Now that admissions are finished and I am left to choose, I am left with a tough choice that I cannot stop mulling over.
Out of the schools that I have been admitted to, Berkeley, UCLA, and Swarthmore are the ones that I am currently considering and I do not know which one to choose. I plan to major in English and perhaps even double major in History if I feel up to it. My goal after college is to go to Law school so I know that I would probably receive a bit more help in terms of internships and law advice from my UCs rather than Swarthmore. But I know that all three schools are insanely strong with their English departments
In total, Swarthmore would be the cheapest option as I would only have to pay about $760 a year and the UCs would be more expensive with loans having to be taken out to afford to attend despite being from California myself. I’ve been leaning on Swarthmore a bit, but I am pretty fickle and now I’m stuck at an impasse.
I guess the deciding factor for me would be where would I be better prepared for law school and where would I get the most benefits in terms of education, work experience, and basically my (planned) future career as an immigration lawyer. If anyone could please weigh-in for me and help me out, that would be most appreciated. Thank you.
P.S.: Price isn’t that big of a deal, but it is something that I feel I should think about. After all, law school isn’t exactly that cheap either.
Given the cost of law school and the lack of specific major or course requirements for pre-law, choosing the lowest cost of good undergraduate schools (in your case Swarthmore) is often a good idea. However, UCB and UCLA may offer more out-of-class social contact with other students from recent immigrant backgrounds.
If you want to go into immigration law, you may want to include undergraduate course work on immigration (history, sociology, political science, etc.), immigrant-heavy minority groups, foreign languages spoken by immigrants, and origin countries of immigrants in order to gain background information about the clientele you may be serving.
The education Swarthmore offers at that price is really unbeatable in my opinion. Did you have a chance to visit?
All 3 are solid choices, but fairly different. What are your pros and cons for each one?
Like previously mentioned, law school is mainly LSAT scores and GPA. None of your 3 choices offer a significantly easier path to a high GPA because they’re all rigorous institutions. All 3 will prepare you well for law school. The real question is which school is your favorite in terms of location, culture, student life, ect.? Depending on cost, one of the UCs might be worth attending if it’s your favorite. Taking out $10k in loans over 4 years so you can attend your choice school is worth it. If we’re talking $50k then that’s a different story.
Parent here: D is a junior at Swarthmore. Very happy with English profs. I think you will get more individual attention and help with your writing skills and skills you need for law School. There are many students there who are pre professional and do very well in admissions. Its a nice tight community and not pressure cooker between the students (that I know of). If you are getting that much aid they will probably fly you out to look. They really want the students they accept. Congratulations on your acceptances!
Check out these links describing pre-law advising at Swarthmore. https://www.swarthmore.edu/admissions-aid/law-school-advising https://www.swarthmore.edu/pre-law-advising/guide-to-pre-law-studies
Berkeley and UCLA are enormous public universities. Swarthmore, on the other hand, is small, personal, and intense. You will have lots of advice and can find opportunities for internships related to immigration and the law in the Philadelphia area. I think Swarthmore is an excellent choice for a potential lawyer, especially at a price below that of your in-state public universities.
If Swarthmore were a middle-of-nowhere LAC, I could see being concerned that you’d be unable to connect with immigration-law experiences there. But access to Philadelphia is very quick and easy, and I’m sure there’s plenty going on in the city, in that field. Also, if you wanted to spend some time back in CA, Swarthmore has an exchange program with Pomona.
At UCB or UCLA, you’ll have to “pay your dues” in larger lower-division classes in order to get to the more intimate educational experiences in the last two years; whereas at Swat you’ll get that kind of intimacy and close contact with faculty from Day One. If your in-state publics were more affordable, that trade-off would make sense to me. But with Swarthmore being cheaper… that seems by far the better value to me. You can always go to one of the UC law schools after getting your debt-free BA from Swarthmore.
Another thing to be aware of as presumably a low-income student is that on top of the up-front costs, you’ll get “nickeled and dimed” much more at a public university. At Swarthmore, you’ll be able to participate in everything that goes on on campus without having to budget spending money for it. At UCB or UCLA, you’re likely to face lot more decisions about whether you can afford to do the recreational things your friends are doing. Certainly you’ll have plenty of company, as there are a lot of less-affluent students at the UC’s, but the affluence gradients can be keenly felt when it comes time to look for off-campus housing you can afford, or even just decide how to spend your weekend. The more cash-free experience on an LAC campus could spare you a lot of stress.
Also, I’m not sure your assumption about receiving “more help with internships” at a UC is correct. Certainly there are lots of opportunities, but there’s lots of competition for opportunities too. Well-endowed LAC’s like Swarthmore tend to offer a lot of support - for example, in the form of grants that pay students to work at internships that would otherwise be unpaid. These could be exactly the kind of opportunities you would want, in a field like immigration law. https://www.swarthmore.edu/career-services/summer-funding
IMHO, the only reasons not to choose Swarthmore would be 1) if you truly weren’t comfortable going that far from home, which could be understandable in these unsettled times, or 2) if you felt sure that you would not like the small LAC environment and really wanted the fast-paced, high-stimulation world of a large public university. At any rate, congrats on having great options!!