UIUC 2L Taking Questions Forum

[thebobs1987]

Is there a manifested commitment to PI at UIUC? If so, how is that seen?

Not particularly. There's a public interest student group, but neither the administration nor OCS places much of an emphasis on it.

I started this thread and then totally forgot about it. Thanks Chardee for answering all the questions.

I am actually on the PI student board. It really depends what you mean about PI. If you mean NAACP, ACLU, DOJ not so much. But if you mean the state's attorney's office, working for the city of Chicago, or the Atty General then the school does do a good job of placing people and the school has a fellowship program with the Illinois Attorney General's Office to place about 20 graduates in their every year. The school also has a decent LRAP that pays most of your loans if you are working public interest.

WIth that said as Chardee said, the main focus of the school is big law/boutique. That's where OCI focuses the most and it is what the school probably does best.

[thebobs1987]

Hello! Thank you very much for taking your time to answer questions!

I was fortunate enough to be accepted by UIUC with half-tuition scholarship. I'm still waiting to hear from other schools, but actually being rewarded the money made me think twice about what school I should attend.

So here are some questions...

1. Did you two by any chance negotiate to increase your scholarship? I am at median LSAT / above median GPA. Wonder if I could bring this scholarship up. I have been offered a full-ride from a school below UIUC's ranking and 65% scholarship from a school above. If I could bring the scholarship up to perhaps 75%, I would be thrilled.

2. Apartment costs: I heard that apartments within walking distance from school can cost between $300~800-ish. Is that true? What does the low cost entail? (My undergrad was in an urban environment so a shitty studio was about $1000/month).

3. Cost of Living: I'm assuming that I won't have time to cook in law school (it involves grocery shopping -> cooking -> eating -> cleaning up = at least 2 hours of your precious time as 1L), so I'll probably end up eating whatever that's available. Perhaps meal plan? (Is it any good?) If not, I'll probably eat something that's available near campus, which means I'll be constantly eating out. With that in mind, how much would I end up spending per month?

4. How is the gym? :p


I guess my questions can be a bit disappointing (very non-academic), but looking forward to hearing back your responses.

1. I didn't have to, but I think bobs did pretty well, and I know of others that have been pretty successful negotiating. What other schools have you applied to? If you have scholly offers from WUSTL/ND/Indiana/Minnesota, I would certainly try to negotiate up to 75%.

2. Sounds about right. There are certainly places within walking distance that are manageable ($400-500). Check out The Village/75 Armory: a lot of students live there and seem to love it. I live in West Urbana and pay $710 for a two bedroom, but you'd certainly need a car if you live that far off campus.

3. No meal plan. For reasons that would out me, I'm not the best person to answer this Q. You can PM if you want more details. I spend about $500 on groceries and I rarely ever eat out (that's probably on the high end of costs). One big myth about law school is that you don't have time to do anything. As a 1L, you have nothing but time, you just need to manage it properly. I'm able to cook all of my meals, but I'm used to doing that. It can certainly get expensive if you eat out a lot. There's really nothing within a quick walk of campus. There's a cafe in the building that's OK, but the selection leaves something to the imagination and gets old quickly.

4. Its awesome. I go before class, around 7a, when its empty. If you go later, around 5p-7p, it can get really crowded.

This is my last catch up post. I did negotiate up. I was originally offered 50% and then negotiated it way more thanks to getting money from Minn/ND/WUSTL. I would definitely ask for more money after you visit. Once you meet with admissions ppl they're more willing to give out money i think. At least that's how it worked for me. Note though, the law school right now is placing more value on LSATs so if you were above median at the LSAT you'd be in really good shape.

[RLowry23]

Do you find the CSO actually help at UIUC?

I read a lot of snarky comments about how useless a lot of schools CSO's offices are on TLS.

[Chardee_MacDennis]

Do you find the CSO actually help at UIUC?

I read a lot of snarky comments about how useless a lot of schools CSO's offices are on TLS.

They SEEM helpful, at least in my experience. I think as 1Ls we're too early to really know if they can be any help. So far, my advisor has been responsive to questions I've had regarding my resume and other issues, but in terms of actually helping me find employment, she didn't do much. I think going into school knowing that you're essentially on your own when searching for employment is the best mindset to have.

[suchana]

If anyone has any questions about Illinois, I am happy to answer them

Hi. Currently, I'm looking for housing information in Urbana-Champaign. Besdes university apartment, what are other sources of housing information? Is there a way to know who is going to move out at a particular place? (there is an email list at other schools that students can use to share housing information.)
Thank you very much for sharing your information!

[thebobs1987]

If anyone has any questions about Illinois, I am happy to answer them

Hi. Currently, I'm looking for housing information in Urbana-Champaign. Besdes university apartment, what are other sources of housing information? Is there a way to know who is going to move out at a particular place? (there is an email list at other schools that students can use to share housing information.)
Thank you very much for sharing your information!

Hmm. Good question. The University has something I think, but no one uses. Otherwise, it's from ASD if you go, the FB group for your class, and this thread. I found my place on craigslist in June of last year. Most ppl from our class used craigslist to find places or went to the big housing websites like the village, the place, burnham, or the management company sites. I honestly don't remember the good ones. But there are Kennedy-Wilson, Joel Ward, Mhm properties, cp, ramshaw, and rose-brinkmyer. Some of them are great and some of them are awful from what I have heard. The university does keep a score of the management companies so I would recommend looking that up before signing a lease.

[Chardee_MacDennis]

If anyone has any questions about Illinois, I am happy to answer them

Hi. Currently, I'm looking for housing information in Urbana-Champaign. Besdes university apartment, what are other sources of housing information? Is there a way to know who is going to move out at a particular place? (there is an email list at other schools that students can use to share housing information.)
Thank you very much for sharing your information!

http://www.tenantunion.illinois.edu/

This is the site bobs was talking about. Again, I don't know who has used it, but you may find it helpful.

[smomo13]

Hi everyone,

I just got into UIUC and I'm trying to decide if it's the right school for me. I wanted to know what current students think of UIUC as a school for international law, because that is what I'm thinking of going into. Does it offer a lot of opportunities for students to gain experience in that field?

Thanks!

[thebobs1987]

Hi everyone,

I just got into UIUC and I'm trying to decide if it's the right school for me. I wanted to know what current students think of UIUC as a school for international law, because that is what I'm thinking of going into. Does it offer a lot of opportunities for students to gain experience in that field?

Thanks!

What kind of international law? If you go through this site, they'll tell you international law isn't really a thing, more just parts of the law that have international components

But to answer your question more generally, the school offers a lot of opportunities to study and work overseas. Thanks to the reputation of the engineering school there are a lot of companies that offer summer positions to Illinois Law students in Asia especially, but there are a few in South America and Germany as well. Peter Maggs is one of the leading International Commercial Arbitration professors in the country. And then obviously all the large international firms in Chicago that recruit from Illinois. But not many firms have "international law" divisions.

[RLowry23]

While at ASD, I found a lot of the current students to be, quite frankly, kind of douchey...

Is this a sampling fail, or does the student body tend to lean toward the douchey side?

[thebobs1987]

While at ASD, I found a lot of the current students to be, quite frankly, kind of douchey...

Is this a sampling fail, or does the student body tend to lean toward the douchey side?

It could be a sampling fail. It was the start of Spring Break on Friday so not as many students participated at this ASD. Don't get me wrong, it is law school and there are definitely some douchey ppl, but not anymore than any other law school.

[AMilfordMan]

While at ASD, I found a lot of the current students to be, quite frankly, kind of douchey...

Is this a sampling fail, or does the student body tend to lean toward the douchey side?

I've spent considerable time wondering whether or not I'm douchey since reading this. Honestly, I'm not sure. Probably pretty douchey though.

[thebobs1987]

While at ASD, I found a lot of the current students to be, quite frankly, kind of douchey...

Is this a sampling fail, or does the student body tend to lean toward the douchey side?

I've spent considerable time wondering whether or not I'm douchey since reading this. Honestly, I'm not sure. Probably pretty douchey though.

+1. Haha

[Chardee_MacDennis]

While at ASD, I found a lot of the current students to be, quite frankly, kind of douchey...

Is this a sampling fail, or does the student body tend to lean toward the douchey side?

I've spent considerable time wondering whether or not I'm douchey since reading this. Honestly, I'm not sure. Probably pretty douchey though.

+1. Haha

I'm sure this applies to all of us, we're just too dense to realize it.

[isuperserial]

Hey, I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing by unearthing this thread, but I had a housing question. I'm not looking for absurdly upscale housing, but I was wondering if anyone had any leads on some of the nicer places? I really want a central location, walk-able from the law school. To give you a point of reference, I looked at http://towerthird.com/ and they looked pretty cool. Is there anything else like that within walking distance that I should look at?

Thanks so much for your help!

[AMilfordMan]

Hey, I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing by unearthing this thread, but I had a housing question. I'm not looking for absurdly upscale housing, but I was wondering if anyone had any leads on some of the nicer places? I really want a central location, walk-able from the law school. To give you a point of reference, I looked at http://towerthird.com/ and they looked pretty cool. Is there anything else like that within walking distance that I should look at?

Thanks so much for your help!

If you are looking for "nicer" places, I would suggest 75 Armory. ( http://www.75armory.com ) It is within walking, brand new, and a number of law students live there. You could also look into 309 Green and 310 Burnham, but those are probably a bit more expensive and filled with undergrads.

[isuperserial]

Hey, I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing by unearthing this thread, but I had a housing question. I'm not looking for absurdly upscale housing, but I was wondering if anyone had any leads on some of the nicer places? I really want a central location, walk-able from the law school. To give you a point of reference, I looked at http://towerthird.com/ and they looked pretty cool. Is there anything else like that within walking distance that I should look at?

Thanks so much for your help!

If you are looking for "nicer" places, I would suggest 75 Armory. ( http://www.75armory.com ) It is within walking, brand new, and a number of law students live there. You could also look into 309 Green and 310 Burnham, but those are probably a bit more expensive and filled with undergrads.

75 Amory looks fantastic. Thanks buddy, you're a saint!

[thebobs1987]

Hey, I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing by unearthing this thread, but I had a housing question. I'm not looking for absurdly upscale housing, but I was wondering if anyone had any leads on some of the nicer places? I really want a central location, walk-able from the law school. To give you a point of reference, I looked at http://towerthird.com/ and they looked pretty cool. Is there anything else like that within walking distance that I should look at?

Thanks so much for your help!

If you are looking for "nicer" places, I would suggest 75 Armory. ( http://www.75armory.com ) It is within walking, brand new, and a number of law students live there. You could also look into 309 Green and 310 Burnham, but those are probably a bit more expensive and filled with undergrads.

75 Amory looks fantastic. Thanks buddy, you're a saint!

Bad news, I am pretty sure 75 Armory is booked for next year. But Burnham is available and not too far and the new building on Green and Sixth street is going to be nice. Also, I think the places at 107 Daniel are supposed to be pretty nice as well

[RLowry23]

There's a post in this forum about free food/drinks at other schools...

What's this like at UIUC?

[thebobs1987]

There's a post in this forum about free food/drinks at other schools...

What's this like at UIUC?

Do you mean bar reviews? They are run by the SBA and happen about twice a month early in the semester and then just once a month at the end of it. The bar reviews are usually not free because Champaign has a law against bars/restaurants giving free drinks even if you rent out the place. So there are specials. At the end of the semester parties and formal they are usually like quarter beers and dollar mixed drinks. Regular bar reviews are like $2 drink specials or something like that.

At the law school, every Thursday there is Peer's Pub where there is free food and non-alcoholic drinks. And there are student/school sponsored events pretty much everyday where you can get free lunch. Does that answer your question?

[AMilfordMan]

There's a post in this forum about free food/drinks at other schools...

What's this like at UIUC?

How much do you like pizza?

[Chardee_MacDennis]

There's a post in this forum about free food/drinks at other schools...

What's this like at UIUC?

The clubs/orgs hold events throughout the year where they have free food and drinks and shit.

[RLowry23]

Haha thanks to all three of you!

yes, they all answer my questions.

[RLowry23]

Any recommendations for how much we should take out in COL?

My COL will entirely be paid for by loans.

[Chardee_MacDennis]

Any recommendations for how much we should take out in COL?

My COL will entirely be paid for by loans.

If you live frugally, $20K should be fine (not counting summer), but I'm in a unique position. Bobs might be able to give a better answer.