UCLA or UC Davis? Forum

[JamezPhoenix]

So I was accepted at UC Davis and UCLA, waitlisted at USC and I havent heard back from UVA yet.
A little background. I went to UCLA in 2013-14 as an undergrad and was expelled.
I went to UC Davis and graduated in 2017-18.
I want to eventually go into politics but immediately after graduation I want to either clerk or work in one of those fancy big law jobs everyone keeps talking about. I love Los Angeles but I have been on my own without family or friends since I was 16 so It's just me and my massive student debt. I'm totally cool with betting on myself, I just want to know what you guys think?
UCLA COA/yr = 77,730
Grant = 21,000/ yr
Loans= 56,730/ yr
UC Davis COA/yr 71,425
Grant = 37,500/ yr
Loans= 33,925/ yr

[beinghuman]

What are your goals? And stats?

[cavalier1138]

I agree that I'd like to know your stats, but your first post is just a litany of red flags. So to address those...

I went to UCLA in 2013-14 as an undergrad and was expelled.

...go on...

I want to eventually go into politics

Then don't go to law school.

but immediately after graduation I want to either clerk or work in one of those fancy big law jobs everyone keeps talking about.

Sounds like you have literally no idea what either of those jobs actually entails except big bucks and bragging rights. Don't go to law school.

It's just me and my massive student debt.

How much debt do you already have? And how do you plan on paying it back if you don't get one of those fancy biglaw jobs everyone keeps talking about?

I'm totally cool with betting on myself

I've heard this refrain a lot from people who insist that they're going to be at the top of their class in law school, and I still don't get it. What are you betting on yourself to do? Why can't you bet on yourself to get a higher LSAT? Or bet on yourself to succeed in a career field that you have actually researched and want to work in?

[JamezPhoenix]

Thanks for the votes and stuff.
No one needs to know why i was expelled, only that I was innocent and proved my case in a court of Law.
My stats are not very neccessary either, I got a 3.1 GPA.
If you look at almost every major politician in both national and state politics they went to law school. I believe in the value of an education, on what you can learn from it, the way it trains you to think and of course the people you are exposed to along the way. I have spent a lot of time researching my path, myself and my goals and decided this is what I want to do.
I currently have 15K in debt. Ive lived off of about 6K my entire life however, so I dont think I'll have much problem paying off my debt. When you have suffered and struggled as much as I have it either breaks you or teaches you.
I could probably do anything within reason that I wished to do, this is what I wished to do. The point of it was not to hand over control of my entire past history of life choices or have you critique them. It was simply to ask, which market is of better value for the price. Unfortunately all of the commentary was useless, but I'm glad i posted this poll none-the-less. Seeing unanimous support for UCLA made it clear to me that doing so would be the right choice, irregardless of how enticing the financial stability that UC Davis offered was.

[cavalier1138]

Follow your dreams!

[objctnyrhnr]

This is pretty a textbook set of red flags

[QContinuum]

OP's clearly made up his mind, but for the benefit of other 0Ls who may stumble across this thread, a few comments:

No one needs to know why i was expelled, only that I was innocent and proved my case in a court of Law.

TLS doesn't need to know, but the schools you apply to will need to know, and states will need to know for C&F purposes when you apply for admission to the bar.

A "not guilty" verdict in a criminal trial is not remotely the same as a finding of innocence - it merely means a jury didn't find you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. You did not "prove" your innocence unless you happen to be in California and filed a successful petition for factual innocence.

If you look at almost every major politician in both national and state politics they went to law school.

Correlation is not causation. There is no requirement for a J.D. to enter or succeed in politics. Neither Speaker Pelosi nor House Minority Leader McCarthy have J.D.s. Speaker Pelosi's predecessor, Paul Ryan, didn't have a J.D. either. Nor does President Trump.

Ive lived off of about 6K my entire life however, so I dont think I'll have much problem paying off my debt.[/quote
You're forgetting to account for the tens of thousands of dollars your parents no doubt spent feeding, clothing, and housing you between the ages of 0 and 18. You're also forgetting to account for your current debt load.

I could probably do anything within reason that I wished to do, this is what I wished to do.

No one is saying you are incapable of earning a J.D. or incapable of being a lawyer. We are simply saying that the path you have chosen to take is an objectively foolish one in view of your goals and motivations. There are better paths available to you (and to other 0Ls in your position).

[Igloo2022]

Wouldn't the fact that UCLA Law admitted him despite the college having expelled him previously indicate that the C&F issue has been resolved and won't pose a problem with the bar?

[QContinuum]

Wouldn't the fact that UCLA Law admitted him despite the college having expelled him previously indicate that the C&F issue has been resolved and won't pose a problem with the bar?

We don't know whether OP disclosed to UCLA Law, and we don't know whether UCLA Law has a general practice of pulling UCLA undergrads' disciplinary records. (They probably don't have such a process - why would they do more diligence on UCLA alum applicants than non-UCLA alums?) It's conceivable OP didn't disclose and UCLA Law simply assumed he dropped out after briefly attending UCLA for college.

Further, of course, being accepted to law school doesn't guarantee that one will pass bar C&F. While rare, there have been occasional cases of T13/T20 law school grads who've struggled to get licensed. I think there was even a somewhat recent case involving a Yale Law graduate who eventually - after years of struggle - managed to get licensed in Connecticut.

[JamezPhoenix]

I don't mean to revive a dead chat but I would like to make it clear for anyone who happened to stumble across this that I did completely disclose this incident in a dismissal addendum. It is imperative to be honest and forthcoming in ones law school admission. Even if by chance one does get away with dishonesty, eventually it will come to bite you in the a**. Good luck passing the Bar if you were dishonest in your initial law school application. The most important thing is taking responsibility for the decisions you have made in life and learning from them. Failing to do either of those two will not bode well for your future.

As far as the feeling that I was not adequately knowledgeable about my future path the criticism has merit. I come from a completely different world. I only know what I have read online, the most successful person I have ever known was the low level drug-dealer who was my neighbor. My hope, and it may crash and burn but it is my hope, that I will do well enough and learn enough while in law school that I can take advantage of my opportunities and adapt. I understand that saying I am comfortable with betting on myself sounds risky, even foolish, and perhaps it is, but it is either law school (your world) or manager of McDonald's (my world). When you grow up in foster care and homeless you find yourself with very few mentors and very little knowledge about the world of the elite.