC BigLaw, then Cornell. Most generally, Berkeley and Cornell place equally well into NLJ 250 (the rate is 45%, but given Berkeley's strong public interest focus, aka self-selection, Berkeley's "real" BigLaw placement is probably stronger). However Cornell is very NY heavy (57% of grads end up in NY) compared to Berkeley's 11%. So, all else equal, Cornell will give you a better shot in NYC.

P.S. My girlfriend (econ and math quantitative analyst) and I spent three days analyzing the crap out of the existing data. Let me know if you have any questions.

Can u make a post about that data?

[strugglebus]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

There'll probably be more offers after the 4/15 deadline to accept/decline the first round

[arose928]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I've got nothing still (although I'm not expecting anything). I don't think you're SOL yet, but getting close. At ASW and after talking with financial aid, my understanding is that pretty much all scholarship money is given out by the end of April. If you don't have anything by the end of the month... then it's pretty safe to assume you're SOL.

[Fareslols]

Good time to be headed to Berkeley!

2014 jobs numbers released today:

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Empl ... 4grads.pdf

[Comma.Split]

Good time to be headed to Berkeley!

2014 jobs numbers released today:

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Empl ... 4grads.pdf

WOW, I am impressed!! Their clerkship numbers are through the roof! From 30 (9%) in 2013 to 47 (16%) in 2014!! Harvard is at 17%. That's nuts.

[Comma.Split]

Does anyone have any insight on how Berkeley grads do in NYC big law recruitment? I am just weighing my options and trying to determine if going out to California from the east coast makes sense just to return to NYC when I am also admitted at Cornell.

Is that little extra academic gravitas really worth the 2000 miles?

Also, how do employers actually view the grading system. Obviously kids are getting jobs, etc., but I'm curious if it hurts kids in the middle of the class who get lumped together.

Thanks!

If your only goal is to get a NYC BigLaw, then Cornell. Most generally, Berkeley and Cornell place equally well into NLJ 250 (the rate is 45%, but given Berkeley's strong public interest focus, aka self-selection, Berkeley's "real" BigLaw placement is probably stronger). However Cornell is very NY heavy (57% of grads end up in NY) compared to Berkeley's 11%. So, all else equal, Cornell will give you a better shot in NYC.

P.S. My girlfriend (econ and math quantitative analyst) and I spent three days analyzing the crap out of the existing data. Let me know if you have any questions.

Can u make a post about that data?

I will be posting bits and pieces of interesting data. Let me know if you guys want anything specific.

1. I have exact data on the number of firms that participated in OCI at Berkeley last year:
37 Firms from L.A.
42 firms from San Francisco
37 Palo Alto
32 New York
28 Washington D.C.
24 Texas
13 San Diego
13 Foreign
10 Chicago
10 Boston

Of these 246, 225 were large firms that are considered BigLaw. The rest are medium sized firms (small firms recruit at another time).

85% of the 2Ls participated in OCI, and of those, 60% received at least one offer. In other words, 70% of all the participants got at least one BigLaw offer.

On average, people received 2 offers.

[trynalaw123]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I really want to believe they're just lagging on offers. I haven't heard back on either my matching app or regular scholly yet, but I'm thinking that worst case scenario they have to at least give me a "no" on the matching at some point soon because my other school's deadline is coming up. It seems like they haven't given many offers yet, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Still slowly imploding from the stress...
and WOW those clerkship numbers just make me want to go that much more

[sheishkabob]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I really want to believe they're just lagging on offers. I haven't heard back on either my matching app or regular scholly yet, but I'm thinking that worst case scenario they have to at least give me a "no" on the matching at some point soon because my other school's deadline is coming up. It seems like they haven't given many offers yet, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Still slowly imploding from the stress...
and WOW those clerkship numbers just make me want to go that much more

I haven't gotten response on my matching either despite submitting almost a month and a half ago now. Complete silence on a regular scholly as well, I'm really realllllyyy hoping we're not screwed yet. They at least give us an answer on the matching right, whether it be yes or no?

[trynalaw123]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I really want to believe they're just lagging on offers. I haven't heard back on either my matching app or regular scholly yet, but I'm thinking that worst case scenario they have to at least give me a "no" on the matching at some point soon because my other school's deadline is coming up. It seems like they haven't given many offers yet, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Still slowly imploding from the stress...
and WOW those clerkship numbers just make me want to go that much more

I haven't gotten response on my matching either despite submitting almost a month and a half ago now. Complete silence on a regular scholly as well, I'm really realllllyyy hoping we're not screwed yet. They at least give us an answer on the matching right, whether it be yes or no?

I actually just looked at last year's thread and it looks like some people were "held" on their matching decisions until May 8, and regular scholarships were all given out by the end of April

[sheishkabob]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I really want to believe they're just lagging on offers. I haven't heard back on either my matching app or regular scholly yet, but I'm thinking that worst case scenario they have to at least give me a "no" on the matching at some point soon because my other school's deadline is coming up. It seems like they haven't given many offers yet, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Still slowly imploding from the stress...
and WOW those clerkship numbers just make me want to go that much more

I haven't gotten response on my matching either despite submitting almost a month and a half ago now. Complete silence on a regular scholly as well, I'm really realllllyyy hoping we're not screwed yet. They at least give us an answer on the matching right, whether it be yes or no?

I actually just looked at last year's thread and it looks like some people were "held" on their matching decisions until May 8, and regular scholarships were all given out by the end of April

Ugh NOOOO. Do you think having deadlines ~10 days away is too far away to ask for an expedited decision from Berk?

[fra]

Ugh NOOOO. Do you think having deadlines ~10 days away is too far away to ask for an expedited decision from Berk?

On the matching scholarship FAQ it says to contact them if your deadline is less than a week from your submit date.

[BlueLaw11]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I really want to believe they're just lagging on offers. I haven't heard back on either my matching app or regular scholly yet, but I'm thinking that worst case scenario they have to at least give me a "no" on the matching at some point soon because my other school's deadline is coming up. It seems like they haven't given many offers yet, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Still slowly imploding from the stress...
and WOW those clerkship numbers just make me want to go that much more

I haven't gotten response on my matching either despite submitting almost a month and a half ago now. Complete silence on a regular scholly as well, I'm really realllllyyy hoping we're not screwed yet. They at least give us an answer on the matching right, whether it be yes or no?

In the same boat, coming up on 2 months since I put mine in. I believe they have to give us an answer though so hopefully we will hear soon

[trynalaw123]

Are we thinking that if you haven't received money yet, you're SOL? Are there still a lot of people with nothing?

I really want to believe they're just lagging on offers. I haven't heard back on either my matching app or regular scholly yet, but I'm thinking that worst case scenario they have to at least give me a "no" on the matching at some point soon because my other school's deadline is coming up. It seems like they haven't given many offers yet, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. Still slowly imploding from the stress...
and WOW those clerkship numbers just make me want to go that much more

I haven't gotten response on my matching either despite submitting almost a month and a half ago now. Complete silence on a regular scholly as well, I'm really realllllyyy hoping we're not screwed yet. They at least give us an answer on the matching right, whether it be yes or no?

In the same boat, coming up on 2 months since I put mine in. I believe they have to give us an answer though so hopefully we will hear soon

Yeah I think so too, it just scares me that last year lots of people got "held" decisions on April 23 that caused them to wait until May, because the deadline for my other scholarship is the 25th.

[arose928]

For those who got scholarship decisions, what's the email address it came from? I emailed admissions@law.berkeley and they said they forwarded my inquiry to the scholarship committee so I'm trying to figure out who to follow up with