Illinois Law 1L Taking Questions Forum

[mez06]

This new Career Services email showed me a lot. Really am impressed. You can see they are actually aggressively trying to counter the woes of the economy. I'm not sure that many schools have hired MULTIPLE personnel to strengthen the ability to land its grads jobs in the past couple of yrs. Stoked.

[Hannibal]

Sorry if this has been answered, but what's a good hotel within walking distance of the law school?

[ChattelCat]

Sorry if this has been answered, but what's a good hotel within walking distance of the law school?

The iHotel is very nice and probably the closest one - about a 10 minute walk. http://stayatthei.com/ There is also a Hilton Garden Inn, a Homewood Suites, and Hawthorne Suites on Neil Street and Kirby. Those are a little farther away, but still walkable.

[Kate Monster]

I have a list of apartments from the tenant's union that I'm in the process of narrowing down. I don't have a car so I'm looking at close to campus or bus serviceable. The two bus routes that come up a lot are the 22 Illini and the 13 silver. Thoughts on those routes? Reliability, how often they come, day vs night or weekend vs weekday hours etc? I ignored the ones that they said I would need a transfer as that sounds like a hassle I don't really need unless the other places fall through. But what do you think, if a bus goes to the Illini Union would I actually need a transfer or is that an easy walk?

[Kilpatrick]

It's not that bad a walk from the Union but it's not one I would want to do every day, especially with a backpack full of heavy law books or in bad weather. I'd look for something on a bus route that goes directly to law school if you're not going to have a car. The ones I take are the 9 brown or the 4 blue. The buses are pretty reliable. The good thing is you can text a number from any bus stop and get a text back telling you exactly when the next bus is coming.

[yhezel]

I have a list of apartments from the tenant's union that I'm in the process of narrowing down. I don't have a car so I'm looking at close to campus or bus serviceable. The two bus routes that come up a lot are the 22 Illini and the 13 silver. Thoughts on those routes? Reliability, how often they come, day vs night or weekend vs weekday hours etc? I ignored the ones that they said I would need a transfer as that sounds like a hassle I don't really need unless the other places fall through. But what do you think, if a bus goes to the Illini Union would I actually need a transfer or is that an easy walk?

Check the Transit website http://www.cumtd.com/ for all the routes/schedules. I live in campus and use the bus, never had any trouble moving around. If you get something off campus, I would recommend something near a bus line that runs late everyday and on weekends. I think the 22 runs 24/7 every 10 mins. But the route changes a little on Sundays.

[twinterriers]

I was considering graduate housing (specifically, Ashton Woods) until I saw overwhelmingly negative reviews online. Is it really that bad?

[CrimLaw300]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

[samfii]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

and also in California while you're at it

[thewarflamingo]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

+1 this question.

[Thirteen]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

+1 this question.

Send Pless an e-mail asking him to place you in contact with students from Texas. There is a sizeable contingent of UT kids there, so one of them might be looking for work in Texas.

[CrimLaw300]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

+1 this question.

Send Pless an e-mail asking him to place you in contact with students from Texas. There is a sizeable contingent of UT kids there, so one of them might be looking for work in Texas.

Thanks, will do. Just curious, where did you get the info about UIUC having a sizeable contingent of UT students?

[Eruannon]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

Are you from Texas? One of my friends is a 1L and just got a paid internship in Texas for the summer. He is a Texan though, I'm pretty sure that was a big factor in landing the job.

[Eruannon]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

and also in California while you're at it

FWIW, California is our second biggest market after the Midwest.

[CrimLaw300]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

Are you from Texas? One of my friends is a 1L and just got a paid internship in Texas for the summer. He is a Texan though, I'm pretty sure that was a big factor in landing the job.

Yes, I am a Texan. I have lived in Houston my entire life and all of my family, immediate and distant, currently lives there; in other words, I have fairly solid connections to Houston.

Is your friend's situation a common occurrence or was it just luck? I'm not asking you to conjecture, but any info about gaining employment in Texas post-graduation would be appreciated.

PS: is your friend on TLS? If so, would you mind getting him/her to PM me.

[Thirteen]

Any UIUC law students care to comment on the difficulty of gaining employment in Texas?

+1 this question.

Send Pless an e-mail asking him to place you in contact with students from Texas. There is a sizeable contingent of UT kids there, so one of them might be looking for work in Texas.

Thanks, will do. Just curious, where did you get the info about UIUC having a sizeable contingent of UT students?

Some of my friends go to school there.

[LaLeyDelMonte]

Which cell phone carrier has the best overall coverage in Urbana-Champaign? I will probably get an iphone before school starts. Any thoughts?

[anthropologieaddict]

Which cell phone carrier has the best overall coverage in Urbana-Champaign? I will probably get an iphone before school starts. Any thoughts?

I was only there for the open house but my iPhone 4 on AT&T worked really well the entire time. This was especially significant vs. people with T-Mobile who seemed to not be getting much of any service in the law building. (Though I guess now that AT&T is most likely going to own T-Mobile this point is moot.)

[Thirteen]

Which cell phone carrier has the best overall coverage in Urbana-Champaign? I will probably get an iphone before school starts. Any thoughts?

I never had an issue with Sprint.

[daylightsavings]

I've read over most of this thread on UIUC, but one question I had that wasn't really answered was the amount of time spent studying everyday, primarily during the 1L year. Obviously everyone talks of the non-stop studying and I know the time spent won't be uniform over the entirety of a semester, but a rough approximation of hours per day would be great. At this point in time I am trying to figure out a daily schedule before classes start that I can adhere to for making food, study, driving to class, and the occasional moment spent relaxing. I know the few weeks before finals will be non-existent, but do the months preceding finals lend themselves to a bit of time spent enjoying life outside of school?

[NancyBotwin]

I've read over most of this thread on UIUC, but one question I had that wasn't really answered was the amount of time spent studying everyday, primarily during the 1L year. Obviously everyone talks of the non-stop studying and I know the time spent won't be uniform over the entirety of a semester, but a rough approximation of hours per day would be great. At this point in time I am trying to figure out a daily schedule before classes start that I can adhere to for making food, study, driving to class, and the occasional moment spent relaxing. I know the few weeks before finals will be non-existent, but do the months preceding finals lend themselves to a bit of time spent enjoying life outside of school?

It depends on the person, but you will definitely have time for life outside of school (aside from during finals, when your memo is due, etc). I'm sure you've heard about softball and beer darts, and I think most 1Ls do at least one of those, if not both - so that's at least two nights during the week of going out, having fun and lots of beer. Some students obviously don't participate and spend most of their time studying, but it's all about figuring out what works for you.

[blurbz]

This thread has been quiet for a while but I've seen a lot of current Illinois students on the boards so I thought I'd remind everyone that this thread exists. If you're coming to Illinois next year or considering it eventually, feel free to ask questions. I know there are at least 5 of us on here pretty regularly who will be willing to answer questions and a few more who pop in now and again.

[illinin]

Yep. Something about the Chambana summer weather draws me back to TLS...

This thread has been quiet for a while but I've seen a lot of current Illinois students on the boards so I thought I'd remind everyone that this thread exists. If you're coming to Illinois next year or considering it eventually, feel free to ask questions. I know there are at least 5 of us on here pretty regularly who will be willing to answer questions and a few more who pop in now and again.

[blurbz]

Yep. Something about the Chambana summer weather draws me back to TLS...

Ditto. The summer weather here has not impressed.

[ariluh]

This thread has been quiet for a while but I've seen a lot of current Illinois students on the boards so I thought I'd remind everyone that this thread exists. If you're coming to Illinois next year or considering it eventually, feel free to ask questions. I know there are at least 5 of us on here pretty regularly who will be willing to answer questions and a few more who pop in now and again.

Someone above did ask about the best cell phone coverage for an iphone. I'd like that question answered as well.

The incoming 1L class started a facebook group so that's pretty much where everybody congregates. Dean Pless is also a member so he's been answering questions there but I will remind everyone that you guys are available to answer questions on TLS.

Or you could join the group as well, we have one or two other current students who have joined to answer questions
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=gro ... 94671&ap=1
We would appreciate that! And that invitation is extended to any other incoming 1Ls on here