If you haven't applied to Illinois yet you're doing it wrong Forum

[bugsy33]

Applying to law school without sending an app to Illinois is crazy imo, no matter your geographic ties or LSAT score.

My shameless plug for UIUC Law:

1.) 72% FTLT legal employment w/ 30% biglaw and fedclerk
2.) Currently giving out massive amounts of money (good for scholarship negotiations)
3.) Medians are attainable at 161/3.43 (163/4 usually gets 75-100% discount)
4.) IL and NY Bar passage rates are 95%
5.) Scholarships are guaranteed and have no stipulations, and tuition guaranteed not to rise for all 3 years
6.) Cost of living is $17k, which may be the lowest anywhere.
7.) Chicago pipeline is extremely strong, and you can actually spend half your 3L year in Chicago going to classes taught by biglaw partners
8.) The bar scene is excellent, and drinks are $2 even on Saturday night. (First time I visited Champaign the bar had a $1 top shelf liquor special)
9.) People are extremely friendly and non-douchey. You will have lots of friends if you come here. Even transfers make friends quickly
10.) If you really care about preftige and USNews, you can expect that UIUC will be on it's way back to the T-25 in the near future. Buy low, sell high

Pretty sure it's free to apply and there's no B.S. short answer questions on the app (as long as it's the same as last year).

If you have a great LSAT/GPA- Apply for a full ride and at least have a solid back up option/scholarship negotiation tool if you strike out on T-14.
If you have a good LSAT/GPA- Apply and try to get a full ride, and have a great option in the midwest with similar/better placement stats than WUSTL and ND.
If you have an OK LSAT/GPA and you refuse to retake- At least you'll probably end up with a decent scholarship and good odds of employment.
If you have a bad LSAT/GPA and you refuse to retake- Worth throwing an app out to give yourself a decent chance of being employed in a legal capacity.

Like for real, it might be the best value in law school outside the top-14

[KMart]

This post makes me happy (applicant to Illinois).

[Username123]

This post makes me happy (applicant to Illinois).

[Kratos]

10% in school funded, so not really 72%. Most of those jobs are in Illinois. Makes little sense for someone trying to work out of state to go there.

[KMart]

10% in school funded, so not really 72%. Most of those jobs are in Illinois. Makes little sense for someone trying to work out of state to go there.

Seems like a good option for in-state, which is my goal.

[eriedoctrine]

Illinois Law is a more affordable version of Chicago or Northwestern but with slightly less national reach.
Highly recommended. Best school outside t14 imo.

[PeanutsNJam]

I'm not even being sarcastic, your post made me send an app there. I know "don't go to a school planning to transfer", but what are its transfer stats? Is HSCCN possible? I wouldn't bother transferring to anything not T6.

[DoveBodyWash]

7.) Chicago pipeline is extremely strong, and you can actually spend half your 3L year in Chicago going to classes taught by biglaw partners

This is kind of misleading if you're talking about Biglaw placement

I'm not even being sarcastic, your post made me send an app there. I know "don't go to a school planning to transfer", but what are its transfer stats? Is HSCCN possible? I wouldn't bother transferring to anything not T6.

4 of em transferred to UChicago this year. Dunno about the other schools

Illinois Law is a more affordable version of Chicago or Northwestern but with slightly less national reach

Compare the placement, even with Chicago firms.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=221586
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=239113

[Kratos]

Illinois Law is a more affordable version of Chicago or Northwestern but with slightly less national reach.
Highly recommended. Best school outside t14 imo.

Everything you said is just incorrect, except that its more affordable.

Seems like a good option for in-state, which is my goal.

hence I said out of state. Because OP said this

Applying to law school without sending an app to Illinois is crazy imo, no matter your geographic ties or LSAT score.

[lhanvt13]

I'm not even being sarcastic, your post made me send an app there. I know "don't go to a school planning to transfer", but what are its transfer stats? Is HSCCN possible? I wouldn't bother transferring to anything not T6.

4 of em transferred to UChicago this year. Dunno about the other schools

at least 1 in NU afaik

[eriedoctrine]

Bugsy is like the cooler version of Scotti.

[Mack.Hambleton]

If you have applied to Illinois, you probably need to retake

[chuckbass]

Bugsy is like the cooler version of Scotti.

Um hello what?

[reasonable person]

Illinois rivals UChicago and Kent in Chicago placement, only beaten by NU, Kent, WUSTL, and Rutgers (post merge).

[Mack.Hambleton]

Illinois rivals UChicago and Kent in Chicago placement, only beaten by NU, Kent, WUSTL, and Rutgers (post merge).

This post is bad

[eriedoctrine]

Illinois rivals UChicago and Kent in Chicago placement, only beaten by NU, Kent, WUSTL, and Rutgers (post merge).

This post is bad

Bad is kind of subjective.

The Bible does speak about badness, in many scriptures, directly and indirectly. The old testament speaks about badness directly. I want to speak about those that indirectly speak about badness. Jesus told us to treat others the way we wanted to be treated. He also told us that we would reap whatever we sowed. So people are supposed to treat others with respect.

[Rigo]

I do think Illinois is underrated as a non-T14 option.

[Ron Don Volante]

jesus. Yeah, it's fine. nobody is saying its not. but there are some serious overstatements itt.

A better name for this thread: "I'm so happy that UIUC's really shady shit and resultant terrible collapse might have saved my ass because I refused to retake and was about to effectively commit suicide" *

*remember when we had a ten page thread trying to talk you out of going OOS to wisconsin w/ no scholarship, like six months ago? good times

Also champaigne, objectively, is terrible. But I'm happy for you that it worked out, just don't try to convince people to move across the country to southern illinois when they should be retaking

[Rigo]

Also champaigne, objectively, is terrible.

If you're really looking for an urban environment, maybe. But it's not objectively terrible.
Champaign is super cheap. My half of the rent was $325 for a 2bd/2br. And other than that it's a typical college town. Some cool craft breweries downtown. It's not as exciting as Chicago, but it's not terrible either & keeping your COL low is definitely feasible.

(I did not/do not attend the law school so I can only comment on Champaign & Urbana subjectively from when I lived there this past spring.)

[Mal Reynolds]

Illinois rivals UChicago and Kent in Chicago placement, only beaten by NU, Kent, WUSTL, and Rutgers (post merge).

LOL

[Mal Reynolds]

And lol at the OP. You should drop out and retake.

[Ron Don Volante]

Also champaigne, objectively, is terrible.

If you're really looking for an urban environment, maybe. But it's not objectively terrible.
Champaign is super cheap. My half of the rent was $325 for a 2bd/2br. And other than that it's a typical college town. Some cool craft breweries downtown. It's not as exciting as Chicago, but it's not terrible either & keeping your COL low is definitely feasible.

(I did not/do not attend the law school so I can only comment on Champaign & Urbana subjectively from when I lived there this past spring.)

yeah I mean if cheap rent is key then I'm sure it's great. but compared at least it to other b10 towns it is average at best.

[Username123]

Would like to hear opinions on this:

With ties to the Midwest (not necessarily Chicago), is a full ride to Illinois that bad of an option, especially for those who aren't dead set on biglaw?

[Wingtip88]

If you get a substantial "scholarships"/tuition discount, don't care about Biglaw and are comfortable with working in central of southern Illinois, this might be a great choice.

UIUC, like every other law school that exists, should only be attended if A. doing so serves your career goals B. the schools has demonstrably strong job placement relative to your career goals and C. you're attending at a price worth paying.

Deciding on a law school isn't magic. There really are really three main questions to answer to decide if a given law school is a good choice or not.

[banjo]

If you get a substantial "scholarships"/tuition discount, don't care about Biglaw and are comfortable with working in central of southern Illinois, this might be a great choice.

When people say they "don't care about big law," they're dismissing ~5,000 entry level jobs for lawyers, most of which pay well and offer benefits. For better or worse, big law is a sizable, predictable entry point into the legal profession. People should think very carefully before closing that door even slightly.