Top Law Schools

Welcome Class of 2019!

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
March 2 – Priority deadline for FAFSA and Need Access Application
Early-April – Need-based grant award notifications are dispatched
April 15th - Indicate your initial enrollment intent on CalCentral by 5 PM PST
Early-May – Financial aid offers, including grants, become available on BearFacts for continuing students
June 1st - Submit your final enrollment intent on CalCentral by 5 PM PST
Mid-August – Financial aid pays to student CARS billing accounts
Late-August – First refunds are deposited into students’ personal bank accounts if they have EFT, otherwise a paper check is printed

Admitted Students Weekend: March 10-12 (Thu-Sat)
Travel Stipend (air only):
In-state: $150
Out-of-State: $300
Airports: Oakland International Airport (OAK) ((recommended)) & San Francisco International (SFO)
Bring your ticket confirmation to the event and you will be reimbursed with a gift card.

Tentative Schedule of Events (from website)
Thursday
11 AM - 7:30 PM
Friday
9 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
10 AM - 1 PM
Each day there are a handful of events planned by student organizations after the main events for the day.

Visiting Berkeley at Another Time
If you are not able to attend Admitted Students Weekend, you are welcome to visit at any other time, Monday-Friday, on an individual basis. Please let us know the date of your visit by submitting the online Individual Visit Request Form at least ten days in advance. Spring term classes end on April 26th and we do not offer a summer curriculum. Assuming classes are in session, we can arrange for you to visit a class and have lunch with a current student. Meeting with a student requires a minimum ten-day notice and is subject to their availability. Note: While you are welcome to visit us through the spring and summer, our travel stipend program ends on April 22.

2016-2017 Academic Calendar
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-progra ... mYear=2016

Estimated 2015-2016 School Year Expenses
Tuition (CA): $48,654
Tuition (Non-Residents – 1st year only): $52,575
Housing: $12,618
Food: $7,138
Books & Supplies: $1,496
Health Insurance: $3,754
Personal: $1,548
Transportation: $3,020

Scholarship Info
The law school seeks to provide need-based financial aid sufficient to permit any students admitted to the JD program to attend Berkeley Law. Indeed, approximately 83% of Berkeley Law JD students receive some form of financial aid. FAFSA and Need Access forms will need to be completed by March 2nd for any need-based or merit-based aid to be awarded. Your parent's financial information will be necessary if seeking need-based aid.

Berkeley Law Matching Scholarship Program
Matching Scholarships are competitive – they are not automatically awarded. Submission of the online application and associated materials is required. Matching applications are reviewed holistically, but financial need is NOT a requirement for the program.We may decline to match the other schools’ offer, offer a partial match, offer a full match, or in some cases even exceed the offer from the other school.

In addition to reviewing your full admissions file, we will look at what we’ve already offered you in gift aid (need or merit based), and compare your “net cost” to attend Berkeley Law with that of the other school. If Berkeley Law is already less expensive it is unlikely you would be offered a match.

Eligible schools):
Columbia University
Duke University
Harvard University
New York University
Stanford University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Yale University

Other Scholarships:
In general, the awards range from $15,000 - $75,000 ($5,000 - $25,000 per year).

Previous Scholarship Examples:
Berkeley Law Dean’s Fellowship
Typically $30,000-$75,000 (awarded as $10,000-$25,000 per year)
Awarded to entering students based on a strong record of achievement and professional promise.

Philip S. Ehrlich Public Service Loan-Grant
Typically $60,000 (awarded as $20,000 per year)
Forgivable loan awarded to entering student with demonstrated commitment to public service law and prior history of community work. Preference given to students with demonstrated financial need and ability to overcome socioeconomic disadvantages to attend law school.

S.K. Yee Fellowship
Typically $15,000 (awarded as $5,000 per year)
Recipients will demonstrate financial need and merit.

Larry L. Hillblom Fellowship
Typically $30,000 (awarded as $10,000 per year)
Fellowship will be awarded to law students who demonstrate financial need.

Billie & Adrian Kragen Scholarship
Typically $15,000 (awarded as $5,000 per year)
Award based on merit and need and made to an individual who earned a “Big C” in intercollegiate athletics as an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley.

Ralph Eltse Memorial Scholarship
Typically $30,000 (awarded as $10,000 per year)
Merit-based award provided to entering students deemed “deserving, worthy, and meritorious.”

Sho & Masako F. Sato Fellowship
Typically $12,000 (awarded as $4,000 per year)
Award is made each year to a deserving entering student with a strong experience in and demonstrated commitment to environmental law.

Housing Options

Single Students: Manville Apartments (12 month lease)
Manville Apartments is located three blocks from the southwestern corner of campus at Shattuck Avenue and Channing Way, Manville apartments is reserved for law and graduate students. The secured complex includes 132 small, unfurnished, single-occupancy studio apartments.

2014-2015 Rates:
Standard Apartment= 1,082
Apartment with Bay view= 1,118
Apartment with deck= 1,118
Apartment with courtyard access= 1,118

Single Students: Ida Louise Jackson Apartments (12 month lease + includes utilities)
Jackson Graduate House is located one block from the campus. The newly constructed complex offers space for 120 students in 2,3,4,5 and 6 bedroom shared apartments. Jackson House is considered "off campus" for budgetary purposes with the Financial Aid office.

2014-2015 Rates:
2 BR= 1,167
3 BR= 1, 123
4 BR= 1,110
5 BR= 1,049
6 BR= 992

UC Family Housing (For married students or students with a domestic partner, with or without children, and single parents)
University Village Apartments (UVA) is a 58-acre complex with 974 1/2/3 BR apartments, and 2BR townhouses, located 4 miles west of the campus. UVA has its own recreational & community center, a café, laundry rooms, and child care center.

2014-2015 rental rates for Family Student Housing are $1337, $1597 and $1818 respectively for 1, 2 and 3 BR apartments in the new West Village, and $1733 to $2059 for 2 and 3 BR flats and townhouses in the recent East Village. Includes all utilities (except telephone service), and a parking space.

Other Options
International House
Berkeley Student Cooperative

Off-Campus
The following are typical monthly rent ranges for apartments and houses in Berkeley and the surrounding areas:
$812 average cost 2013 - Room in shared apartment or house
$1,250 average cost 2013 - Studio apartment
$1,600 average cost 2013 - 1BR apartment
$2,400 average cost 2013 - 2BR apartment or house
$3,500 average cost 2013 - 3BR or larger house (rare)

Transportation
UC Berkeley runs a campus shuttle service, with routes that connect with city bus stops and the downtown Berkeley subway (BART) station. And, remember, with the appropriate sticker, your Cal student ID Card entitles you to free rides on local buses so you need to confine your housing search to the immediate campus vicinity.

Academics
Grading
High Honors (HH): 10% 1L, 10-15% 2/3L
Honors (H): 30% 1L, 25-30% 2/3L
Pass (P)
Substandard Pass (PC)
Fail/No Credit (NC)

Graduation Requirements
1L Curriculum
Professional Responsibility course
Constitutional Law
Writing requirement
Professional Skills course

Certificate Programs
Business Law
Energy & Environmental Law
Law and Technology
Public Law

Clinics
Death Penalty
East Bay Community Law Center
International Human Rights Law
Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy

Journals
California Law Review (not open to 1Ls)
Ecology Law Quarterly
Berkeley Technology Law Journal
Berkeley Journal Of Employment And Labor Law
Berkeley Journal Of International Law
Berkeley Journal Of Gender, Law & Justice
Berkeley Journal Of African American Law & Policy
Berkeley La Raza Journal
Asian American Law Journal
Berkeley Journal Of Criminal Law
Berkeley Business Law Journal
Berkeley Journal Of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law
Berkeley Journal Of Entertainment & Sports Law

More information to come! This was just to get a thread going. Please let me know if anyone would like to add specific information--pictures to come.

Wow thanks for doing this. Checking in.

fliptrip wrote:Wow thanks for doing this. Checking in.

Checking in as well!

Quite disappointed that the poll doesn't have an option for international students....

But checking in

jb1512 wrote:Quite disappointed that the poll doesn't have an option for international students....

But checking in

Whoops! Sorry about that. I just updated it. Welcome to the page!

gobears893 wrote:

jb1512 wrote:Quite disappointed that the poll doesn't have an option for international students....

But checking in

Whoops! Sorry about that. I just updated it. Welcome to the page!

That was super quick. Thanks

Checking in!!!

Happy that someone started this, thanks. I'm surprised that 'west' isn't winning the poll

OP, you have a problem in your matching scholarship section.

Delete Cornell and add UVA:

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions ... holarship/

Checking in as well! Will I be seeing you awesome peeps at ASW?!

Thanks for making this! I've got everything booked for ASW, and I'm currently 90ish% sure that I'll be enrolling!

I'll be at ASW! Very excited!

I'll be at Friday and Saturday of ASW. I'm super excited!

fliptrip wrote:OP, you have a problem in your matching scholarship section.

Delete Cornell and add UVA:

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admissions ... holarship/

Done and done! Thanks for catching that!

Checking in as well. See y'all at ASW!

I'll be there at ASW too!

Hey all,

Congratulations on getting into the most amazing law school on the planet. I'm a 2L here at Berkeley and am willing to answer any questions you may have. I won't be checking this thread often, so if you have general questions, please reply directly to this post (so that I'm notified). If you have specific questions, would like me to get you in contact with current students who have shared interests, etc., message me directly and I'll give you my email/cell so that we can talk more. This is Berkeley culture—helping out as much as possible.

I also highly encourage everyone to attend ASW; indeed, it was based on my experience at ASW that I chose Berkeley. And on that topic, you should be getting an email from Kim tomorrow that includes a list of current students willing to house people during ASW to help you cut down on costs. I'm on that list, but if you know you're coming already, get in touch with me, and I'll save it for you.

Good luck everyone!

BLOS Finalist
Does anybody know how the process works?

Wow congrats! I do not,but I wanted to congratulate you. Berkeley with full is a dream.

MrR10 wrote:BLOS Finalist
Does anybody know how the process works?

+180. The letter describes it in really good detail, including turnaround time and commitment date. You have to commit by 4/1.


I'm a bit in shock myself.

slippin_jimmy wrote:

MrR10 wrote:BLOS Finalist
Does anybody know how the process works?

+180. The letter describes it in really good detail, including turnaround time and commitment date. You have to commit by 4/1.


I'm a bit in shock myself.

I was too excited that I didn't bother to read it at the time, haha. Congratulations to you too! Best of luck to both of us

YouGoGlenCoCo wrote:Hey all,

Congratulations on getting into the most amazing law school on the planet. I'm a 2L here at Berkeley and am willing to answer any questions you may have. I won't be checking this thread often, so if you have general questions, please reply directly to this post (so that I'm notified). If you have specific questions, would like me to get you in contact with current students who have shared interests, etc., message me directly and I'll give you my email/cell so that we can talk more. This is Berkeley culture—helping out as much as possible.

I also highly encourage everyone to attend ASW; indeed, it was based on my experience at ASW that I chose Berkeley. And on that topic, you should be getting an email from Kim tomorrow that includes a list of current students willing to house people during ASW to help you cut down on costs. I'm on that list, but if you know you're coming already, get in touch with me, and I'll save it for you.

Good luck everyone!

I haven't received this email yet (I was admitted 2/4). Should we be expecting it soon though? I plan on buying my plane ticket today and I am hoping to figure out where I will be staying as well. Do we need to have RSVPed to get the email? Thanks!

skimmilk wrote:

YouGoGlenCoCo wrote:Hey all,

Congratulations on getting into the most amazing law school on the planet. I'm a 2L here at Berkeley and am willing to answer any questions you may have. I won't be checking this thread often, so if you have general questions, please reply directly to this post (so that I'm notified). If you have specific questions, would like me to get you in contact with current students who have shared interests, etc., message me directly and I'll give you my email/cell so that we can talk more. This is Berkeley culture—helping out as much as possible.

I also highly encourage everyone to attend ASW; indeed, it was based on my experience at ASW that I chose Berkeley. And on that topic, you should be getting an email from Kim tomorrow that includes a list of current students willing to house people during ASW to help you cut down on costs. I'm on that list, but if you know you're coming already, get in touch with me, and I'll save it for you.

Good luck everyone!

I haven't received this email yet (I was admitted 2/4). Should we be expecting it soon though? I plan on buying my plane ticket today and I am hoping to figure out where I will be staying as well. Do we need to have RSVPed to get the email? Thanks!

After going back and looking at the email I received from Kim, it looks like the link for ASW housing is available on the Admitted Students Website, which I believe is located here: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admitted-students-jd/ (you should have received a password to gain access). If for some reason you are unable to locate the list of students with available housing there, let me know and I'll see if I can pm you directly the url to the google spreadsheet with the information. I hope that helps.

YouGoGlenCoCo wrote:

skimmilk wrote:

YouGoGlenCoCo wrote:Hey all,

Congratulations on getting into the most amazing law school on the planet. I'm a 2L here at Berkeley and am willing to answer any questions you may have. I won't be checking this thread often, so if you have general questions, please reply directly to this post (so that I'm notified). If you have specific questions, would like me to get you in contact with current students who have shared interests, etc., message me directly and I'll give you my email/cell so that we can talk more. This is Berkeley culture—helping out as much as possible.

I also highly encourage everyone to attend ASW; indeed, it was based on my experience at ASW that I chose Berkeley. And on that topic, you should be getting an email from Kim tomorrow that includes a list of current students willing to house people during ASW to help you cut down on costs. I'm on that list, but if you know you're coming already, get in touch with me, and I'll save it for you.

Good luck everyone!

I haven't received this email yet (I was admitted 2/4). Should we be expecting it soon though? I plan on buying my plane ticket today and I am hoping to figure out where I will be staying as well. Do we need to have RSVPed to get the email? Thanks!

After going back and looking at the email I received from Kim, it looks like the link for ASW housing is available on the Admitted Students Website, which I believe is located here: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/admitted-students-jd/ (you should have received a password to gain access). If for some reason you are unable to locate the list of students with available housing there, let me know and I'll see if I can pm you directly the url to the google spreadsheet with the information. I hope that helps.

It does, thank you!

I can't attend ASW (have a mock trial tournament that weekend). Does the travel stipend program running until April 22 still give $300 for people coming out of state? Thinking of visiting the weekend after ASW.