Chicago 2L Takings ?s Forum

[doyleoil]

do any of you take advantage of the discount uchicago students get at at&t? i put my email address in and it said i qualify: http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/premier/

how much do you save?

verizon user, so can't be much help on this front

How do 1Ls find summer employment (law firm, RA, paid)? I heard there are restrictions on 1l employment and that we can't speak to career services as 1Ls. Is this true?

Career services can (and will) work with you after November 1st. They'll help you with your resume/cover letter and provide some (generic) advice in a one-on-one session prior to the real start of the 1L job search.

I have mixed feelings about the law firm search for 1L summer. You can put a lot of work into figuring out which firms say they're "hiring" 1L's (NALP has this info, but I strongly suspect a lot of firms just say on their NALP forms that they're hiring 1L's to try to maintain an image of strength), then doing the mail-merge thing and putting together packets to mail to a bunch of different firms. If you catch a bite, great. If not, it would have been better to do a little work early on finding good government jobs (some of which pay) or solid public interest gigs. Looking at the data from last summer (we don't have the "Who Worked Where" for this summer yet), even the people on Law Review didn't work at firms at anything close to a rate that would make you think it's a "likely" option. The odds on finding something that pays well are just not very good. The biggest firms in Chicago are either not hiring or hiring minuscule numbers of 1L's.

That said, the school will fund you for public interest work (see here for details: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/financialaid/summerfunding) and that can be a great experience. If you can survive without summer funding (the public interest fellowship can't be used for judges), judicial in-/ex-ternships are also good for the resume. We have quite a few 1L's working with really good judges.

RA jobs don't really get posted until March-ish, and that's a pretty painless job "search," as it mostly just involves e-mailing a resume to a professor you want to work with.

Career services gives helpful presentations (in November) that cover the spectrum of the 1L job search. One is geared toward law firm job searches. A second is geared toward public interest. The last one covers RA'ing/judicial internships/jobs at the law school's clinic.

[bedefan]

I ride through the winter, I'm from Toronto, which probably has equal or worse winters than Chicago. The trick: ride faster, and ride a road bike with thin wheels, so you can cut through the snow. Single gear so that salt doesn't get into the gears. With this method i only stopped riding one day during the winter of 2008-2009, and that's I think because i had nothing to do that day. Since Chicago doesn't have street cars (rails), it's probably even safer than Toronto, where i used to get my wheel into the tracks and wipe out once in a while.

Disclaimer: poster is extremely reckless and one of probably two people who bike through the winter in Toronto.

This is responding to an older post and I am not a Chicago student, but a former long-time resident of the city who knows Hyde Park well, so I thought the info might still be useful...

Biking in Chicago. The original Bike Winter group was in Chicago. bikewinter.org. You can go on one of their winter rides and meet other crazies who don't know when to quit. It's lots of fun.

Lots of drivers are used to cyclists in Chicago (I no longer live in Chicago but bike around when I go back to visit family), which is a plus. And "da mare" (the Mayor, Richard M. Daley) is a cycling nut who continues his Mussolini-like beautification projects, including painting mile after mile of bike lanes throughout the city. IMO Chicago is the most bike-friendly Really Big City in the US (i.e. not counting Portland, OR). That being said, it's still a Really Big City, so I never find biking to be that pleasant there...

[hiromoto45]

OCI: How does the process work at UC? How do you know where to bid at a 2L?

[pehaigllleises]

This year it's two weeks at the end of August and beginning of September. We get 50 ranked bids, and get assigned interviews by some combination of available times, bid rank, and lottery. You'll choose your list at least partially (or possibly entirely) by geography. Employers are not allowed to pre-screen us and choose only to interview the top few students. By the time it's time to bid, you will have your grades. You should also have some inkling of what you would consider and wouldn't consider as a practice area, which should also narrow down your list. Our Office of Career Services will tell you, informally, which firms care about grades more than others. I've always found it easy to get as many appointments as I want with OCS counselors, and I will probably do so when my last/torts grade finally freaking comes in to get more personalized advice on my bid list based on my geography, interests, and grades. OCS also makes available a list called "Who Worked Where," which lists where older students have done their 2L summers, so that you can contact them with questions about their experience if you want to.

[funkyturds]

Anyone have OCI stats for this fall?

[UnTouChablE]

How many firms are coming to OCI this year? Unique or otherwise

[doyleoil]

The answer to both of the above questions is that OCS will post the data for current students to access next Friday. So check back in a week.

[sanpiero]

The answer to both of the above questions is that OCS will post the data for current students to access next Friday. So check back in a week.

Great.

[lfgsuperman]

Do you know anybody who transferred in to Chicago? What schools do most transfers come from?

[UnTouChablE]

The answer to both of the above questions is that OCS will post the data for current students to access next Friday. So check back in a week.

Great.

Thank you sir.

[UnTouChablE]

No news yet on how many firms expected at OCI?

[dresden doll]

No news yet on how many firms expected at OCI?

The info, as doyle indicated, will be out tomorrow.

[rsg87]

Thanks in advance for any OCI data and good luck with all your bids and interviews.

My question is I guess a typical one. I am most concerned about balancing my school work with having some sort of life. I like to go to the gym a lot (around 5x per week) mainly as a stress reliever. Will I still be able to do that my 1L year at Chicago? Also what are your opinions of turning the law school experience into a somewhat 9-5 type job during the first few months before exam time, is that doable?

[pehaigllleises]

Thanks in advance for any OCI data and good luck with all your bids and interviews.

My question is I guess a typical one. I am most concerned about balancing my school work with having some sort of life. I like to go to the gym a lot (around 5x per week) mainly as a stress reliever. Will I still be able to do that my 1L year at Chicago? Also what are your opinions of turning the law school experience into a somewhat 9-5 type job during the first few months before exam time, is that doable?

9-5 is absolutely doable for the first ~6 weeks of Fall quarter, or at least it would have been for me. In fall I went to the gym for an hour prior to my 8:30 classes. Before stress and exhaustion set in. I used to be really fit before Winter and Spring. Then the only things I fit into had elastic waistbands. Even during exam time in Spring I would have had time to get to the gym for 45 minutes 5+ times a week, I just lazily chose not to. Law school kind of zapped the energy to work out out of me. If you can keep up the energy and motivation for more than one or two things at a time, though, you will most certainly have the time to do it, albeit occasionally on a more limited basis, throughout the entire year.

[doyleoil]

No news yet on how many firms expected at OCI?

The info, as doyle indicated, will be out tomorrow.

looking like about 110 firms, 340 offices (a couple other employers that are not firms...but not many)

that's just a quick eyeballing of the list - others might be able to correct my arithmetic a little bit

i think all of the v20 are represented and most of the v50

[miamiman]

No news yet on how many firms expected at OCI?

The info, as doyle indicated, will be out tomorrow.

looking like about 110 firms, 340 offices (a couple other employers that are not firms...but not many)

that's just a quick eyeballing of the list - others might be able to correct my arithmetic a little bit

i think all of the v20 are represented and most of the v50

is this "good" news? I haven't been monitoring how other schools stack up

[rundoxierun]

No news yet on how many firms expected at OCI?

The info, as doyle indicated, will be out tomorrow.

looking like about 110 firms, 340 offices (a couple other employers that are not firms...but not many)

that's just a quick eyeballing of the list - others might be able to correct my arithmetic a little bit

i think all of the v20 are represented and most of the v50

is this "good" news? I haven't been monitoring how other schools stack up

+1 Im really watching this UChicago situation.. considering how stingy they are with aid, I really would like to see ~70%+ OCI placement to keep them seriously on list.

[doyleoil]

is this "good" news? I haven't been monitoring how other schools stack up

Let me share with you the (still somewhat limited) rising 2L perspective on this question. I don't know if this is good news in a relative sense, because frankly I don't care (and am not going to waste time researching) what's happening at other OCI's.

The list is very good news for me personally, not because of the number (no one can interview with 110 firms anyway), but because nearly every firm I had in a tentative bid list will be on campus. There are only a couple firms I might have been interested in that aren't coming (and those were remote interests).

You might say, "Well, the more firms, the weaker the competition among students." Not at all true. Let me assure you that the firms that aren't coming (that might have come in the past) are not, for the most part, competing for our above-median students (who almost invariably go to a smaller subset of that 110 who are coming to campus to interview).

So, from my perspective, I'm pretty happy with how OCI is shaping up. As for the percentage of the class placed at certain Vault levels, we'll have a little more info for you later today, I think.

[miamiman]

is this "good" news? I haven't been monitoring how other schools stack up

Let me share with you the (still somewhat limited) rising 2L perspective on this question. I don't know if this is good news in a relative sense, because frankly I don't care (and am not going to waste time researching) what's happening at other OCI's.

The list is very good news for me personally, not because of the number (no one can interview with 110 firms anyway), but because nearly every firm I had in a tentative bid list will be on campus. There are only a couple firms I might have been interested in that aren't coming (and those were remote interests).

You might say, "Well, the more firms, the weaker the competition among students." Not at all true. Let me assure you that the firms that aren't coming (that might have come in the past) are not, for the most part, competing for our above-median students (who almost invariably go to a smaller subset of that 110 who are coming to campus to interview).

So, from my perspective, I'm pretty happy with how OCI is shaping up. As for the percentage of the class placed at certain Vault levels, we'll have a little more info for you later today, I think.

Doyle, thanks for this. You're nothing if not thorough in your replies.

follow-up: am I to understand that chicago is going to post the results from last year's OCI -- and this afternoon no less?

[doyleoil]

follow-up: am I to understand that chicago is going to post the results from last year's OCI -- and this afternoon no less?

They're supposed to be posting a "Who Worked Where" list for this summer. We'll be able to do the math on our own.

[miamiman]

follow-up: am I to understand that chicago is going to post the results from last year's OCI -- and this afternoon no less?

They're supposed to be posting a "Who Worked Where" list for this summer. We'll be able to do the math on our own.

PM'd

[Dany]

Thanks so much for posting all the OCI info, doyleoil (and whoever else.) Those of us considering Chicago really appreciate it!

[rundoxierun]

follow-up: am I to understand that chicago is going to post the results from last year's OCI -- and this afternoon no less?

They're supposed to be posting a "Who Worked Where" list for this summer. We'll be able to do the math on our own.

Will that be the number of associates offered last fall and beginning work as a SA in summer 2010 or the number of students who completed an SA in summer of 2009?? Sorry if this is a silly question but Im not really sure how the reporting works and a count of SA positions in Chicago from the Illinois thread made me lose part of my mind.

[miamiman]

follow-up: am I to understand that chicago is going to post the results from last year's OCI -- and this afternoon no less?

They're supposed to be posting a "Who Worked Where" list for this summer. We'll be able to do the math on our own.

Will that be the number of associates offered last fall and beginning work as a SA in summer 2010 or the number of students who completed an SA in summer of 2009?? Sorry if this is a silly question but Im not really sure how the reporting works and a count of SA positions in Chicago from the Illinois thread made me lose part of my mind.

OCI 2009, Summered 2010 (or now)

[freeflowfox]

So can anyone post the "who worked there" list? Or PM if possible? It would probably satisfy a whole lot of curiosity. Is this the same kind of list that they put out last year with a whole list of firm names and the numbers of people from UChicago that went there the previous year?

Also I was under the impression that over 480 firms came to UChicago in previous years, and this year, if around 340 came, saw a 25% decline? Are people worried?