Hi! I’m a high school senior entering college in the Fall and I’m trying to figure out where to commit. I’m from New Jersey so I’d get in-state tuition for Rutgers and I’ve been admitted to the Honors Program (not college). For UCB, I would need to pay more out-of-state but would also love the opportunity to live in California for a bit, and obviously, Berkeley is just a great school overall.
At Rutgers SAS, I would major in History/Political Science, since I know it has a strong history department there, even though I would prefer to study international relations – I might just switch my major… still a little undecided. At Berkeley L&S, I intend to major in Global Studies, which is a good research-based field and a high-demand major. I feel like San Francisco has a lot to offer me as someone looking to pursue law in the future, but the housing situation seems rough.
I don’t qualify for financial aid but would still struggle to pay tuition wherever I go and so far, applying for scholarships seems like entering the lottery. Financially, Rutgers would work better for law school, but at UCB, I would have access to some of UCB Law’s resources, and it is one of the top law schools for law (environmental especially). My college GPA is important for grad, and I worry that Berkeley’s competitive environment will make it difficult to succeed and get admitted into a law school, but I also believe that it will prepare me better for the rigor.
I’m very 50/50 right now and have heard a lot of conflicting opinions from those around me, so any advice would be appreciated!
there’s no such thing as pre-law resources. The on-campus law school is not gonna even speak to an undergrad. And with the internet, library resources are available to all. For law school, only two things matter: undergrad GPA + LSAT.
Rutgers is the only choice. Law school is expensive so why not save money in undergrad. If you want to prepare for the rigors of law school, take classes that challenge your critical thinking skills, such as logic, philosophy and math.
I would probably need to take some loans (not too much) but am planning to take a gap year or more after college to pay it off and work on law school applications.
Was going to say something similar. As an undergrad, you don’t really get access to the law school at Cal. While they share a campus, there is very little cross-pollination between the two. You will do an undergrad program. You can take some legal studies classes, as you usually can anywhere else. There is a pre-law fraternity, I believe, which is nice, but not worth the difference in price tag between UCB and Rutgers, imo.
Also, sometimes I feel like I already live a Rutgers student life in certain aspects. I practically live on campus, 2 minutes away from Livingston, Busch, and College Ave (right in the center), and most people from my school are going to Rutgers, so I feel like I’ll probably stick with the same friends and community. I feel like going to California is a good chance to explore other cultures, find more perspectives, and be more independent. Not sure how much this matters, but a lot of people have been telling me this.
But you can only take out $27,000 in total, $5500 freshman year. Isn’t the COA $75,000 a year? How much can you afford without loans? It’s not just the loans, the interest starts day one if not subsidized.
I’m guessing there are at least 100 students from my town currently at Rutgers, my kids didn’t experience running into everyone they knew. We aren’t eligible for FA so my kids’ choices were either in state or getting enough merit at less selective schools. No way could they have been able to pay back all of those loans (and they did have loans).
If you can’t afford Rutgers in state, how will you go to UCB out of state.
Here’s the thing about law school - where you go likely doesn’t matter. Getting a great GPA and LSAT does. Many get work experience too.
Harvard Law’s first year class of under 600 is represented by 147 schools - schools far down the pedigree list. Canisius, Embry Riddle, Montclair State…the state flagships of many.
Yale shows 5 years of schools I count 169 - from George Mason to U of Oklahoma to Youngstown State.
At UVA - #8 - in 2023, after UVA, the two schools most represented - UGA and Alabama.
So you should find affordable - first and foremost.
Put law school on the backburner - it can happen from anywhere!!!
But forgetting law, you can’t go where you can’t afford. It sounds like you can’t afford Rutgers and if that’s the case, you certainly can’t afford UCB.
There are more inexpensive schools - for example, W Carolina is $20K all in, etc.
You don’t want debt - especially with your majors.
I do hear what you are saying. My son originally wanted to go far away, but he ended up at our local university.
He did start out knowing some people on campus (not most people from his school, but quite a few), but on a huge university campus, you mostly only run into those people if you want to.
Plan to live on campus, make it a priority to put yourself out there and meet new people, and I expect you can have a great experience at Rutgers (and I know it’s a very good school).
You can also study abroad for a summer or semester, do internships in other cities, etc. Before you know it, you will have finished your undergraduate degree and you’ll be off to the next adventure.
The real question is, can you afford Rutgers without loans?