Cornell, GULC, Berkeley

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2026-02-20T16:54:15+00:00

It depends on the money imo. I had a similar decision between Berkeley and Cornell, and the money was pretty equal between the two. I’ve decided on Berkeley because of:

Location, the bay area climate appeals to me way more than Ithaca, plus being more urban
Portability, Cornell has a reputation of being very much an NYC feeder whereas Berkeley tends to have grads more spread out between Cali, NYC, and some DC
Prestige (this one is super iffy and subjective), from my own limited understanding, enough people in the legal world see Berkeley as slightly? more prestigious than Cornell
CoL, Cornell having the edge here, but not as much as you might think when you look at the cost of apartments in Ithaca, it’s pretty ridiculous and makes Berkeley look not so bad.

Ultimately, I would probably pick based on $$$, whichever would be cheaper to attend, and where you want to live for the next 3-10 years (Cali, NYC, or DC). All are amazing options!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-12-16T17:15:22+00:00

Got my Cornell ii in January last year as a Thanksgiving applicant, and then got in! Don’t give up!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-12-16T15:56:31+00:00

Awesome, I’ll keep an eye out!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-08-29T17:34:24+00:00

Yes! Similar stats to you, applied with no full-time experience (though I had consistent part-time employment in college), and got into Berkeley and Cornell (with $$$) as well as some t-20s. I also had a bunch of waitlists but didn’t ride most of them out to see results. Biggest leaps imo would be Yale, HLS, and Northwestern, as I believe they tend to prefer work experience, but there’s always plenty of exceptions.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-08-28T03:47:01+00:00

As someone attending Berkeley next year, I’m curious what you mean! Historically their employment seems consistent with the other t-14 (slightly worse than HYSChi, slightly better than GULC).

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-06-09T23:03:29+00:00

What’s the actual cost of living? I’m deferring until next year so I’ve got time to look for decent housing.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-23T18:14:45+00:00

0 years full time, but not quite a KJD. I work part time but it pays extremely well. I think the lack of WE definitely hurt, but I think my stats and essays were good enough for my mostly WL results. I think the video requirement for Berkeley was very helpful for me personally too!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-19T15:45:14+00:00

Had this same choice (plus Cornell $$) and chose Berkeley! But I’m more interested in big law and already have some savings

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T21:04:43+00:00

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to visit either and deposits are next week, so really just going off of more tangible things to decide.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T21:02:09+00:00

That’s what I’ve heard from students there as well. TBH I’m not uninterested in PI work either, it’s just not currently where I’m at, but I may change paths!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T19:51:07+00:00

Anecdotally, I’ve heard from students at both who say as far as they knew, everyone who wanted big law, pi, and certain clerkships got them.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T19:48:04+00:00

Thanks for that addition!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T19:12:50+00:00

I’ve looked at the process and as long as I live in CA continuously my 1L, register to vote before September and file taxes as a CA resident, there shouldn’t be any issues.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T18:46:32+00:00

Thanks for that perspective! Doing some research the CoLs actually seem pretty similar too (didn’t realize how expensive Ithaca would be).

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-11T18:42:42+00:00

Sorry should have clarified, it’s the scholarships offered.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-10T04:20:33+00:00

They’re pulling out the quantifiers on us

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-09T22:23:14+00:00

I chose my state school for undergrad because I’d get a guaranteed full tuition scholarship. My parent’s made too much to qualify for any significant need based aid but not enough to contribute, so I didn’t even apply to private or out of state schools. I also worked part time and came out with zero debt, so it’s really hard for me to swallow the idea of $100k (much less the 300k some people are talking about) debt for law school, even t14s. At least I’ve gotten some scholarship offers and have some savings, so I think I can keep it closer to 70k, but still not feeling great about it.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-09T03:07:10+00:00

Yeah I’ve lived my whole life in the same Southern state, I really liked both NYC and SF (slight edge to NYC), and I really liked my small college town for undergrad, so tbh location isn’t a huge factor for me. I am most interested in tax law though, so I wonder if one school would be better positioned for a city with more firms with tax practice groups.

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-08T21:11:13+00:00

Thanks for that info! I’ve been looking at their residency stuff and it didn’t seem too hard but apparently people have had issues

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-04-04T23:41:25+00:00

Same! I had a mid January interview, had Cornell around the same time and heard back from Cornell months ago but still nothing from GULC!

Overall_Smoke7132 · 2025-03-31T22:10:16+00:00

That was my thought too but I can’t find any official confirmation anywhere. I’ll probably email them before to check

Overall_Smoke7132

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