UCSB, Berkeley or UCLA? Forum

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 8:51 pm

Alright so I believe the majority will say UCSB and I admit I am new to the forum but have done research in other places. If my end goal is a top law school and we're only talking about the way top law schools judge your GPA which school would be the best decision? Would UCSB be better since it is easier to get a higher GPA or would it be better to get a slightly lower GPA at Berkeley or UCLA? Thank you for your time everybody.

Iwanttolawschool · Post by **Iwanttolawschool** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:10 pm

Considering you will likely change your mind about law in 4 years. Go to the best school you can get into.

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:21 pm

If it makes any difference to whether you help me or not I'm 19 and already attended a year of college( not saying I'm any the more wise obviously 19 is still very young). First I was a business entrepreneurship major because of parental influence etc. I'm switching to a pursuit of law because I've always been drawn to it. In case your next comment is many people end up hating it I fit the profile of someone who enjoys practicing law so I'm not too worried about my job satisfaction level. I've also had two very close brushes with death that I would like to believe brought me some perspective that I otherwise did not have.

rnoodles · Post by **rnoodles** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:26 pm

Iwanttolawschool wrote: Go to the best school you can get into.

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:28 pm

Note taken. What leads you to that conclusion? The reason previously stated? Thanks for the response by the way.

rnoodles · Post by **rnoodles** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:38 pm

Partially, but I understand your case because I wanted to go to LS for quite a while before I got accepted as well. But the main thing is to keep in mind that your GPA is one of two things that matters the most in determining where you go. If you can graduate summa at Berkeley or UCLA, then that's obviously very impressive. And maybe those two will help you in admissions at either one's LS in however many years until you apply. Not to mention, when I look at associates' and partners' education bios at top firms I am far more impressed with summa and PBK grads at very well regarded schools than otherwise. It's just the prestige factor that most people are attracted to. So here's the bottom-line: just go to the best school you can go to and get the best GPA you can. The rest will follow accordingly.

Foghornleghorn · Post by **Foghornleghorn** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:46 pm

Talk to a lot of practicing attorneys. Suits and/or Law and Order isn't how it works.

Clemenceau · Post by **Clemenceau** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:48 pm

Does ucsb even have a law school?

Edit: are we talking about colleges? This thread confuses me. Why would you ever pick ucsb over berkeley

LawsRUs · Post by **LawsRUs** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:54 pm

It's not hard to get a good GPA from Berkeley, OP.

Mack.Hambleton · Post by **Mack.Hambleton** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:57 pm

Berkeley

If you're 100% set on law then just take easy classes/be a polisci major or something

gnomgnomuch · Post by **gnomgnomuch** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:04 pm

LawsRUs wrote:It's not hard to get a good GPA from Berkeley, OP.

It's not hard to get a good GPA.

TFALAWL · Post by **TFALAWL** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:05 pm

I went to UCSB and now to to UVA. I know of at least 6 UCSB alums who went to UVA. One of my friends goes to UChi. I know someone else from my class who went to Columbia. The career advisor told me that at least one person gets into HLS every year, and into YLS every other year. Answer: yes, it is possible.

In addition, I think it is probably easier to get a high GPA at UCSB --> the school is not competitive in a lot of majors (e.g. global studies).

shump92 · Post by **shump92** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:29 pm

For UG? Either Berkeley or UCLA. The reason I say that is at either of those schools, more so at Cal, you will have so many qualified faculty. You should not underestimate the value that networking at a prestigious UG will have for you later on. Going to Stanford is why I got an internship at the DOJ my junior year. My grades were good obviously, but my program's staff worked on almost all of the placement process for me. I got to enjoy being in Florence and only had to do a brief Skype interview to get the job. This opportunity would not have happened if I just went for a slightly better GPA at the University of Kansas. Not saying you cannot prep well for law school at UCSB, it just gets a lot easier when your school's name carries more weight.

hairbear7 · Post by **hairbear7** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:34 pm

Iwanttolawschool wrote:Considering you will likely change your mind about law in 4 years. Go to the best school you can get into.

Big Dog · Post by **Big Dog** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:07 am

Would UCSB be better since it is easier to get a higher GPA or would it be better to get a slightly lower GPA at Berkeley or UCLA?

A common question, but..... In general, Cal & UCLA have (slightly) higher mean GPA's than other campuses. (Data used to be averrable, until UCOP cut it out.) In other words, the 'curves' are higher.

iamgeorgebush · Post by **iamgeorgebush** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 1:05 am

Berkeley if you want to end up in NorCal or anywhere outside of California. UCLA if you want to end up in SoCal. Not because it would be easier to get a higher GPA at any of those schools, but because there are more sensible reasons on which to base this decision.

TFALAWL · Post by **TFALAWL** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:15 am

Fwiw, I knew when I was OP's age that I wanted to go to law school, so I went to SB to have fun. That said, CAL and UCLA networks will help you more during OCI ... not a single gaucho went to bat for me, whereas my law classmates who went to UCLA, had a ton of networking options. I can confidently say that it will be easier to get a high GPA at UCSB ... the bar is literally so low (i.e. the kids are bright, but less than 5% study). For example, the average exams were usually like 65% and teachers would have to curve up -- pretty insane. My uncle was a history major at CAL and said it was pretty competitive. I can't speak for UCLA.

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:48 am

Wow, I really appreciate all of the responses. Now to clarify a bit we are talking about undergrad for those that were confused.I was asking because like I'm sure many before me have heard, T14 law schools(possibly all law schools?) don't really care what school you graduate from as long as it's not a complete joke. Which is strange considering one or more people from Arizona State got into HLS last year I believe. I'm a quite obsessive person so the work load doesn't scare me and as long as it doesn't put me at a disadvantage I'd love to go to Berkeley. Many valid points were brought up that I would have not considered (OCIs etc) so thank you.

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:53 am

TFALAWL wrote:Fwiw, I knew when I was OP's age that I wanted to go to law school, so I went to SB to have fun. That said, CAL and UCLA networks will help you more during OCI ... not a single gaucho went to bat for me, whereas my law classmates who went to UCLA, had a ton of networking options. I can confidently say that it will be easier to get a high GPA at UCSB ... the bar is literally so low (i.e. the kids are bright, but less than 5% study). For example, the average exams were usually like 65% and teachers would have to curve up -- pretty insane. My uncle was a history major at CAL and said it was pretty competitive. I can't speak for UCLA.

I've heard that CAL is a beast also, I haven't heard much on UCLA though. Can you elaborate on " That said, CAL and UCLA networks will help you more during OCI... not a single gaucho went to bat for me, whereas my law classmates who went to UCLA, had a ton of networking options." I don't know much about the OCI process so that's most likely why I'm unclear here. How did their (UCLA & CAL) networking options come into play for them? I'd love examples if you can.

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:57 am

To make my question less vague I'm a philosophy major and am shooting for a GPA of 3.80+ which is why I'm questioning Berkeley.

JonTheMandamus · Post by **JonTheMandamus** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:24 am

It isn't hard to get a decent gpa at Berkeley. Your classes will be filled with a bimodal curve of smart kids who work hard and idiot kids that copy work whenever possible and don't commit to getting an actual education. For a philosophy major, you're going to need to do a bit of homework on professors to see who fits your learning style. If you stay focused, you should have no problem beating out the latter group. Then fight for every point at the top.

Clemenceau · Post by **Clemenceau** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:05 am

Suttsy wrote:To make my question less vague I'm a philosophy major and am shooting for a GPA of 3.80+ which is why I'm questioning Berkeley.

Are you actually accepted to berk? Sack up and go there. Your gpa will be fine. I'm beginning to wonder if this thread is flame

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:13 am

Clemenceau wrote:
Suttsy wrote:To make my question less vague I'm a philosophy major and am shooting for a GPA of 3.80+ which is why I'm questioning Berkeley.
Are you actually accepted to berk? Sack up and go there. Your gpa will be fine. I'm beginning to wonder if this thread is flame

I'm not alright with "fine" regardless I'll take all the advice into consideration. I have the answers I need, thanks.

Suttsy · Post by **Suttsy** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:16 am

JonTheMandamus wrote:It isn't hard to get a decent gpa at Berkeley. Your classes will be filled with a bimodal curve of smart kids who work hard and idiot kids that copy work whenever possible and don't commit to getting an actual education. For a philosophy major, you're going to need to do a bit of homework on professors to see who fits your learning style. If you stay focused, you should have no problem beating out the latter group. Then fight for every point at the top.

That definitely makes everything more clear. It would be hard to turn down Berkeley prestige anyways I'll make sure I look into all of that. Best advice I've heard thus far, thanks for the detail.

JonTheMandamus · Post by **JonTheMandamus** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:51 am

Suttsy wrote:
JonTheMandamus wrote:It isn't hard to get a decent gpa at Berkeley. Your classes will be filled with a bimodal curve of smart kids who work hard and idiot kids that copy work whenever possible and don't commit to getting an actual education. For a philosophy major, you're going to need to do a bit of homework on professors to see who fits your learning style. If you stay focused, you should have no problem beating out the latter group. Then fight for every point at the top.

That definitely makes everything more clear. It would be hard to turn down Berkeley prestige anyways I'll make sure I look into all of that. Best advice I've heard thus far, thanks for the detail.

You're welcome. Happy to contribute.

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