UIUC vs NDLS Forum

[bball25]

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[Verity]

It's not worth the extra $30K. Even at par, they're both fine for the Midwest. ND has only slightly better national mobility.

[Aberzombie1892]

If you want Chicago, UIUC.

If you are from some random state with no big name schools and want to return, Notre Dame.

[uzpakalis]

If you want Chicago, UIUC.

Does UIUC really place that much better in Chi than ND? ND is only 1.5 hours from Chi and seems to have a very big presence there.

[enron123]

It does, I don't want to look up the stats but Chicago is the main market by for for UIUC. See you in a month and a half bball

[blurbz]

Illinois is substantially cheaper and you've expressed a desire for Chicago. Sounds like a perfect fit to me!

[ndirish2010]

Had this exact decision last year and chose ND, but to me the subjective factors were worth the 10K/yr. If you have no substantial pull towards Notre Dame, Illinois is likely the choice. I would argue that our placement in Chicago is just as good as theirs, however, but they simply place more in raw numbers (due to self selection). We also outplaced UIUC by 6% ish in last year's NLJ numbers, but take that with a grain of salt.

[mrtoren]

Notre Dame if you're Irish, UIUC if you're not.

[09042014]

Notre Dame if you're Irish, UIUC if you're not.

Even if you aren't irish, unofficial St. Patrick's day at Illinois >> Notre Dame

[mikeditkaisgod]

Notre Dame if you're Irish, UIUC if you're not.

Even if you aren't irish, unofficial St. Patrick's day at Illinois >> Notre Dame

Definitely.

[ndirish2010]

Notre Dame if you're Irish, UIUC if you're not.

Even if you aren't irish, unofficial St. Patrick's day at Illinois >> Notre Dame

Definitely.

Not saying anything because I've heard about UofI's unofficial but never been, but have either of you ever been to ND?

[bball25]

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[Verity]

Thank you everyone for your help. I thought Illinois was the no brainer till I just got off the phone with my great uncle who has been an attorney forever and he seems to think Notre Dame is the no brainer. It looks like I'll have to do some thinking before Thursday at noon. For the guy who goes to Notre Dame what has employment looked like for you or people you know if you don't mind me asking. I've researched the heck out if Illinois and don't know near enough about ND.

ND has more lay prestige (because of football, mostly), but the employment numbers don't really reflect this significantly, especially in Chicago.

[Jack Smirks]

UIUC. Enjoy Champagne bro.

[ndirish2010]

Thank you everyone for your help. I thought Illinois was the no brainer till I just got off the phone with my great uncle who has been an attorney forever and he seems to think Notre Dame is the no brainer. It looks like I'll have to do some thinking before Thursday at noon. For the guy who goes to Notre Dame what has employment looked like for you or people you know if you don't mind me asking. I've researched the heck out if Illinois and don't know near enough about ND.

I'm just a rising 2L, and 1L jobs aren't very representative of the market, but there are more firms at our OCI this year than last year. Me and everyone I know managed to get pretty solid jobs this summer (though not too many firm jobs, there were some). We are still placing about 30% into NLJ250 + Article III.

PM me if you want to know more specifics and I'll try to help you as much as I can.

[Verity]

UIUC. Enjoy Champagne bro.

Mix dat wit a little Alize to get your Thug Passion on.

[JamMasterJ]

The difference is also greater than 30K. ND is way more at sticker IIRC, and didn't Pless say they would lock in tuition for all three years?

[romothesavior]

This really isn't even close.

Lower tuition + locked in tuition + bigger scholarship + very smiilar placement + equally bad football programs = UIUC by a lot.

[Kilpatrick]

What are the factors that are making you even consider ND over Illinois? Maybe I'm biased because I go to Illinois, but why would you pay 10K more per year to go to a peer school? Even if it was for religious reasons I think god would understand saving $30,000 for near identical job prospects.

[blurbz]

Illinois makes so much more sense here. They are peer schools. Illinois places better in your desired market (even independent of self-selection, the presence of such a large alumni base in Chicago has a significant impact). Illinois is cheaper. Illinois' tuition is locked in for you.

I suspect your uncle is talking about lay prestige, which makes no sense in legal hiring in today's market. And, frankly, I think Notre Dame's lay prestige is overrated anyway: As a Jew, I barely heard of it growing up and when I did it was only in the context of football.

[ndirish2010]

The difference is also greater than 30K. ND is way more at sticker IIRC, and didn't Pless say they would lock in tuition for all three years?

Sticker prices are about 2K apart...

[ndirish2010]

What are the factors that are making you even consider ND over Illinois? Maybe I'm biased because I go to Illinois, but why would you pay 10K more per year to go to a peer school? Even if it was for religious reasons I think god would understand saving $30,000 for near identical job prospects.

All I can say is that there are many people in my class that had this identical choice and chose ND. It is not that outlandish.

[Kilpatrick]

What are the factors that are making you even consider ND over Illinois? Maybe I'm biased because I go to Illinois, but why would you pay 10K more per year to go to a peer school? Even if it was for religious reasons I think god would understand saving $30,000 for near identical job prospects.

All I can say is that there are many people in my class that had this identical choice and chose ND. It is not that outlandish.

Not trying to shit on anyone that picked ND I'm just curious. What are the subjective factors you mentioned?

[blurbz]

The difference is also greater than 30K. ND is way more at sticker IIRC, and didn't Pless say they would lock in tuition for all three years?

Sticker prices are about 2K apart...

Okay, so we're starting at a difference of 36k over three years. But since Illinois' tuition is locked in and Notre Dame's isn't, that could change a bit (though likely not a TON since I don't expect Notre Dame to raise tuition too drastically). I just don't see the value in that.

I don't want to come off like I hate ND--I really respect the school. But for this OP, in this set of circumstances, it doesn't make sense to pay ~40k more for the same opportunities.

What are the factors that are making you even consider ND over Illinois? Maybe I'm biased because I go to Illinois, but why would you pay 10K more per year to go to a peer school? Even if it was for religious reasons I think god would understand saving $30,000 for near identical job prospects.

All I can say is that there are many people in my class that had this identical choice and chose ND. It is not that outlandish.

No, it's not outlandish. But if the only thing that matters are post-graduation job prospects and debt, this decision is made incredibly simple. Job prospects are pretty much equal and one costs substantially less.

I made the same decision regarding WUSTL and Illinois last year: I liked WUSTL a lot but Illinois was about 10k cheaper per year and the schools are pretty much peers, so I chose Illinois.

[JamMasterJ]

The difference is also greater than 30K. ND is way more at sticker IIRC, and didn't Pless say they would lock in tuition for all three years?

Sticker prices are about 2K apart...

Unless the difference has changed, it's more like 3.3K. That, with the locked tuition is at least a 15K difference. Even if tuition rises at a similar rate, it's still an extra 10K