UCLA School of Law c/o 2018 Applicants (2014-2015 cycle) Forum

[Tr3]

Admitted in Dec. No email for me, so I guess no scholly. =( boop

[ub3r]

Got my scholarship offer, which matched USC's. Both are high, but I'm above their numbers. Really really happy with it, since UCLA at a steep discount has always been one of my primary hopes. Short of Stanford (not gonna happen) or Berkeley (with some money), UCLA is probably where I'll go.

[spencercross]

Admitted early in January, got a bit less than USC but then again, UCLA is probably more worried about GPA since I'm essentially a splitter.

Ugh, I was hoping they'd be less GPA-fixated. If they offer me less than USC, I'm going to cry.

So much for all that "high LSAT's are going to be super valuable this cycle" nonsense.

[ub3r]

Idk what we mean when we say low GPA, but I'm closer to their 25th than their 50th, and have an LSAT 3-4 points above their 75th, and still got really good money.

Not to be a contrarian, and I'm just one sample, but I definitely defy that observation.

[Four Winds]

For historical comparison purposes, my scholarship from UCLA was pretty similar to USC's, though UCLA was about $15k less (over 3 years, so $5k less a year).

[catcachoo]

FINALLY got my merit scholarship. A little disappointed. PM for details.

Felt the exact same way. USC's offer was almost double UCLA's offer.

UCLA Law's in-state tuition is at least $10,000 less per year than USC's tuition. That's probably why their scholarship packages are slightly lower than USC's, because people don’t have to pay as much to go to UCLA. I'm actually currently a 1L at UCLA Law (and considered all of this scholarship package stuff just last year) so if anyone has any questions for me, I'm happy to answer them!

[GreenEggs]

Idk what we mean when we say low GPA, but I'm closer to their 25th than their 50th, and have an LSAT 3-4 points above their 75th, and still got really good money.

Not to be a contrarian, and I'm just one sample, but I definitely defy that observation.

Same position. Surprised with the money, 35k a year and have a low-er GPA.

[jewelledhunter]

UCLA Law's in-state tuition is at least $10,000 less per year than USC's tuition. That's probably why their scholarship packages are slightly lower than USC's, because people don’t have to pay as much to go to UCLA.

As an OOS student, I can't say the same. UCLA is technically cheaper by $2000 than USC per year (6000 dollars less over three years) but UCLA is offering about 20,000 less.

[Hand]

UCLA Law's in-state tuition is at least $10,000 less per year than USC's tuition. That's probably why their scholarship packages are slightly lower than USC's, because people don’t have to pay as much to go to UCLA.

As an OOS student, I can't say the same. UCLA is technically cheaper by $2000 than USC per year (6000 dollars less over three years) but UCLA is offering about 20,000 less.

You can get CA residency after a year though, so 20k/total less seems actually spot on

[ub3r]

FINALLY got my merit scholarship. A little disappointed. PM for details.

Felt the exact same way. USC's offer was almost double UCLA's offer.

UCLA Law's in-state tuition is at least $10,000 less per year than USC's tuition. That's probably why their scholarship packages are slightly lower than USC's, because people don’t have to pay as much to go to UCLA. I'm actually currently a 1L at UCLA Law (and considered all of this scholarship package stuff just last year) so if anyone has any questions for me, I'm happy to answer them!

Cool!

My main question is, why UCLA vs USC? From what I gather, one point is that UCLA's degree is a bit more portable, whereas USC is more SoCal confined.

[Eladriel]

Received UCLA scholarship. PM for details/stats.

[catcachoo]

FINALLY got my merit scholarship. A little disappointed. PM for details.

Felt the exact same way. USC's offer was almost double UCLA's offer.

UCLA Law's in-state tuition is at least $10,000 less per year than USC's tuition. That's probably why their scholarship packages are slightly lower than USC's, because people don’t have to pay as much to go to UCLA. I'm actually currently a 1L at UCLA Law (and considered all of this scholarship package stuff just last year) so if anyone has any questions for me, I'm happy to answer them!

Cool!

My main question is, why UCLA vs USC? From what I gather, one point is that UCLA's degree is a bit more portable, whereas USC is more SoCal confined.

I'm actually from the east coast (NYC and Boston areas) so I applied to law schools both on the east and west coasts. I ended up picking UCLA over USC (and the other schools I got into) for a few reasons. First, UCLA has a great reputation/ranking that carries nationally. In the current job market, that's a pretty big deal. Don't get me wrong, USC is also a great law school. However, the practicing attorneys I had gotten advice from (I worked at a law firm between college and law school so I had access to a lot of attorneys), all highly recommended UCLA Law over USC. That definitely played a large role in my decision making.

Also, UCLA is in Westwood (west LA), which is gorgeous and very safe. USC, to my understanding/from what I have heard, is located in what people generally/stereotypically consider a more dangerous neighborhood, so that was a major concern for me (especially as someone who was coming from out of state and who knew nothing about getting around LA). I've never actually visited USC though, so I can't speak more on their campus environment.

UCLA's community is also fantastic - the people are super friendly, I've made great friends very quickly, and I really appreciate the lack of the stereotypical "cut-throat competitiveness" that people associate with law school. UCLA's job prospects/employment statistics were also fantastic and very reassuring.

Overall, after visiting my top choices and considering scholarship packages (keep in mind that after your first year you can get in-state tuition at UCLA Law) and the overall school environment, UCLA Law was the best fit for me. I highly recommend visiting the law schools you are interested in to get a feel of what your best fit might be, since it's definitely different for everyone.

[HalfStudent]

Did they have an increase in apps?? It seems that $$$ is the same as years past when there were more apps.

[ub3r]

Cool!

My main question is, why UCLA vs USC? From what I gather, one point is that UCLA's degree is a bit more portable, whereas USC is more SoCal confined.

I'm actually from the east coast (NYC and Boston areas) so I applied to law schools both on the east and west coasts. I ended up picking UCLA over USC (and the other schools I got into) for a few reasons. First, UCLA has a great reputation/ranking that carries nationally. In the current job market, that's a pretty big deal. Don't get me wrong, USC is also a great law school. However, the practicing attorneys I had gotten advice from (I worked at a law firm between college and law school so I had access to a lot of attorneys), all highly recommended UCLA Law over USC. That definitely played a large role in my decision making.

Also, UCLA is in Westwood (west LA), which is gorgeous and very safe. USC, to my understanding/from what I have heard, is located in what people generally/stereotypically consider a more dangerous neighborhood, so that was a major concern for me (especially as someone who was coming from out of state and who knew nothing about getting around LA). I've never actually visited USC though, so I can't speak more on their campus environment.

UCLA's community is also fantastic - the people are super friendly, I've made great friends very quickly, and I really appreciate the lack of the stereotypical "cut-throat competitiveness" that people associate with law school. UCLA's job prospects/employment statistics were also fantastic and very reassuring.

Overall, after visiting my top choices and considering scholarship packages (keep in mind that after your first year you can get in-state tuition at UCLA Law) and the overall school environment, UCLA Law was the best fit for me. I highly recommend visiting the law schools you are interested in to get a feel of what your best fit might be, since it's definitely different for everyone.

Thanks! Really helpful.

[spencercross]

Did they have an increase in apps?? It seems that $$$ is the same as years past when there were more apps.

Fee waivers were a lot easier to come by this year, so probably. I'm hoping both UCLA and USC are throwing out smaller numbers (more USC than UCLA it sounds like) up front to weed out people who only applied for scholarship leverage b/c of the fee waivers.

[giantswan]

Received UCLA scholarship. PM for details/stats.

+1

[lawschool1741]

.

[giantswan]

Received UCLA scholarship. PM for details/stats.

+1

Did you JUST get yours? I am still waiting and wondering if they are done for the day or not

No I got it around 11 AM, just didn't check my e-mail until now.

[Iwanttolawschool]

All this talk about getting California residency after 1 year does not pertain to non-US citizens I'm assuming? Hypothetically lets say I'm from Bangladesh

[Tr3]

Scholly email. Meh.

[pushsum123]

Scholly email. Meh.

I feel you, girl.

[universityof]

Scholly email. Meh.

What time did it come in? I saw you didn't get it in the initial wave

[giantswan]

Admitted early in January, got a bit less than USC but then again, UCLA is probably more worried about GPA since I'm essentially a splitter.

Ugh, I was hoping they'd be less GPA-fixated. If they offer me less than USC, I'm going to cry.

So much for all that "high LSAT's are going to be super valuable this cycle" nonsense.

I am a splitter and they gave me more than USC did. I sent them offers from a couple other schools beforehand though. I think they are pretty open to negotiating.

[Tr3]

Scholly email. Meh.

I feel you, girl.

I'm pretty sure I got the lowest offer so far. Well at least according to LSN. But I guess I can't complain with low numbers.

Scholly email. Meh.

What time did it come in? I saw you didn't get it in the initial wave

About 3PM PST.

[smile0751]

Just got scholly info at 5:15pm CT.

Not enough to sway any decisions, but it didnt seem low to me. My stats/numbers are on Lawschoolnumbers.