Columbia vs. Berkeley

Law School Admissions Choosing a Law School
1

Anybody here in a similar situation and made a decision? Just curious to know what factors were important in swaying you one way or the other.

  1. I totally understand money is a very important (if not the most important) factor for many people but it is minor for me. I am very much in debt to my loving and supportive parents (literally).
  2. Business law - probably transnational contracts. I have a strong Chinese background and would like to work for a U.S. firm with offices in China.
  3. California. Hands down. Unfortunately, I went to undergrad at Berkeley and I don’t want keep staying in one area. I think spending three years in NY will help give me perspective and make me excited to come back to California and spend the rest of my life there (potentially). Alternatively, I wouldn’t mind working overseas for a few years and then coming back to California. But ultimately, California is where I see my long-term future.

Edit: Realized I didn’t actually answer question 1. Sticker at both.

2

My friend was in this situation last year, and she chose Berkeley. Berkeley offered her 1/2 tuition while Columbia offered her nothing. She also visited Columbia and said the students were noticeably unhappy. Finally, she wants to work in California. Hope this helps.

3

Yes - making same decision.

4

Have you visited? Columbia and Berkeley could not be more different. I visited Columbia, and then took myself off of the waitlist (not that I would’ve gotten off of it).

5
  1. Scholarship amounts?
  2. What do you want to do?
  3. Where do you want to work after law school?
6

As well as savings and parental contribution and other mitigating circumstances. Also… DAT IVY PREFTIGE.

7
  1. I totally understand money is a very important (if not the most important) factor for many people but it is minor for me. I am very much in debt to my loving and supportive parents (literally).
  2. Business law - probably transnational contracts. I have a strong Chinese background and would like to work for a U.S. firm with offices in China.
  3. California. Hands down. Unfortunately, I went to undergrad at Berkeley and I don’t want keep staying in one area. I think spending three years in NY will help give me perspective and make me excited to come back to California and spend the rest of my life there (potentially). Alternatively, I wouldn’t mind working overseas for a few years and then coming back to California. But ultimately, California is where I see my long-term future.

Edit: Realized I didn’t actually answer question 1. Sticker at both.

8

The information asked for above is pretty important for this decision.

While my choice wasn’t just Columbia vs. Berkeley, I did choose Cal over Columbia. The tuition at both schools was the same and the only difference in money for me was the cost of living. My decision might be pretty different than yours because I want to go into government/public interest work and I liked Cal’s opportunities for that and I also want to live on the west coast. Cal’s atmosphere seemed to be more my type, even though that was minimal in my decision.

9

Yeah…as much as I hate to admit it, the whole prestige thing is a factor (especially abroad). Berkeley is a great school, but it’s not “elite” (and that can be a good or bad thing depending on who you talk to). :unamused:

10

You want to go to Columbia, so go to Columbia. Nobody would fault you for the decision.

11

Except myself. But yeah I suppose I could just go and hope I don’t regret it. I think the one thing that worries me is quality of life. I know I would never be miserable at Berkeley but I don’t feel a sense of excitement thinking about going to Berkeley (not because of prestige but because of lack of “newness” I guess?). Columbia could be either way.

Also, I am definitely proud to have been a Calbear and definitely realized that people respect Berkeley. I think the “prestige” factor is skewed for me because I’ve already spent four years at Berkeley. If I was a Columbia undergrad, I think my feelings for the two schools would be flipped.

12

Why aren’t they happy?

13

Sounds like you think the grass may be greener.

My guess is that it probably isn’t.

14

Don’t be so sure about that. Berkeley (as a university) is more prestigious in much of East Asia than in the US. It seems that for many Chinese, for instance, it’s second only to Harvard.

But none of that would matter to me. CLS at sticker beats Boalt at sticker.

15

+1 to all of this. Berkeley is arguably just as prestigious a university as Columbia worldwide. It has more top ranked programs than Columbia University. Even if your strictly talking about lay prestige, Berkeley is more well known as a research institution and more highly regarded in many parts of the world

16

[Are you who I think you are?]

I vote Berkeley. If you are, message me on FB and I’ll talk more - it’s 3:31 am and I’m tired right now :slight_smile:

17

I think you should go to Berkeley. First year is tough and it is nice to have friends and family for support. Also you plan on coming back to CA so CLS is not that much if at all better than Berk.

18

Sounds like you won’t really regret having the opportunity to live in NYC before settling down in CA for good. Do it.

19

Even in Europe, specifically in the UK, the Berkeley brand name carries more weight than the Columbia name, both in the academia and business community.

20

Yeah, in terms of overall grad school rankings, Berkeley is on par with Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. Columbia really isn’t even close.



But you are going to law school and CLS is a better regarded law school. I would take CLS given that getting back to cali seems very possible from there.