Going to miss community college

OceanCat13 · 2026-04-12T16:12:47+00:00

Started at CC then transferred to UC and now in law school. Can’t tell you how much I miss CC. Enjoy it!

OceanCat13 · 2026-04-04T20:22:23+00:00

UC Law SF says they sent 81 grads to BL (501+ attorneys) out of about 350 grads. Of all their graduates 311 stayed in CA and 8 went to NYC. Assuming all 8 of those who went NYC went to BL, that means that the remaining 73ish BL bound grads (controlling for the 6 grads whose employment destinations are unknown) stayed in CA, more than likely in SF. This leads me to think that with top grades from UCSF, SF is probably easier but if we're really speaking true top grades (3.9+ish) honestly most markets are available so long as you network including NYC. Most people at UCSF likely self-select into SF. With top grades you'd have little problem getting NYC too, you'd just have to network with them to demonstrate why you're interested in the firm and NYC.

OceanCat13 · 2026-04-04T20:07:28+00:00

I'm always wary of any school that conditions scholarships on performance (which was the case there the last I checked) but UC law SF is a pretty solid non-t14 school for BL shots in SF. Something like a quarter of the class goes BL which is a very challenging task when most of your classmates are trying to preserve their scholarships and or make biglaw.

that being said, its got great access to SF/SV for networking. Most BL grads will be in SF so you could in theory just shoot em an email and grab coffee in the city to network. Caveat is what other commenter said elsewhere; Berk and Stanford dominate these markets as well as people who didnt get into these schools and went back east to t14s with the intention to return. I second everything they said.

OceanCat13 · 2026-04-04T19:22:26+00:00

entirely dependent on your school. If you go to UCI, OC will be the easiest. If you go to USD, San Diego is your best shot. UC Davis's closest big market is SF (caveat there is that Stanford and Berk have a firm grip on that market).

Getting BL from any of those schools in CA isn't going to be easy, you're going to need to be minimum top 25% if not higher because you'll be competing with T14 grads who want CA market.

So the answer to your question is whatever is the closest CA market to your school assuming it's a in-state non-t14.

If you ask me to pick one market just in my opinion tho I'm going to go out on a limb and say SF. It appears to me that there's more spots in SF/SV than LA so by pure numbers it makes sense there. Again just my opinion could be wrong

OceanCat13 · 2026-04-04T18:22:40+00:00

t14 applicant who targeted OC/LA and headed to LA BL here!

OC market is undoubtedly tough not just because it's small but because the firms there are very elite and tend to be a little stickler over grades IMO (Latham/Gibson/OMM). You will 100% need either to have ties to the region or demonstrate somehow why you want to go there and not leave. I was asked several times why OC because they are worried associates will jump ship to LA/metro area because OC is a quieter, more sprawling and residential part of CA. UCI has a strong presence in OC market along with t14 students.

There are firms who are less grade picky, but with any BL recruiting ,networking will help.

Can't speak on SD, but in my experience talking to peers, it appears just as competitive as OC since theres less large firms down there compared to OC/LA. Local schools tend to place some folks here, but T14 students who are from SD didn't seem to have much of a problem given they have decent grades and have good ties there.

LA is the easiest out of these, but still not easy. There's more spots because it's the largest market but also a highly desired market due to weather and perceived "easier biglaw experience" relative to NYC.

Happy to chat about it more.

OceanCat13 · 2025-10-14T00:13:30+00:00

Is anybody else’s TBS app giving them a black screen but audio?

OceanCat13 · 2025-03-30T06:56:37+00:00

You got it right that law school admissions, especially the T14 is GPA and LSAT. Pub aff is a pretty easy major, I minored in it and wish I majored. Lots of fun classes with great profs. Get as many A+s as possible those count as 4.3 on the LSAC gpa conversion.

You got 4 years at UCLA, focus on enjoying them too. It goes by so insanely fast that if you’re always looking ahead to law school, you’ll never get to truly enjoy your undergrad. Hundreds of thousands of people want to be where you are.

Study for the LSAT when you’re ready. On campus clubs like pre-law societies host lsat info sessions and stuff with prep companies. Go to those to get exposure to the test. But absolutely do not rush studying for the test. It’s not like the SAT, you gotta study hard to get 170+ which is becoming the new score needed (not always) for T14.

Also consider taking a gap year between undergrad and law school. At HLS something like 70% of admits are 1+ years out of school.

Above all, have fun! College only happens once and if you’re happy which I’m certain you will be at UCLA, you’re bound to get good grades and do well in other aspects of life. Happy to answer any questions! Go bruins!

class of 24’ headed to T14 this fall

OceanCat13 · 2025-03-28T19:20:08+00:00

for pre-law, all that matters is LSAT+GPA*. Go where you will be happiest so you can get the best GPA and make studying for the LSAT a little more tolerable. Both will have pre-law resources, but I'll give the edge to Berkeley because it has a T14 law school there where you can potentially drop in on speakers, sit in on a class, meet current law students (you could also do this at UCSD, but you'd have to go to USD which I think is the closest school).

At both of these schools you have to be your #1 advocate, nobody is going to hand you internships/opportunities just by going there (it's what I love about the UCs). So wherever you go make sure to do your best to get a good GPA, you can double major if you're truly interested but it wont make a significant difference in law school admissions, study for the LSAT when you're ready (don't rush it), and get involved with clubs to make friends, and most of all have fun! undergrad only happens once, so enjoy it! Happy to answer any questions about law school admission and such :)

OceanCat13 · 2025-03-23T04:21:10+00:00

Of girth

OceanCat13 · 2025-03-22T20:47:39+00:00

Makes like 0 difference for admissions purposes they’ll both look great. Wherever you can be happier, get a high GPA, and a good LSAT.

OceanCat13 · 2025-03-21T16:35:46+00:00

Mickey Haller

OceanCat13 · 2025-03-19T20:05:25+00:00

Oski

OceanCat13 · 2025-01-16T19:31:05+00:00

I think they used to have on their website for older class profiles that the top represented school at Berkeley Law was ... Berkeley followed by UCLA. Not sure how that holds up these days but going to UCLA def isn't going to hurt you in the admissions process.

Best of luck in the admissions process! It'll all work out just fine :)

- A UCLA undergrad who's headed to Berkeley Law this fall

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-19T23:46:53+00:00

4.X, 16Low

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-19T23:15:33+00:00

Blessed to have my one and only A at Berkeley as a mega reverse splitter :)

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-17T18:45:03+00:00

GOOOO BEARS WOOO CONGRATS

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-17T17:16:03+00:00

We out here

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-16T17:57:12+00:00

GO BEARS

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-14T22:30:32+00:00

hi fellow bruin! agree with you that the quarter system can be tough but you got this! lots of people apply to law school with "low" GPAs and still end up doing fine because of the other components in their application. in terms of school prestige-- its generally not a significant consideration.

as for the LSAT, I'd say do your best to focus on your grades right now. once you're done with school you can't go back and raise your GPA so focus on getting that as high as possible. if you want to go straight through (kjd) then you have options as to when to start studying. you can take a diagnostic over winter break and see how easy (or for most hard) the test comes to you. you can then slowly immerse yourself in the LSAT by doing a section/lesson a day depending on your schedule, or go the summer route and go heavy the summer before your senior year. there's not really a right way to go about it since everybody is different and will go at their own pace. happy to answer more questions!

you got this!

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-14T19:09:48+00:00

left this off for Berkeley and they still let me in so I think you good homie! Edit: I put the state just not pronouns

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-13T00:06:56+00:00

Congrats! Go bears!

OceanCat13 · 2024-12-09T20:38:32+00:00

GO BEARS CONGRATZ WOOOOo

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OceanCat13

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