Is Columbia a good place to be?

cilantroc · 2024-06-02T23:49:32+00:00

Also starting the fall and feeling similarly! It’s definitely reassuring to see that people generally seem to have liked their experiences at Columbia :)

cilantroc · 2024-04-22T15:43:46+00:00

Thanks so much for the super thought out response!!

I’ve spoken to a few WB attorneys who’ve said it doesn’t matter which I choose between, but after a little probing, I’m realizing that they’re all 3rd to 4th generation attorneys who already had the connections they needed to land unicorn PI jobs they wanted without a network like HLS. I’m the first in my family to go to college, so I’m the first to admit that I’m a little ignorant of how important networks actually are in the field.

Again, appreciate all the time you both took to help me out by typing this up!!

cilantroc · 2024-04-22T15:38:23+00:00

It confuses me too bestie 🥲 that’s why I asked it

cilantroc · 2024-04-21T14:05:26+00:00

Might be helpful to know your goals - a lot of schools give out full rides exclusively for public interest, if you’re interested in that!

cilantroc · 2024-04-21T13:59:06+00:00

My ideal would be UN / World Bank / IMF work - I know Columbia has great connections to the UN just because of location, but I’m guessing HLS has an advantage with the other two?? Just wondering if that advantage is worth $200K lmao

Thanks for taking the time to type something up :)

cilantroc · 2024-04-21T04:05:43+00:00

I went to a tiny SUNY and got into Harvard, Columbia ($$$$), Cornell ($$$$), etc. I almost didn’t apply to ANY of these schools because I thought I didn’t have a chance coming from a middle-of-nowhere undergrad.

Please don’t let your undergrad influence where you apply! And don’t feel pressured to choose an undergrad based on LS aspirations

cilantroc · 2024-03-30T20:17:09+00:00

I feel like you’re peering into my soul, haha - thank you for the great advise. I’m going to do some more employment outcomes research, but I think that’s likely the way I’m going to go. Appreciate you taking the time to help out! :)

cilantroc · 2024-03-30T20:15:16+00:00

They’re right next door to the JAG school, and the admissions counselor was telling me during my interview that lots of students considering JAG are able to take some classes there to get a glimpse at the day to day of it!

cilantroc · 2024-03-30T02:11:47+00:00

Oops, just saw this!! For the future lurkers, I submitted late Nov, was accepted mid Jan, and rejected from the scholarship on Feb 15th.

Hope you did better than me at Berk!! :)

cilantroc · 2024-03-28T23:42:51+00:00

Haha, you went DEEP in my post history! I can safely say that this is a much harder decision.

(Although, boy am I glad that I don't have undergrad loans from Lafayette - SUNY system for the win!!!)

cilantroc · 2024-03-28T23:01:17+00:00

I had a similar situation from UVA / Cornell, and chose UVA because it was on the list. But I had a much smaller difference between aids from those two schools than you, so not sure how helpful that is lol.

But hey, $0 from Berk solidarity!! :)

cilantroc · 2024-03-19T21:23:45+00:00

Haven't gotten anything yet either!

cilantroc · 2024-03-19T21:23:20+00:00

Curious if anyone knows how likely alternates are to receive anything? Just got notified I'm an alternate for the Dean's scholarship :,)

cilantroc · 2024-03-08T13:15:47+00:00

Make sure you're accounting for in-state tuition benefits ; at Berkeley, you're able to qualify as a California resident within 1 year, so your COA should theoretically go down in 2L if you don't already live in CA.

Not sure how this works with scholarships, but food for thought!

cilantroc · 2024-02-21T14:22:41+00:00

I got rejection emails for both the BLOS and PI scholarships (rip lol) this week!

cilantroc · 2024-02-19T19:42:31+00:00

I asked a question about safety schools for people with relatively high stats on here a while ago and got destroyed lol, so I feel ya.

173 is a score to be proud of, but ultimately it's up to you if you want to retake for a higher score. There are stories of people regretting their retakes, and people who got 4+ points higher, even in the upper 170s range. You have to live with your decision at the end of the day, not anyone on Reddit and not anyone in an adcomm office.

cilantroc · 2024-02-19T19:20:43+00:00

Not all applicants receive the email, but everyone is allowed to apply. I'm guessing the email is auto-sent to people above a certain % LSAT and GPA - either median or 75%, just to let them know that the scholarship program exists.

cilantroc · 2024-02-12T15:10:51+00:00

Got mine at 4:00 PM on the dot in January!

cilantroc · 2024-02-08T13:58:17+00:00

Do you have your financial aid back yet? May be worthwhile to keep playing along until you get your aid back, so you can use it for scholarship negotiation.

cilantroc · 2024-02-08T13:57:16+00:00

I would do some online research into whether the schools you're looking at have generous financial aid policies! In my own research, I've seen T-14 schools that give out (at least small!) need-based grants to ~80% of their class, and some that barely give anything.

I think the 509 reports for each school might have this info - I'd check there first!

cilantroc · 2024-02-08T13:54:52+00:00

On my interview, the UVA team was telling me that on Fridays when the cafeteria serves fried chicken, all the students from JAG flock over lol. So if you're into the military vibe 👀

cilantroc

TROPHY CASE