Yay Chalis! You missed the dance party last night lol.

If anyone comes and tours the law school and sits in on professor Hamilton's constitutional law class at 130, please do not be afraid to say hi to me or anyone else around you. We won't bite, I swear. If you are touring the school and want to say hi or ask me anything, again, don't be afraid. I am almost 6 feet tall so I could see how I might look a little foreboding, but I am really harmless lol.

As a general note, don't be afraid of law school at all. I was so incredibly intimidated and nervous before I started school here. You do have to work hard, but it is not a scary experience. It is an incredibly fun, exciting, and enlightening experience. Again, I can only speak for Illinois here. Other law schools may be extremely scary lol. But seriously, the reading/briefing/writing here is very manageable and you will definitely have time to have a life outside of law school if you want one. The school also supports intramural sports and puts on many social events, so you essentially have endless opportunities to maintain a high quality of life outside of the books... Or you may just have a section that is really cool like mine and does karaoke every thursday

I kid you not...that's the exact class I'll be observing two weeks from this Thursday. How's Hamilton as a teacher?

We have had a bunch of prospective students sit in on that class. Hamilton is AWESOME. He is very passionate about the material and really makes class fun.

hkm,

First, thank you for taking questions--I agree with the above poster who mentioned the candid information posted on TLS by students and Dean Pless. Here are my questions:

1. What percentage (ball park) of your section is married? If you're married, did your spouse have trouble finding work? If not, can you relay any experiences you've heard? As one can imagine, my wife is nervous about finding work in the current economic climate.

2. What light can you shed on the school's international law program? (To be honest, I don't even really know what an international lawyer does, but I thought I'd ask.) Having spent the past 9 years in the Navy, and because I've spent the past two weeks in Sicily, my interest in that field is piqued.

3. Can you recommend some pre-1L reading? I've asked a few other people this question, and they've given me two basic answers: don't read anything that contains a single utterance of the word "law," or read Getting to Maybe. Thoughts?

4. I'm a devoted Mac user and am nervous about compatibility. Do you have any insight/advice?

Again, thank you for doing this; it is most helpful.

lawseek,

1. There are many people who are married or engaged in law school. In my subsection alone (32 people), I can think of 7 or 8 that are married or engaged, and then there are many who are seriously dating people here or long distance. All of the wives and girlfriends that I have met here have been able to find work pretty easily. It depends on what she does. All of these girls found teaching jobs pretty easily.

2. I really don't know much about the international law program. Pless may know more. I do know that in past years there have been international human rights clinics. There are also opportunities abroad for over the summer. It is really helpful if you are fluent in another language. I do know that they offer many international law classes here.

3. Getting to Maybe is the only thing I would recommend. Reading supplements right now is a bad idea because they may consist of completely different cases than your actual textbook. They also may go over subjects your professor doesn't focus on, so you could basically just be wasting your time and filling your head with stuff that won't be useful. The other thing I recommend is listening to the LEEWS cds. LEEWS stands for legal essay exam writing system.

When you get to school here, the mailing list will be flooded with mass emails from 2Ls and 3Ls who are trying to sell off their supplements. I bought a lot of useless supplements last semester, because I didn't make sure that they were keyed to my textbook. The best supplements are either written by your author or keyed to your book. The exception to this is Examples & Explanations. To get the main point out of cases organized around the law in order to make your outlines and briefs people use Gilberts or Emmanuels; legalines have summaries of the cases; and Examples & Explanations, Black Letter Outlines, and Understanding series describe the law. Sometimes it is a good idea to ask your teacher if they recommend any supplements.

4. Don't worry about having a Mac. There are a handful of people in my class who use a Mac. There are different style guidelines for your memo assignments and you probably will need to talk to the computer tech guys at the school to find out about compatibility for exam taking software. You will be fine though.

~Hailey

In addition to LEEWS and Getting to Maybe any sort of non-fiction law related book can be useful. A Civil Action is a good introduction into some basic civil procedure issues and The Nine got me excited to take Constitutional Law this semester but hkm's right - DO NOT be tempted to pick up supplements - you'll regret wasting your summer and there's a good chance it won't compliment your casebook/professor at all.

No one me there was a dance party!! That's okay, it was absolutely necessary that I see Confessions of a Shopaholic last night.

It turned into a dance party in the basement of Clark Bar after you left. The DJ was playing some wild tunes. How was Confessions?

So who is coming to the Open House and Guidos next week?

so i have a question - are many illinois law students as hot as you are?

but seriously, i am getting a really good vibe from ppl who go here and are involved with the school and from what i've heard. looking forward to possibly visiting the school and maybe even attending in the fall.

That is all I have to say about the first part of your question. lol

But seriously, I think "good vibe" would be one of the best ways to characterize the atmosphere of the school. You should definitely come and visit. I think visiting the law school is the deciding factor for many people. You are getting an amazing education at a top ranked school, and you don't have to sacrifice the rest of your life to do it (if anything your social life is enhanced).

I had this impression before I started law school that wherever I chose to attend, my first year was inevitably going to be miserable and I would have no life. That couldn't be further from the truth at Illinois. I was shocked when I had 3Ls telling me at Orientation that their first year was a ton of fun! You do have to work hard, but there are so many opportunities here to join clubs, play intramurals, attend social events, etc. People here are very well rounded and are able to maintain diligent study habits while having a life.

^^^^You, Suzanne Rogers, and Dean Pless are doing a really good job of selling me on Illinois. I'm actually starting to become a bit suspicious about why everyone there is so friendly and open....

ALSO, I know some people considering coming here are probably from big to mid sized cities and are worried that they might not like living in a smaller college town like Champaign. Honestly, the dichotomy of having the country right next to the city is pretty awesome. My apartment overlooks a huge cornfield and I can watch gorgeous sunsets from my balcony while the Meijer, movie theater, Starbucks, and civilization are all just a few blocks away. Of course if you are not a corn and scenery lover like I am, you can live on campus and would never even know that you were in a smaller city.

haha. Maybe it is something in the water here. : ) Maybe it is just a chain reaction because friendly open people attract other friendly open people who can relate to them? I don't know... It is not a trap I swear. Come to the Open House and Guidos and you will see.

I still get a little freaked out how nice everyone is here (and I don't just mean the school - the whole town in general) That's just small town midwest for you! (although I am also of the opinion that people in Chicago are much nicer than people in NYC so perhaps it's just the midwest in general)

thanks for taking the time to answer questions. Hopefully I'll be visiting in April sometime.

It sounds like UIUC has a laid back, fun environment and solid career prospects, but what are the academics like? Are the profs generally interesting or boring, are they funny or harsh? Do the students contribute intelligent ideas in class or do they try to avoid being called on and stumble through responses? Obviously everyone is interested in getting a job and having some semblance of a social life, but I'd also like to be able to look forward to class (somewhat) rather than hate going.

As I said on the first page, the professors here are really amazing and I have truly enjoyed attending class. (I have actually never missed a class and intend to keep that record going. lol) Students give thorough and intelligent answers, and the pace of the classes generally flows very well. Granted, people may have a subject that they don't find horribly compelling, but their neighbor will think that class is their favorite and be incredibly intrigued all semester. The teachers and students are very intelligent and class is generally fun and interesting... and often funny

Thanks for the response. Hopefully I'll be headed out for a visit later this spring and can experience for myself what everyone seems to be raving about!

Have you ever made the trip up to Chicago from Champaign? I'm seriously considering Illinois, but I have to have a taste of the big city every now and then or I go stir crazy.

People make the trek to Chicago all the time. It's about a 2.5 hour drive (depending on how fast you go) or you can take Amtrak (there are 3 trains to Chicago every day) or there are a couple of bus lines. There's Greyhound, another called Megabus that you can get REALLY cheap tickets for at certain points (like $3) and there are also a couple of bus lines that go to the Chicago suburbs. Several people I know have significant others in Chicago so go up nearly every weekend.

Chalis, some of us make the trip in 2 hours lol. I wouldn't recommend that though! (I was trying to make a flight to O'Hare.)

I know exactly what you are talking about and every time I get a little antsy, I just call my cousin in Chicago and hop in the car to drive up there for the weekend. There are a ton of people here who have girlfriends, boyfriends, fiances, etc. in Chicago and they are out there a lot. People also drive to Chicago a lot for interviews or meet and greets with firms.

So I'm a senior at UT-Austin, and my question is about the nightlife. How does it compare to 6th street or 4th street? I've heard there are a few bars that most graduate students frequent, but it being a small town, it really doesn't compare. But then again, few cities have nightlife like Austin.