Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference? Forum
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Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
PI oriented. Have a good scholarship from UCI. I have seen on their website and in other places that the school is strongly committed to public service/public interest. I am interested to know if this is just a marketing angle or if it actually has any substance behind it. Basically, for PI law, is Irvine the same as all other schools or does it perform slightly better than its peers due to this so called "commitment".
- cavalier1138
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Look at their job placement statistics and their LRAP program. That's much more valuable than a stated commitment.
- mudiverse
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
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Last edited by mudiverse on Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- zot1
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
I was just coming to say this.mudiverse wrote:92% of students did pro bono work...seems like its heavily emphasized at the school.
In addition, a lot of students participate in PILF, which funds PI summer work, and you can look at employment placements as well.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
100% of CLS students did pro bono work because it's required to graduatemudiverse wrote:92% of students did pro bono work...seems like its heavily emphasized at the school.
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- zot1
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Because that's a state requirement that will soon be implemented in CA. More impressively is when you break it down by hours. Most people did over 150 hours.Nebby wrote:100% of CLS students did pro bono work because it's required to graduatemudiverse wrote:92% of students did pro bono work...seems like its heavily emphasized at the school.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
To answer your question, OP, UCI's PI placement is the same as its peers.
- cavalier1138
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Since pretty much every clinic in every school qualifies as pro bono, I have to agree with the "not impressed" camp.zot1 wrote:Because that's a state requirement that will soon be implemented in CA. More impressively is when you break it down by hours. Most people did over 150 hours.Nebby wrote:100% of CLS students did pro bono work because it's required to graduatemudiverse wrote:92% of students did pro bono work...seems like its heavily emphasized at the school.
Look at the school's job placement, not their pro bono rate. That's a much better indication of their PI leanings, and as Nebby said, they're on a par with their peers.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Literally every law school talks about 'commitment to public service' either in their mission statement or somewhere on their website. It's a nice talking point to shill out when law schools want to look like they care about impacting change in the world, and helping marginalized groups, so people think they're not just churning out corporate lawyers who want to spend their whole lives dealing with rich people problems lol.
I'm not saying it's necessarily insincere, but these law schools know how to market. Look at the cold, hard numbers of students getting into PI instead of the carefully orchestrated PR photos/articles that every law school places on their website/pamphlets.
I'm not saying it's necessarily insincere, but these law schools know how to market. Look at the cold, hard numbers of students getting into PI instead of the carefully orchestrated PR photos/articles that every law school places on their website/pamphlets.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Worst part is that outside of the T14 schools aren't even doing thattinyvessels wrote:Literally every law school talks about 'commitment to public service' either in their mission statement or somewhere on their website. It's a nice talking point to shill out when law schools want to look like they care about impacting change in the world, and helping marginalized groups, so people think they're not just churning out corporate lawyers who want to spend their whole lives dealing with rich people problems lol.
I'm not saying it's necessarily insincere, but these law schools know how to market. Look at the cold, hard numbers of students getting into PI instead of the carefully orchestrated PR photos/articles that every law school places on their website/pamphlets.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
LMAO...You didn't lie.Nebby wrote:Worst part is that outside of the T14 schools aren't even doing thattinyvessels wrote:Literally every law school talks about 'commitment to public service' either in their mission statement or somewhere on their website. It's a nice talking point to shill out when law schools want to look like they care about impacting change in the world, and helping marginalized groups, so people think they're not just churning out corporate lawyers who want to spend their whole lives dealing with rich people problems lol.
I'm not saying it's necessarily insincere, but these law schools know how to market. Look at the cold, hard numbers of students getting into PI instead of the carefully orchestrated PR photos/articles that every law school places on their website/pamphlets.
- zot1
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
I mean, that's fine. But at UCI everyone has to do a required clinic. So those numbers you're seeing are in addition to clinic.cavalier1138 wrote:Since pretty much every clinic in every school qualifies as pro bono, I have to agree with the "not impressed" camp.zot1 wrote:Because that's a state requirement that will soon be implemented in CA. More impressively is when you break it down by hours. Most people did over 150 hours.Nebby wrote:100% of CLS students did pro bono work because it's required to graduatemudiverse wrote:92% of students did pro bono work...seems like its heavily emphasized at the school.
Look at the school's job placement, not their pro bono rate. That's a much better indication of their PI leanings, and as Nebby said, they're on a par with their peers.
- zot1
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
UCI makes a commitment to public interest for sure, but this shouldn't make you think that you won't find very biglaw oriented people at the school. I'd say the classes are about 50/50 split between private practice oriented and PI (I'm including government in here too).tinyvessels wrote:Literally every law school talks about 'commitment to public service' either in their mission statement or somewhere on their website. It's a nice talking point to shill out when law schools want to look like they care about impacting change in the world, and helping marginalized groups, so people think they're not just churning out corporate lawyers who want to spend their whole lives dealing with rich people problems lol.
I'm not saying it's necessarily insincere, but these law schools know how to market. Look at the cold, hard numbers of students getting into PI instead of the carefully orchestrated PR photos/articles that every law school places on their website/pamphlets.
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- landshoes
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
How do they fund summer PI learning opportunities?
Do the clinics give you marketable experience and connections?
How good is their loan forgiveness program? Really go into the details on this.
Do the clinics give you marketable experience and connections?
How good is their loan forgiveness program? Really go into the details on this.
- zot1
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
I mean, all of this stuff is easily accessible on their page. But since I'm in a good mood, I'll tell you about it.landshoes wrote:How do they fund summer PI learning opportunities?
Do the clinics give you marketable experience and connections?
How good is their loan forgiveness program? Really go into the details on this.
UCI has a student-run program called PILF. The students fund raise through the year to give students summer grants. Often times the school pays for most of it since the students don't always meet their goals. I believe the grant is 4K for the summer. I don't know if it's changed.
The clinics are very unique so it depends. I can't speak as to all of them, but I know people who've argued before the ninth circuit court in the environmental clinic, know people who've travel to China (on school funds) for the international law clinic, people who've gotten big settlements in the economics clinic (it has another name but for the love of God I can't remember it. But again, this is online). Also, new clinics opened up since I left. You can also do an alternative placement in lieu of your clinic but it has to be approved by the clinic director.
The lrap is for public service/interest positions. You have to be on a repayment plan (IBR, PAYE, etc.). 100% if making less than 60k. If you're making less than 80k there's a prorated percentage for what you make after 60k. It covers you for 10 years. I think you have three years to get into the program. If you'd like more specs, the website has more info. If you asked me, UCB's still better. But this ain't too bad either.
FWIW my class' gift was a one year post-grad public interest fellowship to someone in the next class. I don't know how much more commitment you'd like.
- landshoes
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
You don't actually need to tell me about it, I'm telling OP what they should be looking for (on UCI's page or from their admissions office). I have no interest in PI work, but was considering working as a PD and took that into account when looking for law schools. These are the questions I asked myself about every law school I was accepted to, and they seem to form a good basis for comparison between schools.
Last edited by landshoes on Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Nebby wrote:Worst part is that outside of thetinyvessels wrote:Literally every law school talks about 'commitment to public service' either in their mission statement or somewhere on their website. It's a nice talking point to shill out when law schools want to look like they care about impacting change in the world, and helping marginalized groups, so people think they're not just churning out corporate lawyers who want to spend their whole lives dealing with rich people problems lol.
I'm not saying it's necessarily insincere, but these law schools know how to market. Look at the cold, hard numbers of students getting into PI instead of the carefully orchestrated PR photos/articles that every law school places on their website/pamphlets.T14T13 schools aren't even doing that
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- zot1
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Oh that's fair. And yes, they are really good questions.landshoes wrote:You don't actually need to tell me about it, I'm telling OP what they should be looking for (on UCI's page or from their admissions office). I have no interest in PI work, but was considering working as a PD and took that into account when looking for law schools. These are the questions I asked myself about every law school I was accepted to, and they seem to form a good basis for comparison between schools.
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Re: Is UC Irvine's "commitment to public service" actually make any difference?
Current UCI student here.
I'd also add to the convo that when you're assessing "commitment to public service" claims from schools, that you ask the students how the school facilitates their pro bono program. So, for example, UCI has a full-time pro bono coordinator whose job it is to help students find and participate in pro bono. That's huge.
And just to add my little plug/personal opinion. UCI is very committed. Even those that want big law are involved in some form of pro bono because they really have something for everyone.
Finally, I wouldn't rely solely on the stats. School culture can't be fully captured by the numbers. Reach out to students and faculty and ask about it.
I'd also add to the convo that when you're assessing "commitment to public service" claims from schools, that you ask the students how the school facilitates their pro bono program. So, for example, UCI has a full-time pro bono coordinator whose job it is to help students find and participate in pro bono. That's huge.
And just to add my little plug/personal opinion. UCI is very committed. Even those that want big law are involved in some form of pro bono because they really have something for everyone.
Finally, I wouldn't rely solely on the stats. School culture can't be fully captured by the numbers. Reach out to students and faculty and ask about it.
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