jd-mba wrote:Hi guys,
I've been reading Law School Confidential, and I found a list of questions that I would love to have answered about UIUC. So if you don't mind answering some of these questions for us, I think it would benefit us all. I already have my heart set on UIUC, but it would be great to know more about it before I commit.
1. Are grades posted on the hallway walls in some identifiable manner? (e.g. names, ID)
2. Are GPAs/class ranks published each term?
3. Does the career placement office assign employment interview slots by class rank, allow employers to select which students to interview according to class rank, or do students choose which employers to interview with?
4. How often do books used for common assignments go missing?
5. Do students share outlines/help each other out?
6. Is there a place where students go to hang out between classes?
Thanks again!
1. No, grades are never, ever posted publicly. You log into a secure U of I system (the same place you register for classes, deal with financial aid, etc.) to get your grades.
2. GPA is calculated by the online system where you get your grades, so only you have access to this. Class ranks and honors (e.g. Dean's list) are sent to students individually via email. Individual rankings and GPA are never made public, however, the GPA cutoffs for cumulative and individual semester rankings are made public (e.g. top 33% = 3.44 my 1L year)
3. Our OCI is primarily pre-select, meaning you submit your resume through the online Symplicity system to the employers coming to campus, and they are able to review all the resumes and choose the students they wish to interview. There are also a few lottery slots for each employer and those are assigned randomly (not GPA or rank dependent) based on where you place your bids during OCI.
4. In two and a half years I have never actually had to use a common book for an assignment. Any book you will need for your classes you will purchase (normally casebooks). If there is additional suggested reading, the profs will put it on reserve. You can check these books out for a few hours at a time and are charged hefty fees if you return them even a few minutes late. But anything that you really need to rely on for an assignment is likely to be something you are encouraged to purchase.
That being said, if what you're really asking is "how big of assholes will my future classmates be?" you really don't have anything to worry about. I've yet to hear any Paper Chase-esque horror stories about books disappearing, mostly because Westlaw and Lexis make many of the books in the library redundant (edit: and, as HMK says below, things aren't insanely competitive. Everyone really looks out for everyone else for the most part)
5. Yes, people share outlines all the time and study groups are common. Many of the student organizations collect outlines for their 1L members and distribute them each semester.
6. There is a large indoor pavilion area where we just got new couches and chairs - that's probably where you'll find most people socializing. Otherwise they are in the cafeteria or in the library reading for class.
