UC Berkeley School of Law C/O 2020 Applicants (2016-2017) Forum

[LikelyThrowaway]

If anyone is going to ASW, please let me know what they said about aid at the financial aid info session. I'd love to attend but i have heard nothing about money and it's getting bothersome.

Secondhand (I'm at ASW but didn't go to the fin aid session): they said scholarships will be out by the end of the month. Pretty much everyone I talked to there hadn't yet heard anything, so don't worry about that.

ASW was awesome by the way!

If there's time and an opportunity to do so, do you mind confirming in person whether need-based aid is exhausted and if students who submitted their CSS relatively later in the cyvle will likely not receive any need-based aid? Thanks in advance.

I already left, sorry. You could definitely call their office and find out though.

[4'sup]

If anyone is going to ASW, please let me know what they said about aid at the financial aid info session. I'd love to attend but i have heard nothing about money and it's getting bothersome.

Secondhand (I'm at ASW but didn't go to the fin aid session): they said scholarships will be out by the end of the month. Pretty much everyone I talked to there hadn't yet heard anything, so don't worry about that.

ASW was awesome by the way!

It sounded awesome. I should have gone!

[4'sup]

If anyone is going to ASW, please let me know what they said about aid at the financial aid info session. I'd love to attend but i have heard nothing about money and it's getting bothersome.

Secondhand (I'm at ASW but didn't go to the fin aid session): they said scholarships will be out by the end of the month. Pretty much everyone I talked to there hadn't yet heard anything, so don't worry about that.

ASW was awesome by the way!

If there's time and an opportunity to do so, do you mind confirming in person whether need-based aid is exhausted and if students who submitted their CSS relatively later in the cyvle will likely not receive any need-based aid? Thanks in advance.

If they already exhausted it, someone should be fired.

[crookedsmile]

Attended ASW. Was told need based aid has not been exhausted.

[treetops_rising]

So I just took a look on the C/O 2019 Applicants thread and they were saying that for the C/O 2018 Berkeley didn't take anyone off the waitlist. There were a few comments speculating as to if they would take any off the waitlist last year and then the comments stop and no one reports that they made it off the waitlist. Does anyone know if they really didn't take any off the waitlist last year?

Sort of surprised bc data I had found from 2014 said that in the several years prior to 2014 Berk took like 25-30% off their waitlist each year. I guess I'm wondering what changed so drastically..

Berkeley is my dream school low key

They actually talked about how they had a higher than usual yield that year at ASW, so I assume that's why they didn't take waitlisters-- it was all full. Who knows what their yield will be this year.

[treetops_rising]

Attended ASW. Was told need based aid has not been exhausted.

... I also went to ASW and in Thursday's 1st fin aid session they made it pretty clear that CSS/Fasfa profiles filled out after March 2nd were at a disadvantage for need based aid (or whenever their preferred deadline was).

Merit aid is an ongoing thing from a different fund.

[EWofNell]

So I just took a look on the C/O 2019 Applicants thread and they were saying that for the C/O 2018 Berkeley didn't take anyone off the waitlist. There were a few comments speculating as to if they would take any off the waitlist last year and then the comments stop and no one reports that they made it off the waitlist. Does anyone know if they really didn't take any off the waitlist last year?

Sort of surprised bc data I had found from 2014 said that in the several years prior to 2014 Berk took like 25-30% off their waitlist each year. I guess I'm wondering what changed so drastically..

Berkeley is my dream school low key

They actually talked about how they had a higher than usual yield that year at ASW, so I assume that's why they didn't take waitlisters-- it was all full. Who knows what their yield will be this year.

Ok cool thanks for sharing

[charles117]

So I just took a look on the C/O 2019 Applicants thread and they were saying that for the C/O 2018 Berkeley didn't take anyone off the waitlist. There were a few comments speculating as to if they would take any off the waitlist last year and then the comments stop and no one reports that they made it off the waitlist. Does anyone know if they really didn't take any off the waitlist last year?

Sort of surprised bc data I had found from 2014 said that in the several years prior to 2014 Berk took like 25-30% off their waitlist each year. I guess I'm wondering what changed so drastically..

Berkeley is my dream school low key

They actually talked about how they had a higher than usual yield that year at ASW, so I assume that's why they didn't take waitlisters-- it was all full. Who knows what their yield will be this year.

so I guess not good news for waitlisters

[Keilz]

I wonder how much ranking drop actually affects yield.

However there is also a renewed interest in public interest. I'd be so interested in studying all that data

[bigyellowjoint]

I had a blast at ASW- a couple of notes from the weekend:

- a LOT of people still waiting on merit aid. It sounds like we can count on a second wave of letters coming out "before the end of the month". That original deadline for CSS profile was mentioned, but it did NOT sound to me like need aid had been exhausted.

-the drop in rankings was almost universally blamed on the crisis around the old dean and him being fired. In the words of one current student- "it's 2017 and it's Berkeley. He couldn't go around treating women like Don Draper." Seemed to me like a convenient excuse, but also a very plausible one given the peer review portion of the rankings.

[HonestlyThough]

great to meet so many of you this weekend! Hopefully we all hear about $$$ soon....

[EWofNell]

I had a blast at ASW- a couple of notes from the weekend:

- a LOT of people still waiting on merit aid. It sounds like we can count on a second wave of letters coming out "before the end of the month". That original deadline for CSS profile was mentioned, but it did NOT sound to me like need aid had been exhausted.

-the drop in rankings was almost universally blamed on the crisis around the old dean and him being fired. In the words of one current student- "it's 2017 and it's Berkeley. He couldn't go around treating women like Don Draper." Seemed to me like a convenient excuse, but also a very plausible one given the peer review portion of the rankings.

I'm more of the opinion that Berkeley's weaker emphasis on LSAT's and GPA and being sort of a "black box" has more to do with the decrease in rankings. I admire them for looking more intrinsically into applicants but I don't think it helps them in terms of their rankings. That being said, I don't think that going from 8th to 12th signifies that Berkeley is becoming of a lower quality than peer schools.

[big_willy_style_333]

The website says that application-required schollies are supposed to come out today, I think. From what was said at ASW, does it seem like those are now also pushed back to the end of the month, or might those still come out today?

[crookedsmile]

The website says that application-required schollies are supposed to come out today, I think. From what was said at ASW, does it seem like those are now also pushed back to the end of the month, or might those still come out today?

From speaking to a few of those who interviewed for BLOS (aka an application-required scholly), we were told the decisions - at least for BLOS - would come out today.

[goldenbear2020]

I had a blast at ASW- a couple of notes from the weekend:

- a LOT of people still waiting on merit aid. It sounds like we can count on a second wave of letters coming out "before the end of the month". That original deadline for CSS profile was mentioned, but it did NOT sound to me like need aid had been exhausted.

-the drop in rankings was almost universally blamed on the crisis around the old dean and him being fired. In the words of one current student- "it's 2017 and it's Berkeley. He couldn't go around treating women like Don Draper." Seemed to me like a convenient excuse, but also a very plausible one given the peer review portion of the rankings.

I'm more of the opinion that Berkeley's weaker emphasis on LSAT's and GPA and being sort of a "black box" has more to do with the decrease in rankings. I admire them for looking more intrinsically into applicants but I don't think it helps them in terms of their rankings. That being said, I don't think that going from 8th to 12th signifies that Berkeley is becoming of a lower quality than peer schools.

Berkeley has had the lowest median LSAT among the T14 for several years now, so their "black box" admissions process didn't cause their drop in ranking. I attribute it to a combination of the 0.1 drop in peer assessment score and the drop in employment numbers relative to Duke/Northwestern which posted strong increases.

[InsightfulComment]

I wonder how much ranking drop actually affects yield.

However there is also a renewed interest in public interest. I'd be so interested in studying all that data

If it's in combo with people receiving less funds than they would have in years prior with the matching-scholarship program, I wouldn't be surprised if it has a tangible effect. A lot of people view this process like buying a product and ranking's arn't irrelevant in people's minds when you can't separate comparable schools using placement/academics.

[armc808]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

[STribe14]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

Is that the same thing as the Berkeley Law Grant? At ASW they told me the maximum is $60K (over three years).

[crookedsmile]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

Is that the same thing as the Berkeley Law Grant? At ASW they told me the maximum is $60K (over three years).

Yeah, I'm pretty certain that the Law Grants are the need based awards. They might cap it at 60K over the three years as opposed to allowing you the maximum of 22.5K per year, every year.

[armc808]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

Is that the same thing as the Berkeley Law Grant? At ASW they told me the maximum is $60K (over three years).

Yep the Berkeley Law Grant. Come to think of it she did not specify whether the $22.5k is per year or spread out over three years; she only asked what I received in grant aid and said "Congratulations, that is actually our maximum need-based award." My grand aid is spread out over 3 years though, not per year. Has anyone received $60k in grant aid?

[STribe14]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

Is that the same thing as the Berkeley Law Grant? At ASW they told me the maximum is $60K (over three years).

Yep the Berkeley Law Grant. Come to think of it she did not specify whether the $22.5k is per year or spread out over three years; she only asked what I received in grant aid and said "Congratulations, that is actually our maximum need-based award." My grand aid is spread out over 3 years though, not per year. Has anyone received $60k in grant aid?

My Berkeley Law Grant offer was $60K total. Maybe the financial aid rep misunderstood/misspoke when she said 22.5K was the max?

But since the max is higher than 22.5K total, you should definitely ask for more

[armc808]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

Is that the same thing as the Berkeley Law Grant? At ASW they told me the maximum is $60K (over three years).

Yep the Berkeley Law Grant. Come to think of it she did not specify whether the $22.5k is per year or spread out over three years; she only asked what I received in grant aid and said "Congratulations, that is actually our maximum need-based award." My grand aid is spread out over 3 years though, not per year. Has anyone received $60k in grant aid?

My Berkeley Law Grant offer was $60K total. Maybe the financial aid rep misunderstood/misspoke when she said 22.5K was the max?

But since the max is higher than 22.5K total, you should definitely ask for more

Ah okay that's good news to hear! I will definitely be doing that.

[crookedsmile]

Regarding need-based aid: I visited Berkeley a few weeks ago for an individual visit, and when I spoke with the financial aid office the representative told me that their maximum need-based award is $22.5k. As someone who heavily depends on need-based aid, it was not the news I wanted to hear

Is that the same thing as the Berkeley Law Grant? At ASW they told me the maximum is $60K (over three years).

Yep the Berkeley Law Grant. Come to think of it she did not specify whether the $22.5k is per year or spread out over three years; she only asked what I received in grant aid and said "Congratulations, that is actually our maximum need-based award." My grand aid is spread out over 3 years though, not per year. Has anyone received $60k in grant aid?

My Berkeley Law Grant offer was $60K total. Maybe the financial aid rep misunderstood/misspoke when she said 22.5K was the max?

But since the max is higher than 22.5K total, you should definitely ask for more

Did your award letter specify whether this was entirely need-based or both merit/need?

[armc808]

Did your award letter specify whether this was entirely need-based or both merit/need?

My award only stipulated the Berkeley Law Grant, so only need-based.

[gargleblaster]

so no news on scholly offers this week?