In at Berkeley Law! Forum

[dudester]

+1 on still waiting (with very little hope).

Are a ton of people still waiting on matching scholarship / scholarship notifications?

That's the impression I'm getting. I've kind of given up hope for one at this point.

BoalTTT already sent me my offer.

A matching offer? Do tell?

Yes, it was a Matching Scholarship offer. The school e-mailed it to me last week.

[Dignan]

Are a ton of people still waiting on matching scholarship / scholarship notifications?

That's the impression I'm getting. I've kind of given up hope for one at this point.

Yeah, no kidding. I think the only people who have reported getting them are URMs, too.

FWIW, I got mine April 1 and I don't think I could possibly be mistaken for a URM.

[existenz]

Since most or all of you are going to Berkeley, thought I'd throw this question in here instead of the "Choosing a Law School" board. You guys are biased, but perhaps better informed because of the ASW etc. I'm on the Berkeley WL, so if I did get the call in June or whenever I wouldn't have much time to think about it, much less post on TLS.

Right now I'm planning on attending Mich with $67.5k. I live in SoCal and plan to practice here after graduation. I'll be visiting Berkeley unofficially in the next month, but was wondering what the pros and cons might be of Berkeley @ sticker versus Michigan with $$? I really enjoyed my visit to Michigan, but Berkeley was my top choice when the cycle started.

My goal is clerkship (preferably 9th Circuit), biglaw, then lateral into entertainment law.

[Dignan]

Existenz,

If you want a more informed (but still biased) opinion, I suggest posting your question to the "Berkeley Student Taking Questions" thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&t=100391

If you didn't care where you ended up after graduation, then I'd say that Berkeley and Michigan are essentially peer schools and that you should go with the significantly cheaper option.

But, for each of your goals (9th circuit clerkship, Cali big law, and entertainment law), Berkeley is going to offer you advantages over Michigan. I'm sure those advantages are worth something, but are they worth 67.5K? Tough call.

[Kronk]

I don't think that Michigan would place BETTER for 9th Circuit clerkships than Berkeley, but keep in mind that only one 9th circuit judge hires Berkeley grads. To be honest, I think it would be hard to get a 9th circuit clerkship from either school.

[Dignan]

I don't think that Michigan would place BETTER for 9th Circuit clerkships than Berkeley, but keep in mind that only one 9th circuit judge hires Berkeley grads. To be honest, I think it would be hard to get a 9th circuit clerkship from either school.

Which judge? Reinhardt?

13 Berkeley grads landed COA clerkships for the 09-10 term; 8 were in the 9th circuit. Since each judge gets only 2 to 4 clerks, I don't think that all 8 were working for the same guy.

Edit: I actually bothered to check which 9th circuit judges the Berkeley grads clerked for during the 09-10 term. No one clerked for Reinhardt. Here is the breakdown, by active circuit judge:

Bea (1)
Fletcher (2)
Ikuta (1)
Pregerson (1)
Schroeder (1)
Tallman (1)
Thomas (1)

So, 8 clerks spread out over 7 judges.

There were, by the way, 4 Michigan grads hired for 9th Circuit COA clerkships for the 09-10 term.

[Kronk]

I don't think that Michigan would place BETTER for 9th Circuit clerkships than Berkeley, but keep in mind that only one 9th circuit judge hires Berkeley grads. To be honest, I think it would be hard to get a 9th circuit clerkship from either school.

Which judge? Reinhardt?

13 Berkeley grads landed COA clerkships for the 09-10 term; 8 were in the 9th circuit. Since each judge gets only 2 to 4 clerks, I don't think that all 8 were working for the same guy.

Edit: I actually bothered to check which 9th circuit judges the Berkeley grads clerked for during the 09-10 term. No one clerked for Reinhardt. Here is the breakdown, by active circuit judge:

Bea (1)
Fletcher (2)
Ikuta (1)
Pregerson (1)
Schroeder (1)
Tallman (1)
Thomas (1)

So, 8 clerks spread out over 7 judges.

There were, by the way, 4 Michigan grads hired for 9th Circuit COA clerkships for the 09-10 term.

Disregard my comment, let me ask the person who told me it what exactly we were talking about.

[existenz]

I believe Judge Richard Paez was a Berkeley grad and has hired Berkeley grads in the past. It would probably come down to my grades and law review at either school anyway.

Not surprising that Berkeley has had more clerks in the 9th circuit. Part of that may be self-selection. There's so much I love about Berkeley but the difference in cost is a pretty big factor.

I know Kronk passed up serious $$$ at Chicago/UVa for Berkeley. Was there a particular reason?

[Dignan]

I believe Judge Richard Paez was a Berkeley grad and has hired Berkeley grads in the past.

And, if Liu gets confirmed (no sure thing), there will be a Berkeley law prof on the 9th circuit.

Not surprising that Berkeley has had more clerks in the 9th circuit. Part of that may be self-selection.

Definitely. I actually think that Berkeley's location in the 9th circuit depresses its overall COA clerkship placement stats. The DC, 2nd, and 9th are the most desirable circuits. There is intense competition for 9th circuit clerkships, with grads of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, Michigan, and, of course, Stanford all vying for spots. Berkeley grads have a lot more competition in their region than, say, Chicago or Duke grads do.

Still, if my goal was to get a clerkship in the 9th circuit, I'd rather be at Berkeley than any other school outside of HYS, all things being equal. (As you say, you're going to have to finish way up in your class to have a shot.)

[Kronk]

I believe Judge Richard Paez was a Berkeley grad and has hired Berkeley grads in the past. It would probably come down to my grades and law review at either school anyway.

Not surprising that Berkeley has had more clerks in the 9th circuit. Part of that may be self-selection. There's so much I love about Berkeley but the difference in cost is a pretty big factor.

I know Kronk passed up serious $$$ at Chicago/UVa for Berkeley. Was there a particular reason?

There are a lot of reasons, actually. I'd acknowledge that Chicago is without a doubt the better school--even for placing in California. But I wanted to do a dual degree and Berkeley's grad departments are absolutely unmatched by any school in the country, I love the Bay Area and have been wanting to get back to California, and I loved the current / prospective students at Boalt when I visited (and they seemed genuinely happy with their decision).

I didn't get to meet many Chicago students when I visited, so maybe they would've been equally happy and I would've got along with them just as well. But Midwest culture in general isn't my thing, and I decided it wasn't worth $75,000 for a slight boost in employment prospects.

[Kronk]

In re: 9th Circuit judges:

The person I was talking to I guess was only looking at "feeder" judges for the SCOTUS. And Fletcher is the only feeder judge who hires Boalt grads, apparently.

[Dignan]

In re: 9th Circuit judges:

The person I was talking to I guess was only looking at "feeder" judges for the SCOTUS. And Fletcher is the only feeder judge who hires Boalt grads, apparently.

Yeah, SCOTUS feeder judges are a different animal, and the person you talked to is right. To be fair, though, there are a small handful (less than a dozen) judges in all the circuits that are known as "feeder" judges. Those judges, not surprisingly, like to hire Yale and Harvard grads. Even Stanford grads (who secure COA clerkships at triple the rate of Berkeley grads) don't fare well with the feeder judges. Since O'Connor left the Supreme Court, Stanford's SC clerkship placement success has started to look like Berkeley's.

[IzziesGal]

And, if Liu gets confirmed (no sure thing), there will be a Berkeley law prof on the 9th circuit.

There already is a Berkeley law prof on the 9th circuit - Judge Fletcher teaches Fed Courts. So, if Liu gets confirmed, we'll have two 9th Cir. judges.

[frankjones]

Does anyone know where Berkeley stands in terms of distributing general (non-matching) scholarships? Have the vast majority been offered by now?

[Emma.]

So did anyone hear about matching scholarships this week?

[general100]

I didn't hear anything. The financial aid situation there seems dismal.....

[Emma.]

I didn't hear anything. The financial aid situation there seems dismal.....

Yeah. This sucks. I need to make a decision this week, and as much as I like Boalt, I can't give up my other options and commit to going there without knowing about aid.

[Emma.]

So I called and they said they would have an answer for me one way or another next week before my deadline. Good to talk with them, they were really understanding of my situation so it definitely eased my frustration. Sounds like the committee is meeting every day right now, so hopefully others waiting will see some movement soon as well.

[jadjerd]

that is pretty much what they told me by email on Tuesday. She said she would try to get a response for me on Wed. or Thursday but I haven't heard anything.

[general100]

Is anyone else's Bearfacts acct messed up? Mine says that I'm graduating in Spring 2011 and also lists the total cost as $35,000 (when it should be something like $74k). Not a scholarship or need-based financial aid recipient...

[jadjerd]

Just heard back that I didn't get a matching scholarship.. sad..

[Dignan]

Is anyone else's Bearfacts acct messed up? Mine says that I'm graduating in Spring 2011 and also lists the total cost as $35,000 (when it should be something like $74k). Not a scholarship or need-based financial aid recipient...

Depending on what page you're on, the costs could be broken up by semester. That $35K is probably for one semester, not for an entire year.

[Emma.]

Just heard back that I didn't get a matching scholarship.. sad..

Sorry. Still considering Boalt?

[jadjerd]

Yep! Still going. Hopefully I won't have a complex about it when I get there and everyone else spent their undergrads reading while I was in a practice room... Did anybody get any info about need-based grants and their likelihood to change over the years with in-state tuition, etc? I have a call & email into fin. aid but haven't heard back yet.

[general100]

Depending on what page you're on, the costs could be broken up by semester. That $35K is probably for one semester, not for an entire year.

Yeah, that's what I thought at first, except that the amt able to borrow is for the whole year. It says something like:

Total UC Berkeley Costs $34,050.00
My Gift Aid $0.00
My Net Cost $34,050.00
Students Loan And Work $73,976.00 (COA)

34050 x 2 doesn't = 73976. Can't figure out what's going on there.