Berkeley vs. HYS W/L Forum

[Pure Applesauce]

A little surprised you don't have better options here but given what's on the table I vote Boalt

[catalina559]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

[Rigo]

Even though you say you're PI minded you still want biglaw.
Maybe if you were 10000% committed to PI impact lit from the jump so much so that you planned on skipping OCI then a case could be made for HYS, but if biglaw then debt minimization is the priority.

I think Berkeley strikes a good balance between debt and keeping all options open here.

[hmm360]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

I'm in a similar position as you.. I turned down Columbia at almost sticker and NYU at similar COA for Berkeley.

I'm currently on the Harvard waitlist. If taken off the waitlist, I'd probably be willing to take on the extra debt but I'm not 100% certain. Part of that "probably Harvard" is that I have the benefit of parents who would likely help out with loans if I'm unable to land on my feet after law school.

My goal is SF/LA biglaw so my (hypothetical) reservations would be that by going to H, I end up in the same job that I would have ended up with out of B -- except now I'd have to spend an extra 5+ years paying off that harvard debt. I have no way of determining or quantifying the intangibles offered at HYS.

FWIW, I have a cousin that chose Berkeley over Harvard and Stanford. She went to Stanford undergrad, was very PI focused, and preferred the Berkeley culture and location better. She's working at a top PI nonprofit in the bay area and doesn't seem to have regretted her decision.

[rpupkin]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

HYS aren't all equivalent here. It's a little strange that you're asking people to vote on a block of schools ("HYS") when you're not admitted to any schools in that block. If you get admitted to one of those schools, come back and post your total COA at the particular school to which you're admitted versus Berkeley.

[jbagelboy]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

HYS aren't all equivalent here. It's a little strange that you're asking people to vote on a block of schools ("HYS") when you're not admitted to any schools in that block. If you get admitted to one of those schools, come back and post your total COA at the particular school to which you're admitted versus Berkeley.

Agreed. And a point I tried to make earlier.

[4'sup]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

I'm in a similar position as you.. I turned down Columbia at almost sticker and NYU at similar COA for Berkeley.

I'm currently on the Harvard waitlist. If taken off the waitlist, I'd probably be willing to take on the extra debt but I'm not 100% certain. Part of that "probably Harvard" is that I have the benefit of parents who would likely help out with loans if I'm unable to land on my feet after law school.

My goal is SF/LA biglaw so my (hypothetical) reservations would be that by going to H, I end up in the same job that I would have ended up with out of B -- except now I'd have to spend an extra 5+ years paying off that harvard debt. I have no way of determining or quantifying the intangibles offered at HYS.

FWIW, I have a cousin that chose Berkeley over Harvard and Stanford. She went to Stanford undergrad, was very PI focused, and preferred the Berkeley culture and location better. She's working at a top PI nonprofit in the bay area and doesn't seem to have regretted her decision.

Exact same boat. Although Berk has given me almost a full tuition scholarship. I think I could possibly be given 20,000-30,000 per year for need based grants from H. I definitely do not want to end up with the exact same job and more debt. My goal is also SF Biglaw.

[hmm360]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

I'm in a similar position as you.. I turned down Columbia at almost sticker and NYU at similar COA for Berkeley.

I'm currently on the Harvard waitlist. If taken off the waitlist, I'd probably be willing to take on the extra debt but I'm not 100% certain. Part of that "probably Harvard" is that I have the benefit of parents who would likely help out with loans if I'm unable to land on my feet after law school.

My goal is SF/LA biglaw so my (hypothetical) reservations would be that by going to H, I end up in the same job that I would have ended up with out of B -- except now I'd have to spend an extra 5+ years paying off that harvard debt. I have no way of determining or quantifying the intangibles offered at HYS.

FWIW, I have a cousin that chose Berkeley over Harvard and Stanford. She went to Stanford undergrad, was very PI focused, and preferred the Berkeley culture and location better. She's working at a top PI nonprofit in the bay area and doesn't seem to have regretted her decision.

Exact same boat. Although Berk has given me almost a full tuition scholarship. I think I could possibly be given 20,000-30,000 per year for need based grants from H. I definitely do not want to end up with the exact same job and more debt. My goal is also SF Biglaw.

If you don't mind me asking how much did Berkeley give you in scholarship? They raised from 83 to 110 to match duke for me

[rpupkin]

A little surprised you don't have better options here but given what's on the table I vote Boalt

For someone who wants to live and work in California, getting a $120K scholly from Berkeley is an excellent outcome. OP did well.

[Pure Applesauce]

A little surprised you don't have better options here but given what's on the table I vote Boalt

For someone who wants to live and work in California, getting a $120K scholly from Berkeley is an excellent outcome. OP did well.

Oh definitely. I don't dispute that. I meant that OP didn't have more money from other schools with a 172 3.8+

[rpupkin]

A little surprised you don't have better options here but given what's on the table I vote Boalt

For someone who wants to live and work in California, getting a $120K scholly from Berkeley is an excellent outcome. OP did well.

Oh definitely. I don't dispute that. I meant that OP didn't have more money from other schools with a 172 3.8+

I was responding to the "better options" part of your statement. I'm not sure what better options would look like in OP's case, short of more money from Berkeley, or a Hamilton or a Ruby. Given OP's numbers and goals, things worked out reasonably well.

[4'sup]

All the feedback is much appreciated! I'd be very interested if anyone who thinks I should do HYS could explain their thoughts? Thank you!

I'm in a similar position as you.. I turned down Columbia at almost sticker and NYU at similar COA for Berkeley.

I'm currently on the Harvard waitlist. If taken off the waitlist, I'd probably be willing to take on the extra debt but I'm not 100% certain. Part of that "probably Harvard" is that I have the benefit of parents who would likely help out with loans if I'm unable to land on my feet after law school.

My goal is SF/LA biglaw so my (hypothetical) reservations would be that by going to H, I end up in the same job that I would have ended up with out of B -- except now I'd have to spend an extra 5+ years paying off that harvard debt. I have no way of determining or quantifying the intangibles offered at HYS.

FWIW, I have a cousin that chose Berkeley over Harvard and Stanford. She went to Stanford undergrad, was very PI focused, and preferred the Berkeley culture and location better. She's working at a top PI nonprofit in the bay area and doesn't seem to have regretted her decision.

Exact same boat. Although Berk has given me almost a full tuition scholarship. I think I could possibly be given 20,000-30,000 per year for need based grants from H. I definitely do not want to end up with the exact same job and more debt. My goal is also SF Biglaw.

If you don't mind me asking how much did Berkeley give you in scholarship? They raised from 83 to 110 to match duke for me

They gave me 47,500 a year. My initial offer was $20,000 a year. I asked them to match my Michigan scholly of $50,000 a year and they pretty much did(tuition is like 6-7k cheaper at Cal since I'm a CA resident). Stats: 3.52, 176.