Hey. I just wanted to let you guys know that you should feel free to come on this thread and ask Archie, Chalis, or I any questions during the summer before your 1L year. We will do our best to answer them and give any tips about preparing for law school (BEST tip is to do nothing and enjoy your summer) or surviving 1L year... .. .. . Unless I don't survive this next week of finals and my 1L year, then I will leave it to Archie and Chalis. haha j/k. Additionally, if you ask anything this next week, we may not answer you until finals are over Friday : )

In your opinion would you find it better to live with other law students, or with grad students in other disciplines? I am from Central IL and have lots of friends who are current grad students at Illinois (as well as being housing prospects...). What are your thoughts on the matter? Pros? Cons?

I think it depends on a couple things. I live alone, mostly because I prefer to study at home. I'd rather throw on some sweats and be able to sit on the couch and do my reading rather than having to go to the library to get anything done (and also because I've never been able to afford my own place - moved here from NYC - so it's really nice to have my own space!) That being said, a lot of people I know can't study at home because they say they get too distracted and they prefer to go the library. If you're like that, having roommates is no big deal. It can also cut your housing costs in half in this town so if you're concerned about your budget, roommates are the way to go. And honestly, the law school is small and you'll be in the same section with the same people for the entire year, so it might not be a bad thing at all to live with some non-law students, especially if they're good friends.

Anyone heard of an apartment complex called ginger creek or indigo place. Any thoughts on either of those? Thanks

yeah Ginger Creek is right next to my apt complex (same management company) - it's pretty nice, a bit on the pricey side but it's fairly new - about a 10 min drive from school. Royse and Brinkmeyer is a pretty good management company... their receptionist has been extremely rude in every interaction I've ever had with her but other than that, I've had no problems with them. Indigo Place I don't know a whole lot about - I think that's one of those 'suite style living' places where it comes furnished and everyone has their own full bathroom and can sign their own individual lease. The major difference would probably be lots of students (Indigo) vs virtually no students (Ginger Creek)

I've been thinking about the whole driving to class thing... Where are law students parking their cars? Is the parking lot for the Krannert Art Museum across the street from the law school available to be leased by students? Do you guys try to get lucky with the parking meters? Or Do you park at E-14 (or anywhere else) and take the bus in?

Another question. I heard a rumor that College of Law students can TA in an undergrad course and earn a stipend or a tuition discount of some sort. Do either of you know if this rumor is true? If so, do you guys know anyone who's done it, and if so, what subjects did they TA?

Thanks in advance

While I'd love to know the answer to this as well, I imagine this is a question for Dean Pless.

There's always spots at the meters or in the law school parking lot. The law school lot is half meters and half parking permit. You can put your name on a list but I've heard that it takes a couple of years...if you can get a pass at all. There are TONS of meters in the lot and all around the building on the street so it's never hard to find a spot. They're $0.75 an hour so on days when you only have one or two classes close to each other it's totally worth it. Otherwise it's about $80 a year for an E-14 shuttle lot pass which is what most people do. Generally it's a pretty quick bus ride (takes about 10 mins depending on how long you have to wait) but it's not bad. They have this "Stopwatch" program where you text the number of the bus stop and it texts you back right away with the bus numbers and how long until they get to your stop (all the buses have gps). I originally told myself that I'd walk from the E-14 in an attempt to get at least 15 mins of exercise a day but soon realized that trekking for 15 minutes with a 40 pound backpack is not fun first thing in the morning. (that being said, when the weather is nice and you're not carrying three casebooks it's not a bad walk at all).

I know there was an undergrad business law class that hired two TA's this year and they get tuition credit and a stipend and I've heard of a couple other people who are TAing for undergrad courses. Generally you have to attend all the classes, hold office hours and do exam review sessions - Paul Pless would probably know much more about how many opportunities are actually available or where you would go about finding them.

Thanks!

When I visited I had a hard time finding parking near the law school. It could also be the time of day I came, too. Parking is probably more available earlier in the day, versus 3pm.

Hmmm... there may have been something going on in one of the sports complexes. But even when it's really busy there are generally spots up farther on Pennsylvania - and when I say farther I mean like two blocks. But yeah, definitely less busy earlier in the day. I didn't have class until 1:30 three days a week this semester (my section got a kick ass second semester schedule!) and it was definitely harder to find parking later in the day - but really, there are meters on every single street everywhere surrounding the building so never really a problem.

I have generally metered it a lot this past semester because I have gotten increasingly lazy and unwilling to walk from the E-14 shuttle lot in cold or rainy weather. A lot of people just take the shuttle, but I refused to and will only walk to school. It is only a .6 mile walk from the shuttle lot and really I can walk it in under 10 minutes.

I also wanted to add a little caveat about advice on law school computer use in general. You may forget about this at some point during your 1L year, or you may read this and think "whatever, that wouldn't happen to me because I have a new computer and it is a high quality brand." OR "that is just some freak accident thing that never really happens." Because that is EXACTLY what I thought during orientation when a 2L told me this and I brushed it off and forgot about it. DON'T. This could very well save your sanity. Ready?

BACK EVERYTHING UP ROUTINELY, AND DURING FINALS AND OUTLINING BACK EVERYTHING UP OBSESSIVELY!!!!!!!

Two days before my second final and right before I was about to print my outline that I had spent enormous amounts of time on, my computer CRASHED. So I spent all morning trying to get it started and fix it on my own, and then spent all day dealing with Geek Squad at Best Buy trying to get it fixed. LUCKILY and miraculously they were able to pull my files off and put them on a zip so I could study. Unfortunately, they were not able to fix it before my final I had to take on it so my parents bought me a new computer.

The first computer was a Dell XPS which was only about 8 months old. High end NEW computer. The brand new computer I bought was a Dell as well. During my final it was having some serious issues with loading my test and when I got home, it turned out that some of my programs were disabled, I had no control panel, and my desktop icons had apparently disappeared. So I took it back to Best Buy and it turns out that my DAY OLD computer just so happened to be a lemon with a bad hard drive. SO, they replaced the whole computer with a new one. I told Geek Squad that I was not leaving the store until I had A computer, and camped out in Best Buy last night until after close while they tried to fix my two computers and then do the installations on my new new one. I FINALLY have a new new functioning computer that seems to have a control panel and a legitimate hard drive.

I was warned by a 2L last year who told a room of us during orientation that her computer crashed and she lost all of her notes for the semester because she hadn't been backing stuff up. I was incredibly lucky that Dell was able to get in and pull stuff off my computer, because it could have just as easily gone the other way and I would probably be in some insane asylum right now lol. But the moral of the story is: technology sucks, don't trust it for one second, and BACK EVERYTHING UP (zip drive, cds, email it to yourself, SOMETHING) so in the very worse case scenario you will not completely lose a semester of work during finals week and be up a very unpleasant creek without a paddle...

Just out of curiosity, where do you live where it's that close?

Sorry, I meant that I will park in the shuttle lot and that walk is only .6 miles. Honestly, the furthest out you could possibly live is about a 15 minute drive in any direction... because beyond that is corn... So there is really nowhere "far" per se. I live about 15 minutes from campus at Watersedge apartments. Really quiet pretty apartments and surrounded by corn on one side and then the busiest area of Champaign in terms of mall/movie theater/shopping center/restaurants on the other (North Prospect). My balcony overlooks a pretty corn field, but it is about a 15 minute drive to school (still under 5 mi).

A tank of gas lasts me over a month because nothing is far here and the town(s) (Champaign/Urbana/Savoy) are so small. Pretty marvelous because when I lived in Austin, TX I was lucky if a tank lasted me over a week and a half.

Any thoughts on "The Village at Colbert Park?" According to the tenant union, they have a lot of complaints and some unusual clauses in their lease that could screw you over.

Just a few thoughts... The apartments are pretty nice inside (partially due to the fact that they are newer). Also, the general location is great: about a ten minute drive to the law school, a Super Walmart right south of The Village off of Neil, and a grocery store (Schnucks)/movie theater/bowling combination north of The Village off of Neil. The downsides are: (1) a lot of students do live at The Village, so there can be a bit of noise at times (mostly depending on your neighbors); and (2) The Village is located right next to the train tracks (which has a mandatory honk area right there). The only complaints I have heard of was when The Village first opened its doors (delayed move-in dates, no internet (due to AT&T delaying their T1 line installment), etc).

Watersedge or Baytowne are WAY nicer and roughly the same driving time. They are down the street from one another and there is a back road called Baytowne drive that nobody drives on and allows you to avoid any traffic on north prospect (which can get a little busy since there is so much located there). I know Watersedge had at least a few month waiting list, not sure if Baytowne has a waiting list. ^ Yay for self avatars! : )

I'm feeling pressure to replace my cat wearing crocs with a b/w photo...maybe I'll just put a pic of my black and white cat instead

and then I"ll actually do some studying for this torts exam...stupid addictive internet

Sean,
If I choose Illinois, we are going to all Blackhawks Sharks games. (Hopefully that law school thing won9t get in the way).

Good God computers suck...

I wanted to resurrect this thread in case any incoming Illinois Law 1Ls have any questions. We are still here to answer them.... ... And when I say "we", I mean Chalis, Archie, and I who all finished our 1L year recently and have been answering questions on here for a while. I will add my disclaimer that Paul Pless knows way more about everything than we do, but we can answer any general 1L life/experiences questions.

I know this is a random question that has nothing to do with school, but it's still very important. Do they show UT football games on TV up there, or is it some crappy regional game like Iowa vs. Penn State? I need to watch Longhorn football every week (still sad about giving up my season tickets). I would be cool watching it at a sports bar or getting the ESPN Gameplan, but I wanted to know if any games come on regular TV.

^ haha. I think you will be ok between TV and sports bars here. I know a few diehard Longhorn fans that went to UT and they seem to get by. There are a few sports bars which I am sure have the ESPN channel. Buffalo Wild Wings is a good one that a lot of people go to so that they can watch games (right next to the Savoy movie theater).