In at Berkeley Law! Forum

[Dignan]

I'm all in. I just opted to "definitely enroll" in the class of 2013!

[Emma.]

I'm all in. I just opted to "definitely enroll" in the class of 2013!

Wooooot!

Congrats, Dignan.

[hoopsguy6]

Anybody else feel like Berkeley's matching scholarship is a total joke? Going by threads from past years, it seems that they absolutely do not care about respond by scholarship deadlines for 90%+ of applicants. Some people are left in limbo for months before being rejected. A lot of people in the past have also said that the Financial Aid Office doesn't respond to emails or messages (I never gotten any responses from inquiries I've made either).

[Emma.]

Anybody else feel like Berkeley's matching scholarship is a total joke? Going by threads from past years, it seems that they absolutely do not care about respond by scholarship deadlines for 90%+ of applicants. Some people are left in limbo for months before being rejected. A lot of people in the past have also said that the Financial Aid Office doesn't respond to emails or messages (I never gotten any responses from inquiries I've made either).

I spoke with the financial aid office on Friday. They said that matching scholarships aren't their thing, it is all decided through admissions. They were happy to transfer me to the admissions office and tell me who I needed to speak with, and that woman seemed very helpful. She knew who I was, what was going on with my app, and promised me a decision by Wednesday. Of course I could well just end up getting rejected, it seems that they only match 25% or so, and some of those are surely partial matches.

[pleasepickme]

I just got a response to my matching scholarship application. Rejected. I'm annoyed. I'm above their 75th percentiles in GPA and LSAT, and I had a pretty compelling reason to be in the bay area and at Berkeley. Oh well, I guess there are lots of similarly great candidates out there.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Anybody else feel like Berkeley's matching scholarship is a total joke? Going by threads from past years, it seems that they absolutely do not care about respond by scholarship deadlines for 90%+ of applicants. Some people are left in limbo for months before being rejected. A lot of people in the past have also said that the Financial Aid Office doesn't respond to emails or messages (I never gotten any responses from inquiries I've made either).

I e-mailed the matching scholarship address they have posted about a month ago and still haven't received a response. Oh wells.

[Amelie]

Rejected for a matching scholarship today. Looks like it's Michigan for me.

[CoutureChiq]

Rejected for a matching scholarship today. Looks like it's Michigan for me.

Wow. Sorry to hear. If you've been rejected, there doesn't seem to be much hope for the rest of us.

[zaichka]

Rejected for a matching scholarship today. Looks like it's Michigan for me.

I got rejected today too. I'm disappointed but was definitely expecting it due to the silence. I'll still be at Boalt next year though. I'm only interested in public interest work, so LRAP makes the rejection a little less bitter.

[Amelie]

Rejected for a matching scholarship today. Looks like it's Michigan for me.

I got rejected today too. I'm disappointed but was definitely expecting it due to the silence. I'll still be at Boalt next year though. I'm only interested in public interest work, so LRAP makes the rejection a little less bitter.

[Tangerine Gleam accidentally screwed up this post when trying to make a post of his own; instead of quoting, he hit the "edit" function and cleared the whole post. Sorry, Amelie. -- TG]

[Amelie]

Lol. The gist of my post was in response to CoutureChic; I don't think that matching is based on numbers (or at least on numbers alone), so my rejection doesn't necessarily doesn't need to worry anyone. I don't think I convinced the committee that I would attend Cal even with a scholarship (as I wasn't so sure myself) - I want to work in DC when I graduate, etc. So I'm sure some more deserving people will be recipients!

And congrats Tangerine Gleam!

[frankjones]

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

Bump. I'm also wondering if Berkeley definitely notifies you if you don't get a regular scholarship. I know they notify you either way when it comes to matching scholarships, but am not sure about general ones.
The lady I spoke to in Financial Aid seemed to think they would notify us either way, but to be honest, she didn't seem very confident about the statement and I'm a bit skeptical.

[general100]

She wasn't certain because the financial aid office does not distribute merit-based scholarships, matching or otherwise. You should be calling the admissions office.

[hoopsguy6]

I think it's a mistake to have scholarships be separate from financial aid, given how clueless almost everybody is about Berkeley. It seems like they are mired in bureaucracy.

[Dignan]

I think it's a mistake to have scholarships be separate from financial aid, given how clueless almost everybody is about Berkeley. It seems like they are mired in bureaucracy.

Not to excuse Berkeley, but I found similar levels of confusion at two other T14 law schools.

[CCN]

I think it's a mistake to have scholarships be separate from financial aid, given how clueless almost everybody is about Berkeley. It seems like they are mired in bureaucracy.

Not to excuse Berkeley, but I found similar levels of confusion at two other T14 law schools.

already trollin' for berkeley, huh

[Dignan]

I think it's a mistake to have scholarships be separate from financial aid, given how clueless almost everybody is about Berkeley. It seems like they are mired in bureaucracy.

Not to excuse Berkeley, but I found similar levels of confusion at two other T14 law schools.

already trollin' for berkeley, huh

Well, this is the "In at Berkeley" thread. What do you expect?

[naruhodo]

Just an FYI if there's anyone else waiting for matching scholarship offers.

I just got an offer today to match a Darrow from Michigan. Promptly withdrew from Michigan, but now have some thinking to do.

[hoopsguy6]

Just an FYI if there's anyone else waiting for matching scholarship offers.

I just got an offer today to match a Darrow from Michigan. Promptly withdrew from Michigan, but now have some thinking to do.

didn't you get into Yale?

[Tangerine Gleam]

Boalt is matching more (and larger) scholarships this year than I had expected. There have been a significant handful of Darrow matches so far.

Also, I'm officially on board. See you all in August!

[CCN]

Boalt is matching more (and larger) scholarships this year than I had expected. There have been a significant handful of Darrow matches so far.

Also, I'm officially on board. See you all in August!

still waiting here. deadline in 2 days elsewhere. not happy w/ the folks at boalt right now.

[hoopsguy6]

Withdrew my app today. Tired of waiting for Boalt. Columbia denied my scholarship match too, but at least they had the courtesy to respond in a timely manner. Really disappointed, since Berkeley was pretty much my top choice.

[Dignan]

Withdrew my app today. Tired of waiting for Boalt. Columbia denied my scholarship match too, but at least they had the courtesy to respond in a timely manner. Really disappointed, since Berkeley was pretty much my top choice.

You really withdrew from your top choice because you were tired of waiting? I understand being annoyed, but it seems like it's worth putting up with a few weeks of annoyance in exchange for going to your preferred law school for three years.

Where are you going next year?

[hoopsguy6]

Withdrew my app today. Tired of waiting for Boalt. Columbia denied my scholarship match too, but at least they had the courtesy to respond in a timely manner. Really disappointed, since Berkeley was pretty much my top choice.

You really withdrew from your top choice because you were tired of waiting? I understand being annoyed, but it seems like it's worth putting up with a few weeks of annoyance in exchange for going to your preferred law school for three years.

Where are you going next year?

Well it was tied for top choice with Columbia, which is where I'll be going. There were obviously several other reasons why I ended up choosing Columbia, the finaid was just a part of it.

[Dignan]

Withdrew my app today. Tired of waiting for Boalt. Columbia denied my scholarship match too, but at least they had the courtesy to respond in a timely manner. Really disappointed, since Berkeley was pretty much my top choice.

You really withdrew from your top choice because you were tired of waiting? I understand being annoyed, but it seems like it's worth putting up with a few weeks of annoyance in exchange for going to your preferred law school for three years.

Where are you going next year?

Well it was tied for top choice with Columbia, which is where I'll be going. There were obviously several other reasons why I ended up choosing Columbia, the finaid was just a part of it.

If you had more than one top choice, then that makes sense.

By the way, I'm sorry for the way I phrased my question. I just reread my post and cringed. The tone was a little more blunt and aggressive than I intended.

And congratulations on CLS! It seems like an amazing law school.