UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) Law Class of 2019 Forum

[jalapenocheeseburger]

Hey guys, I have some good news and some bad news. I called the financial aid office to ask when we could expect info on need based grants; I was told that they should have some decisions out on Friday! That's the good news. The bad news is that, I was also told that they expect to be making offers through May. This obviously complicates things if like me you are facing upcoming deposit deadlines.

[Lawcat11]

Hey guys, I have some good news and some bad news. I called the financial aid office to ask when we could expect info on need based grants; I was told that they should have some decisions out on Friday! That's the good news. The bad news is that, I was also told that they expect to be making offers through May. This obviously complicates things if like me you are facing upcoming deposit deadlines.

So no hope for any matching grants this week then if they're focusing on need

[dizzystpizzy]

welp... just clicked that "tentative" option on CalCentral, thereby buying myself more time for Berkeley to NOT tell me if I am getting any aid.

[Lawcat11]

welp... just clicked that "tentative" option on CalCentral, thereby buying myself more time for Berkeley to NOT tell me if I am getting any aid.

Yeah I kinda regret doing that too.

[funfetticupcakes]

So ok but: Berkeley is definitely my top choice, and I'm ok waiting a bit longer to hear about financial aid. But the scholarship offer I submitted for matching expires on Friday if I don't accept it. So - does it still work as a matching offer then? I recall that I had to put the deadline to accept the other scholarship on my matching form, so presumably Berkeley will know that it's not really on the table for me anymore if I turn it down in hopes of that sweet Berkeley money. Wat do?

[lolRCscrewyou]

Had my matching scholarship application denied. Does that mean no form of merit aid will come at all or an offer can still be made?

[Lawcat11]

Had my matching scholarship application denied. Does that mean no form of merit aid will come at all or an offer can still be made?

My condolences. Do you mind sharing what school you wanted a match with and when you applied? I think they say that up until June 1st there's a possibility of general merit aid but they don't send rejections.

[tappatappatappa]

Post removed...

[lolRCscrewyou]

Had my matching scholarship application denied. Does that mean no form of merit aid will come at all or an offer can still be made?

My condolences. Do you mind sharing what school you wanted a match with and when you applied? I think they say that up until June 1st there's a possibility of general merit aid but they don't send rejections.

Applied about two weeks ago. I called right now saying they were my first choice school and any notification in regards to merit aid cannot be sped up. Thanks a lot, Berk.

[Lawcat11]

On last year's thread it seems there was a massive wave of matching scholarship decisions on 4/14. Hopefully the same tomorrow!

[Being-yonce]

.

[Jordan Catalano]

Trying to decide if selecting the tentative option places me in the "they might not come here, let's withhold calculating grant aid" category, or if selecting the tentative option places me into the "we better give them some aid so they want to come here" category.

*Gazes into my crystal ball*

[Lawcat11]

Trying to decide if selecting the tentative option places me in the "they might not come here, let's withhold calculating grant aid" category, or if selecting the tentative option places me into the "we better give them some aid so they want to come here" category.

*Gazes into my crystal ball*

I selected tentative because I thought it would show that they probably wouldn't be wasting time throwing money at me, but now I'm not sure...

[lolRCscrewyou]

Hey guys, I have some good news and some bad news. I called the financial aid office to ask when we could expect info on need based grants; I was told that they should have some decisions out on Friday! That's the good news. The bad news is that, I was also told that they expect to be making offers through May. This obviously complicates things if like me you are facing upcoming deposit deadlines.

Offers for non-matching scholarships or need based? Or both?

[180kickflip]

Does anyone know when we'll get our class schedules? Thanks!

[Lawcat11]

Does anyone know when we'll get our class schedules? Thanks!

Last year it seemed to be the end of July.

[sudijajd]

My finances tab has suddenly disappeared

EDIT: JK, back up. Why u do dis Berk?

[Seanasr]

Removed

[KiltedKicker]

CalCentral frequently seems to be having problems. Though law schools are often disconnected somewhat from their parent universities, this may be partly why Berkeley is being so shiesty:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/gra ... two-years/

With all that went down at Berkeley this year, including the former dean's sexual misconduct, the administration's cover up, the aid fumbles, budget cuts, staff position cuts, etc, it seems likely to me that many are choosing elsewhere, and I wouldn't be surprised if it dropped in the rankings next year. Berkeley was my number one coming into this cycle. Probably going elsewhere now.

EDIT: Hope my withdrawal frees up money for some of you.

Berkeley Law is financially independent from the university as a whole. From what I can tell there is no reason to believe they are facing a similar budget crisis of their own or are going to be cutting any faculty/staff. That being said, they are a public school with a lot of students who go into PI; from what I can tell they don't have the endowment of Columbia or Harvard either.

[dietcoke1]

Berkelely employment numbers are up for Class of 2015

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content ... f-2015.pdf

[sudijajd]

Berkelely employment numbers are up for Class of 2015

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content ... f-2015.pdf

Fed Clerkship + Big law (101+) = ~56%, down from ~62% last year. What's the deal? Is it significant?

[KiltedKicker]

Berkelely employment numbers are up for Class of 2015

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content ... f-2015.pdf

Fed Clerkship + Big law (101+) = ~56%, down from ~62% last year. What's the deal? Is it significant?

It looks like there were slightly fewer clerkships and 2-3x more students choosing/forced to work for 25 person or smaller law firms. The question I have is how much of this change is because of personal preference for boutiques with more reasonable hours and how much is students not being able to get biglaw jobs. It also just seems like a relatively small sample size; not every class of students is the same, and I don't think 20 more students going to small firms is really a strong indication that Berkeley is any less well-regarded or capable of placing you in the most sought-after legal jobs.

[sudijajd]

Berkelely employment numbers are up for Class of 2015

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content ... f-2015.pdf

Fed Clerkship + Big law (101+) = ~56%, down from ~62% last year. What's the deal? Is it significant?

It looks like there were slightly fewer clerkships and 2-3x more students choosing/forced to work for 25 person or smaller law firms. The question I have is how much of this change is because of personal preference for boutiques with more reasonable hours and how much is students not being able to get biglaw jobs. It also just seems like a relatively small sample size; not every class of students is the same, and I don't think 20 more students going to small firms is really a strong indication that Berkeley is any less well-regarded or capable of placing you in the most sought-after legal jobs.

It's very interesting that so many students went to smaller firms, especially for a T14 school. I think it's more a thing of students selecting to go that route rather than the inability to land big-law jobs. Everything is a little different at Berkeley, so I see why some students would want to take a more 'non-traditional' route. It's also exactly why I want to go there so bad They just need to hurry up with financial aid! Hoping today is another wave, and hopefully a more positive one than the other day.

[CiscoDisco]

So...what I saw last Friday then under "My Finances" were people not receiving merit-aid? And today need-based came in for a decision that you would have to make today, the 15th? So....casually declined a school this week without knowing a $120k aid coming in today?

MFW: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lolRCscrewyou]

So...what I saw last Friday then under "My Finances" were people not receiving merit-aid? And today need-based came in for a decision that you would have to make today, the 15th? So....casually declined a school this week without knowing a $120k aid coming in today?

MFW: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ummm.........what?