Help! I have been accepted into Columbia and Georgetown but don't yet know about scholarships/financial aid. Although I would much prefer Columbia to Berkeley, I'm wondering whether there is any point applying for Berkeley on the chance that I was to be offered a merit-based scholarship, the ADP Scholarship (I'm not eligible for any of the other scholarships) but not be offered any funding (or very little funding) from Columbia. I have less than 20% of the cost of undertaking the LLM myself, so funding is very important to me.

I note that Berkeley states:

Berkeley Law offers a competitive scholarship program offering full tuition paid for admitted LL.M. students with superior academic credentials, for whom Berkeley Law is their first choice. Because funds are extremely limited, the ADP Scholarship can only be provided to a few outstanding applicants each year.

Does anyone know what the statement 'for whom Berkeley Law is their first choice' means? Do they only offer scholarships to enrolled students who have paid the tuition deposit?

Also, does anyone know what the chances would be of receiving financial aid from Columbia, in my circumstances?

Thank you in advance!

Hi! From what I've heard, Columbia provides some scholarships, but not a lot (like most top US law schools).

Columbia itself seems to confirm this on their website:
"The Law School has a robust financial aid program to support LL.M. candidates, but our funds are limited and we are not able to meet the needs of all admitted applicants. Because of the limited funding available for assistance and the high cost of attending law school in the United States, we encourage prospective applicants to begin seeking other sources of funds as early as possible, keeping in mind that some funding applications are due months before the LL.M. application deadline."

So I think that it is possible to receive financial assistance. Nevertheless, when reading the website, it seems that you should really have shown that you need this, since they also state that on their website the following: "We award financial assistance primarily on the basis of financial need.".

So I would apply to Berkeley and see what you get there. I don't think that you have anything to lose by admitting your application.

I hope that this helped!

Congratulations btw on being accepted for Columbia! Were you in the regular cycle or in the early review? And where are you from?

Does anyone know:
a) If columbia already started to send out financial aid decisions or when they usually start to do so?
b) What the usual amount is, which applicants can realistically expect, if they are granted financial aid ?

Thank you, Educated Hercules (and apologies for the slow reply)! Yes, I was admitted on early review but still waiting to hear back about financial aid :).

In my case, the admission E-Mail in December (CLS) already stated, that I was not given any financial aid due to limited resources. If that wasn't the case with you guys, this might be a good sign ;)

[Edited by usukger1718 on Jan 23, 2017]

Ok, that's interesting ... my admission email explicitly stated that CLS would begin to review FA applications "soon" and we should stay patient in the meantime ...

I assume they simply erase those admitted students immediately, who don't fit their financial aid criteria.

I hope you are all right and this is the case for financial aid... I have also been admitted on December and my admission email also explicitly stated that CLS would begin to review financial aid soon... I have not heard from them since though...

I've been admitted as well, getting the same inditation that CLS would begin to review financial aid soon... I hope we get this response soon, or around March or so, since in the past I've heard it took CLS up to May to reply on this matter. Good luck to all!

Has someone heard a out financial aid?

Not yet so far ...

Hi everyone, if it helps I was offered a $40k tuition waiver last year but could still not make it.

Hi everyone, if it helps I was offered a $40k tuition waiver last year but could still not make it.

@afronita: When were you offered the tuition waiver exactly ?

Hi everyone, I dont't know if all of you applying for FA have the same problem, but I was admitted since December without a deadline for accepting the offer. I've heard that actually those that did not apply to FA or that were nos granted with any aid at all and informed in the admission mail did receive a deadline (about the first week of april). Is this happening to you too?

Many thanks for any comments you can share!

Hi everyone, if it helps I was offered a $40k tuition waiver last year but could still not make it.

Hi afronita, $40 grand is huge. Do you think it's largely because of need or merit? Why were you not able to make it, is it because of the factors relating to CLS or personal reasons? Thanks.

@afronita: When were you offered the tuition waiver exactly ?

[Edited by afronita on Mar 02, 2017]

Hi guys, any news on fin aid from CLS/Berkeley?

As far as I know, berkeley offers financial aids only to one or two LLM students.

Hi guys, has someone received any news on fin aid from CLS? I requested last week an expedited decision given that I have other offers with fin aid and deadlines due on april 1st, but I have not received any answer yet...