In at Berkeley! Forum

[aesis]

Booked my tickets! Southwest w00t. I'll be paying $30ish out of pocket. Not bad. Are people planning on going to bar review Thursday?

[aesis]

Hey guys, do we have any kind of consensus for what the turn around time is on a matching request this time of year? The deadline isn't until late (April 29th), but I hope it doesn't take too long...

They will notify you with that deadline in mind. Usually you have two weeks to accept the match.

[Kronk]

Hey Konk or other current student--how cut and dry is the awarding of need-based aid? Is it literally just an equation that looks only at the financial situation of a student, or is it more subjective (i.e., used by the school to recruit those needy students it really wants, not necessarily all needy students admitted)?

I am trying to figure out how likely it will be for me to receive need based aid. Based purely on math, I should receive a lot (maybe even the maximum), but I'm not sure if I'm looking at this correctly.

TIA!

I don't know exactly how it works (I'd be surprised if too many current students do). I can say that even if you don't get need-based aid, I think the fact that you do have need will help your matching scholarship aid if you submitted one. I found that it had nothing to do with numbers and more to do with need / diversity / etc.

Honestly, I would expect to be disappointed by the aid offer from Boalt and be pleasantly surprised if they give you a nice one. But that said, make sure you consider the entire equation: I was pretty disappointed because I had strong numbers for Boalt and got nothing, but ended up choosing Boalt anyway because I'm not interested in corporate law and their LRAP made the difference between sticker here and $75k UChi or $90k UVa a lot less than it would've been. So consider the advantages of Boalt (money support for work during the summer, LRAP after school) with the disadvantages (not miuch money for aid).

[BackToTheOldHouse]

Hey Konk or other current student--how cut and dry is the awarding of need-based aid? Is it literally just an equation that looks only at the financial situation of a student, or is it more subjective (i.e., used by the school to recruit those needy students it really wants, not necessarily all needy students admitted)?

I am trying to figure out how likely it will be for me to receive need based aid. Based purely on math, I should receive a lot (maybe even the maximum), but I'm not sure if I'm looking at this correctly.

TIA!

I don't know exactly how it works (I'd be surprised if too many current students do). I can say that even if you don't get need-based aid, I think the fact that you do have need will help your matching scholarship aid if you submitted one. I found that it had nothing to do with numbers and more to do with need / diversity / etc.

Honestly, I would expect to be disappointed by the aid offer from Boalt and be pleasantly surprised if they give you a nice one. But that said, make sure you consider the entire equation: I was pretty disappointed because I had strong numbers for Boalt and got nothing, but ended up choosing Boalt anyway because I'm not interested in corporate law and their LRAP made the difference between sticker here and $75k UChi or $90k UVa a lot less than it would've been. So consider the advantages of Boalt (money support for work during the summer, LRAP after school) with the disadvantages (not miuch money for aid).

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I won't be submitting a matching scholarship request because I only received scholarships (very generous ones, though) from schools not on Berkeley's list of match-worthy schools.

You say that you have been/were disappointed with the aid offer from Boalt--were you upset because the equation they use excluded you, or because the equation they use included you but you still did not get any money (either because they were stingy or because they ran out of money)?

Thanks and sorry to bother.

[WonkyPanda]

Hey Kronk,

Could you elaborate on the getting money while working during summer. Is that only for public work?

[bilbobaggins]

PI, Government. No clerkships. $4k.

It's a good deal.

[Kronk]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I won't be submitting a matching scholarship request because I only received scholarships (very generous ones, though) from schools not on Berkeley's list of match-worthy schools.

You say that you have been/were disappointed with the aid offer from Boalt--were you upset because the equation they use excluded you, or because the equation they use included you but you still did not get any money (either because they were stingy or because they ran out of money)?

Thanks and sorry to bother.

I don't know if I am part of the equation at Boalt. I would lean towards saying I am not. But the ambiguity is the issue, and why I am telling 0Ls not to count on anything necessarily. Whereas at Duke, UVa, UChi, etc. you can basically anticipate the amount of money you will receive +/- $5k/yr based on your numbers, at Boalt you can't count on anything. I thought I had a good chance because my numbers were above the Boalt 75ths, but ended up getting nothing. A lot of my friends here that got matching scholarships were diverse in some way a lot more than me. I only spent one semester between law school, white male, etc.

That's not to say I disagree with how Boalt disperses money. Just that you shouldn't expect to get matched because of your numbers. It is very holistic, much like the application process at Boalt.

[Kronk]

Hey Kronk,

Could you elaborate on the getting money while working during summer. Is that only for public work?

Piggybacking on bilbo, yeah it is $4k for the summer, government or PI work. If you're working for a firm the money over the summer won't matter for you anyway, so it ensures pretty much anyone gets to do what they want over the summer.

In addition, you can still apply for other fellowships. If you get them, you can still use the money from Boalt, up to a total of $5,000 for the summer. So if you get a $3000 fellowship for the summer outside of Boalt, Boalt will give you $2000 extra to make it $5k. There is also a public service fund here (BLF) that allows you to do volunteer hours and potentially get the extra $1000.

[heywood03]

If there are any veterans following this thread (or anyone else who might know about VA benefits):

Have any of you gone through the GI Bill process yet and the certifying office at Berkeley? How does it fit into the financial aid process and need based awards?

For submitting statement of legal residence, do I need to submit orders to show that I was stationed in CA lat year or will my DD214 suffice?

Any insight on the Vocational Rehab program and if that can apply towards law school?

And in general, are financial aid offers coming before or after the ASW?

[Cpwilson]

Berkeley sucks. For all you planning to attend, you are hopping on a sinking ship.

[clone22]

Berkeley sucks. For all you planning to attend, you are hopping on a sinking ship.

A+ comment. Will read again.

[Tanicius]

Berkeley sucks. For all you planning to attend, you are hopping on a sinking ship.

Why do you have this opinion?

[Cpwilson]

Berkeley sucks. For all you planning to attend, you are hopping on a sinking ship.

Why do you have this opinion?

Because they've dropped in the rankings for three straight years. Also, I didn't get in!

[r6_philly]

Because they've dropped in the rankings for three straight years. Also, I didn't get in!

I am having trouble remembering what thread name I created. Can you help?

[clone22]

Because they've dropped in the rankings for three straight years. Also, I didn't get in!

I am having trouble remembering what thread name I created. Can you help?

ya. we dunt like yurr kind round herr

[Cpwilson]

r6-

Is that kid a Berkeley admit? Wouldn't surprise me at all...

[r6_philly]

r6-

Is that kid a Berkeley admit? Wouldn't surprise me at all...

I don't get what you are implying

[Tanicius]

r6-

Is that kid a Berkeley admit? Wouldn't surprise me at all...

I don't get what you are implying

He's saying we can tell your kid's a genius just looking at him.

[r6_philly]

He's saying we can tell your kid's a genius just looking at him.

Obviously the work of his mom since I am so slow

[clone22]

This is aimed at current Boalties: So how horrible is parking at Berk? I realize this may have been brought up before, but does every law student who applies for a parking permit normally get one? Or is there some sort of a lottery/ waitlist? Also, does the 2 mile minimum stipulation apply for law students as well? If so, what do people do with their cars if they live within that 2 mile border? Would you say that most people at Boalt have their own cars, or is there a significant chunk of class that doesn't and gets by fine without one?

Thanks

[bilbobaggins]

This is aimed at current Boalties: So how horrible is parking at Berk? I realize this may have been brought up before, but does every law student who applies for a parking permit normally get one? Or is there some sort of a lottery/ waitlist? Also, does the 2 mile minimum stipulation apply for law students as well? If so, what do people do with their cars if they live within that 2 mile border? Would you say that most people at Boalt have their own cars, or is there a significant chunk of class that doesn't and gets by fine without one?

Thanks

The two mile limit does apply to law students. It's two miles from the parking office, not from the school. There are maps online. Parking permits seem plentiful for those who live outside, but as someone who lives in North Oakland but hasn't bothered getting a pass, what do I know.

I will say this - If you drive to school and you don't have a permit prepare to move your car every 2-4 hours or get tickets. Many students drive, but parking around campus is not plentiful and you generally need to budget 5 minutes to find a space and walk back to school. I would say many people own cars, but many of these car owners find different ways to get to school.

[gymboree]

This is aimed at current Boalties: So how horrible is parking at Berk? I realize this may have been brought up before, but does every law student who applies for a parking permit normally get one? Or is there some sort of a lottery/ waitlist? Also, does the 2 mile minimum stipulation apply for law students as well? If so, what do people do with their cars if they live within that 2 mile border? Would you say that most people at Boalt have their own cars, or is there a significant chunk of class that doesn't and gets by fine without one?

Thanks

Parking is actually quite easy - the Underhill underground parking garage is huge and it's 2 blocks from Boalt:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=b ... 16&iwloc=A

Also, if you're outside of the 2 mile area, you get a parking pass if you pay for it - there's no limit or lottery system. Carpool passes are about $230, regular passes are about $300 (these are /semester).

It's my experience that a very large chunk of the class do not have cars. The BART and bus system (which is free in Berkeley with a Cal ID) make it very easy to get around. Also, the Underhill parking garage has Zip Cars and people use those when they want to go to Napa or something (and people carpool up to Tahoe).

[gymboree]

Also, just fun to read more about Boalt - here's a NYTimes article on Dean Edley from a few years back:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/education/17face.html

[WonkyPanda]

Awesome article

[champsound]

Don't want to get too specific so as to out myself on TLS, but there is movement on the matching scholarships program, even if no deadline to accept a scholarship was included.