UC Hastings c/o 2017 Applicants (2013-2014) Forum

[purplethunder]

Now that their ranking has dropped, can I use my 30K at SCU to negotiate?

I want to see you be brave
(AND take the hit if it backfires).

Ah, it has begun. Wishing your fellow law school students will fail in their endeavors for your amusement and/or gain.

[Moonlight]

lol so soon guys?

[Dingo Starr]

Ah, it has begun. Wishing your fellow law school students will fail in their endeavors for your amusement and/or gain.

If I really wished you to fail, wouldn't I just wholeheartedly encourage you to blaze on ahead?
Just being real and honest.
If you try it and it works, you report back here (hopefully) and we all benefit.
If it backfires you take the hit and report back here (hopefully) so we can all avoid that avenue.
That isn't wishing for you to fail, I'm just risk averse.

[purplethunder]

Ah, it has begun. Wishing your fellow law school students will fail in their endeavors for your amusement and/or gain.

If I really wished you to fail, wouldn't I just wholeheartedly encourage you to blaze on ahead?
Just being real and honest.
If you try it and it works, you report back here (hopefully) and we all benefit.
If it backfires you take the hit and report back here (hopefully) so we can all avoid that avenue.
That isn't wishing for you to fail, I'm just risk averse.

I'm new to the negotiating thing but I thought the worst that could happen is they say no? Or are you implying that they will rescind aid for daring to ask for more? What does "take a hit" mean to you?

[yeslekkkk]

I got the $5 k email. There was a typo. It said UC Hasting. ha. I never got the first $13 k email. But then the email said, "This is in addition to the $13 k scholarship." Weird. That $18 k isn't enough to make me go there. I might just ask them to match a full scholly offer to a higher ranked school and see what happens.

[Moonlight]

I got the $5 k email. There was a typo. It said UC Hasting. ha. I never got the first $13 k email. But then the email said, "This is in addition to the $13 k scholarship." Weird. That $18 k isn't enough to make me go there. I might just ask them to match a full scholly offer to a higher ranked school and see what happens.

You have a full ride to a higher ranked school? Where?

And as to an earlier poster's question. It can never hurt to ask for more in my opinion if you do it respectfully. Worst they can do is say no.

[mac35352]

I got the 5K email with the 13K language as well even though I never got the first email either.

[starchild]

sitting, wishing, waiting... my stats aren't amazing so i feel like i'm expecting a miracle..

[shawn1234]

what is the most anyone here has been offered schools-wise with NO gpa stip? The most I've seen (not sure if stip attached or not) has been 13k.. seriously, that's the most that's been offered by UCH, stip or no stip?

btw to the post regarding asking SCU for more money - they're not going to rescind, but they will probably say no. SCU is notoriously stingy.

[shawn1234]

what is the most anyone here has been offered schools-wise with NO gpa stip? The most I've seen (not sure if stip attached or not) has been 13k.. seriously, that's the most that's been offered by UCH, stip or no stip?
***SCHOLLY-WISE***
btw to the post regarding asking SCU for more money - they're not going to rescind, but they will probably say no. SCU is notoriously stingy.

[Moonlight]

what is the most anyone here has been offered schools-wise with NO gpa stip? The most I've seen (not sure if stip attached or not) has been 13k.. seriously, that's the most that's been offered by UCH, stip or no stip?

btw to the post regarding asking SCU for more money - they're not going to rescind, but they will probably say no. SCU is notoriously stingy.

SCU is totally stingy

[purplethunder]

what is the most anyone here has been offered schools-wise with NO gpa stip? The most I've seen (not sure if stip attached or not) has been 13k.. seriously, that's the most that's been offered by UCH, stip or no stip?

btw to the post regarding asking SCU for more money - they're not going to rescind, but they will probably say no. SCU is notoriously stingy.

Oh I wasn't going to ask SCU for more money, I was asking if it would be feasible to use the 30k SCU offered me to negotiate with Hastings for more money, but apparently that isn't a good idea either?

[yeslekkkk]

what is the most anyone here has been offered schools-wise with NO gpa stip? The most I've seen (not sure if stip attached or not) has been 13k.. seriously, that's the most that's been offered by UCH, stip or no stip?

btw to the post regarding asking SCU for more money - they're not going to rescind, but they will probably say no. SCU is notoriously stingy.

18 k with no stip it seems.

[Dingo Starr]

Stip for the 13k is good standing (roughly 2.2). Haven't got the 5k yet, so I can't comment.

[Moonlight]

You can try using SCU on hastings but that's a low ranked school to bump with given the slide. If they had stayed at 96 then it may be slightly easier to negotiate with.

[OneMoreLawHopeful]

The additional money is great news, as I predicted there will be so many withdrawals, especially now that they took a hit in their rankings due to their poor employment numbers. I can see Hastings being a decent option if they offer a scholly of fifty thousand a year, anything less is not worth it considering the poor employment numbers.

deebanger, how do you have so much time to make recommendations when you haven't even taken the LSAT yet? I couldn't help but notice you said you were at least 3 months from taking it back in February (source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2#p7469442 ).

Maybe you should at least sit for the LSAT before you tell actual applicants (as in, those who have completed the requirements to apply) what your uninformed opinion is?

[californiauser]

The additional money is great news, as I predicted there will be so many withdrawals, especially now that they took a hit in their rankings due to their poor employment numbers. I can see Hastings being a decent option if they offer a scholly of fifty thousand a year, anything less is not worth it considering the poor employment numbers.

deebanger, how do you have so much time to make recommendations when you haven't even taken the LSAT yet? I couldn't help but notice you said you were at least 3 months from taking it back in February (source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2#p7469442 ).

Maybe you should at least sit for the LSAT before you tell actual applicants (as in, those who have completed the requirements to apply) what your uninformed opinion is?

Is he wrong though? It's not like sitting for the LSAT gives you esoteric insight into the cost benefit analysis of law school

[OneMoreLawHopeful]

The additional money is great news, as I predicted there will be so many withdrawals, especially now that they took a hit in their rankings due to their poor employment numbers. I can see Hastings being a decent option if they offer a scholly of fifty thousand a year, anything less is not worth it considering the poor employment numbers.

deebanger, how do you have so much time to make recommendations when you haven't even taken the LSAT yet? I couldn't help but notice you said you were at least 3 months from taking it back in February (source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2#p7469442 ).

Maybe you should at least sit for the LSAT before you tell actual applicants (as in, those who have completed the requirements to apply) what your uninformed opinion is?

Is he wrong though? It's not like sitting for the LSAT gives you esoteric insight into the cost benefit analysis of law school

Going to law school is a major life decision that requires weighing all aspects of your life in a personal manner.

I went to Hastings because my GPA kept me out of higher ranked schools (I had a death in my family during undergrad and it took a while to recover), and since I already had a 175, "retaking" wasn't going to help much. The TLS wisdom in that situation would be to write off lawschool entirely (probably something like "get a second BA in compsci").

But, I wanted to be a lawyer, and I knew that my GPA didn't tell the whole story (I got Dean's list my last 4 semesters), so I took a chance on Hastings. I'll be graduating in about 6 weeks, and have a job waiting at a firm that was my first choice during OCI. I made the correct decision.

As someone who doesn't know the intimate details of others, and has not really gone through the application process himself, deebanger cannot possibly understand this. He can spout crap about how he thinks a $50k scholarship is what it takes to make Hastings worth it, but until he's actually gone through the process, and made the choice, he's uninformed (to say nothing about how the number 50k is clearly pulled from his ass).

You can play statistics if you want, but being a lawyer is a major life choice, it will change how people see you, what jobs are open to you (and closed!), and how you see the world. It's completely different than buying a savings bond, but deebanger is advocating putting in no more thought than "What is the ROI?" That's the kind of advice you'll get from someone who's never really been through it; and yes, it is woefully uninformed.

[Moonlight]

Going to law school is a major life decision that requires weighing all aspects of your life in a personal manner.

I went to Hastings because my GPA kept me out of higher ranked schools (I had a death in my family during undergrad and it took a while to recover), and since I already had a 175, "retaking" wasn't going to help much. The TLS wisdom in that situation would be to write off lawschool entirely (probably something like "get a second BA in compsci").

But, I wanted to be a lawyer, and I knew that my GPA didn't tell the whole story (I got Dean's list my last 4 semesters), so I took a chance on Hastings. I'll be graduating in about 6 weeks, and have a job waiting at a firm that was my first choice during OCI. I made the correct decision.

As someone who doesn't know the intimate details of others, and has not really gone through the application process himself, deebanger cannot possibly understand this. He can spout crap about how he thinks a $50k scholarship is what it takes to make Hastings worth it, but until he's actually gone through the process, and made the choice, he's uninformed (to say nothing about how the number 50k is clearly pulled from his ass).

You can play statistics if you want, but being a lawyer is a major life choice, it will change how people see you, what jobs are open to you (and closed!), and how you see the world. It's completely different than buying a savings bond, but deebanger is advocating putting in no more thought than "What is the ROI?" That's the kind of advice you'll get from someone who's never really been through it; and yes, it is woefully uninformed.

I support this. There are so many personal factors involved. It's not all about the rank and best school possible. We're all afflicted with so much in our lives so its hard to say one choice is necessarily better for every individual. I wish I had onemorelaw's LSAT. My GPA is good at 3.78 but LSAT killed me. Anyway, no one pounce on that. I've heard the TLS baggage on LSAT scores and am not listening to it anymore.

And yea by the way, does any law school offer more than full tuition meaning just the tuition itself? I didn't think any law schools covered expenses outside of tuition? 50K is way above Hasting's tuition so it seems odd he said that. Does Hastings give Book stipends btw? I ask because McGeorge gave me one so not sure if other law schools do as well.

Onemorelaw, I'd love to speak to you more about how you performed well at Hastings and such as you sound like you landed a Big Law job? We can PM if that's better for you on this subject. Thanks!

[deebanger]

The additional money is great news, as I predicted there will be so many withdrawals, especially now that they took a hit in their rankings due to their poor employment numbers. I can see Hastings being a decent option if they offer a scholly of fifty thousand a year, anything less is not worth it considering the poor employment numbers.

deebanger, how do you have so much time to make recommendations when you haven't even taken the LSAT yet? I couldn't help but notice you said you were at least 3 months from taking it back in February (source: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2#p7469442 ).

Maybe you should at least sit for the LSAT before you tell actual applicants (as in, those who have completed the requirements to apply) what your uninformed opinion is?

Is he wrong though? It's not like sitting for the LSAT gives you esoteric insight into the cost benefit analysis of law school

Going to law school is a major life decision that requires weighing all aspects of your life in a personal manner.

I went to Hastings because my GPA kept me out of higher ranked schools (I had a death in my family during undergrad and it took a while to recover), and since I already had a 175, "retaking" wasn't going to help much. The TLS wisdom in that situation would be to write off lawschool entirely (probably something like "get a second BA in compsci").

But, I wanted to be a lawyer, and I knew that my GPA didn't tell the whole story (I got Dean's list my last 4 semesters), so I took a chance on Hastings. I'll be graduating in about 6 weeks, and have a job waiting at a firm that was my first choice during OCI. I made the correct decision.

As someone who doesn't know the intimate details of others, and has not really gone through the application process himself, deebanger cannot possibly understand this. He can spout crap about how he thinks a $50k scholarship is what it takes to make Hastings worth it, but until he's actually gone through the process, and made the choice, he's uninformed (to say nothing about how the number 50k is clearly pulled from his ass).

You can play statistics if you want, but being a lawyer is a major life choice, it will change how people see you, what jobs are open to you (and closed!), and how you see the world. It's completely different than buying a savings bond, but deebanger is advocating putting in no more thought than "What is the ROI?" That's the kind of advice you'll get from someone who's never really been through it; and yes, it is woefully uninformed.

first of all, I have gone through the application process, so you are wrong to start off with. I have taken the lsat not once but two times, so again you are wrong. I will be taking the lsat for the third time coming june. I decided to wait another cycle and not aplly this cycle with my lsat sore of 169. I want to touch the 170 mark. And fyi, Hastings gave me the same scholly they usually give for like 13k. I turned it down. As from a sheer numbers perspective, yes, I will say it Hastings is not worth it when almost 100 grads are unemployed. In the bay area alone, they are just below Standford/Berkeley/and Davis. Now them dropping to tier 2 staus makes them even more worse as they are tied with Pepperdine now which by the way is not even the third best law school in so cal. So, tell me your thoughts on why almost 100 grads from Hastings from the class of 2012 are unemployed from the class of 2012, instead of guessing how many times i have taken the lsat. Also, what are thoughts on Davis grad's having less unemployment compared to Hastings grads' even when adjusted for class size. Yes, The things i say about hasitngs are harsh, blunt, call it what ever you want. I could care less.

And also stop having an inferiority complex, I get it Hasitngs in the bay area is obviously not as good as Stanford/Berk/ and Davis, but just because you have an inferiority complex you dont have to make Hastings look better than it is. It is what it is. The employment prospects suck if you are hastings grad. You have a job, congrats! but stop sugar coating things and misguiding naive people.

[ManoftheHour]

Just because someone wins the lottery doesn't mean that it's a good idea for everyone to play. In every law school (even in the elite T-14), there will be winners and there will be losers. Some schools have more winners and some have more losers.

Regardless, this isn't the place for discussing whether a place is worth attending or not. I don't think there should be any bashing of a school in the school's applicants thread.

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 7&t=146613

[OneMoreLawHopeful]

first of all, (1)I have gone through the application process, so you are wrong to start off with. I have taken the lsat not once but two times, so again you are wrong. I will be taking the lsat for the third time coming june. I decided to wait another cycle and not aplly this cycle with my lsat sore of 169. I want to touch the 170 mark. (2)And fyi, Hastings gave me the same scholly they usually give for like 13k. I turned it down. As from a sheer numbers perspective, yes, I will say it Hastings is not worth it when almost 100 grads are unemployed. In the bay area alone, they are just below Standford/Berkeley/and Davis. Now them dropping to tier 2 staus makes them even more worse as they are tied with Pepperdine now which by the way is not even the third best law school in so cal. So, tell me your thoughts on why almost 100 grads from Hastings from the class of 2012 are unemployed from the class of 2012, instead of guessing how many times i have taken the lsat. Also, what are thoughts on Davis grad's having less unemployment compared to Hastings grads' even when adjusted for class size. Yes, The things i say about hasitngs are harsh, blunt, call it what ever you want. I could care less.

(3)And also stop having an inferiority complex, I get it Hasitngs in the bay area is obviously not as good as Stanford/Berk/ and Davis, but just because you have an inferiority complex you dont have to make Hastings look better than it is. It is what it is. The employment prospects suck if you are hastings grad. You have a job, congrats! but stop sugar coating things and misguiding naive people.

Your posts make so much more sense now. I've helpfully numbered the most revealing statements in your post so we can see what's fueling your bizarre hate-boner for UC Hastings.

We can see that you've gone through the application process, but didn't get in anywhere you wanted to (see statement (1) + the fact that you're applying again). Second, despite taking the LSAT twice, you still haven't gotten the score you wanted, and you probably blame your failure with respect to (1) on your LSAT scores noted in (2). You also received a financial aid offer from Hastings, but because it wasn't the amount you were looking for, you turned them down, clearly believing that your stats demanded a much larger scholarship (which is somewhat odd, as you couldn't get into a better school, see (1), yet think you deserve some massive scholarship). Now you want the world to know that you made the right decision, and anyone with a different perspective must have a "complex" (see (3)), because it would be difficult for you to accept that your experience is not universal.

This results in you having a skewed view of the world, as evinced by your claim that I'm "sugar coating things" when all I did was share my personal experience. You cannot point to anything I said that was untrue, nor have I ever hid anything about Hastings (I have repeatedly stated that top 15% is required for biglaw - seriously, check my post history...but be careful, the search function can be every bit as complicated as those Logic Games you still haven't quite mastered!).

I have a great job waiting for me when I graduate, doing exactly what I want to do; something I wouldn't have if I had taken your "advice" 3 years ago.

No one is forcing you to go to UC Hastings. Employment wise, Hastings has not been great for a large number of students. But for some of us, it's absolutely great, and it's not for you to tell us what does and does not work for us - especially when you haven't even begun to achieve your own goals.

And yea by the way, does any law school offer more than full tuition meaning just the tuition itself? I didn't think any law schools covered expenses outside of tuition? 50K is way above Hasting's tuition so it seems odd he said that. Does Hastings give Book stipends btw? I ask because McGeorge gave me one so not sure if other law schools do as well.

Onemorelaw, I'd love to speak to you more about how you performed well at Hastings and such as you sound like you landed a Big Law job? We can PM if that's better for you on this subject. Thanks!

I know someone at Stanford who received a "fellowship" for her 2L year which functioned sort of like a stipend (it was larger than tuition, so there was cash left over), but she only received it 2L year, and then it went away for 3L because her income from a biglaw SA disqualified her. That's the only instance I've heard of a school offering something "more than full tuition." There are private grants that go above and beyond, but those are usually offered outside of the financial aid office.

I've never heard of a "book stipend" at Hastings. Usually the financial aid office will give you an estimate of how much a semester costs, including expenses (something like $30k, with $20k being tuition and $10k being "expenses"). Then you get your various grants, and they are subtracted from this total, and then the rest is made up in loans. So, calculated out it looks like:

$30k ($20k tuition + $10k expenses)
- $10k ($20k grant divided by 2 is $10k/semester)
= $20k

Then they will get you $20k in loans, and on the day those disperse, you can go to the financial aid office and pick up a check for $10k which is a "refund" of any money (grant + loans) left over after tuition is covered. As a result, there is no "book stipend" but because the grant contributes to the "refund" which you can then use to cover expenses, the grant essentially goes towards all of your expenses, including books.

Beyond your standard grant for financial/academic reasons, you can get a few additional grants for purely academic reasons (there are scholarships for the top person in each section, the person in each section that wins the "class participation award" as determined by profs, the top 10 students in each class, etc.), but these are tied to academic achievements, not expenses (like books).

I'm always happy to talk about performance at Hastings (and yes, I'm doing biglaw), please feel free to ask any questions you have either here or in the other thread. If you're more comfortable with PMs, that's cool too, and feel free to shoot me one.

[Moonlight]

Calm down Deebanger. It's just a forum. For an applicant, you're awfully fired up. It's not even your school.

So you say you applied last cycle, Deebanger? Which schools did you get into and why did you wait another cycle?

If you only took the LSAT, then you didn't go through the application process.....

Anyway, I think the small class size at Davis helps them achieve employment rates that are high. Hastings may start seeing that next year and the year after given the reduced class sizes.

I think Pepperdine's rank this year is inflated a bit. But that's just me.

I think the point Onelaw is making is that you may not have the basis that your claims require to make them valid enough to be taken into consideration seriously.

[Dingo Starr]

fueling your bizarre hate-boner for UC Hastings.

I needed that. Thank you.

[Moonlight]

lol great now its stuck in my head.