Is Illinois Law worth attending? Current 1L, 2L, 3Ls-Y or N Forum

[PakiGuy87]

Hi,

So, I've been accepted into the University of Illinois College of Law but the recent scandal in 2011 is making me think seriously about attending the Law School. I did not receive any scholarships/grants from the school. In-state tuition is ~$40K. The only good thing is the Illinois Guarantee Program which means that tuition will stay at the same rate as the year I was admitted.

The most pressing issue, however, is the blow of the scandal to UIUC's employment figures: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... s&show=ABA

The employment figures are currently worse than Loyola (no $$$) and Chicago-Kent ($20K/yr and no stipulations). That is not something I would've expected and it leads me to believe that the scandal has had a tremendously bad impact on the school's image at the worst time possible.

Can any current 1L's, 2L's and especially 3L's give me an idea about:

1) Whether or not it is worth attending?
2) Will employment rebound? (i.e. has Career Services taken a more aggressive approach to bringing recruiters in?)
3) What has the Law School done to turn things around, if anything?
4) Will things turn around or is the scandal more or less irreparable to the reputation and future employment prospects of its students?
5) Has this happened to other schools in the past (besides Villanova) and what was the outcome down the road?

[timbs4339]

Hi,

So, I've been accepted into the University of Illinois College of Law but the recent scandal in 2011 is making me think seriously about attending the Law School. I did not receive any scholarships/grants from the school. In-state tuition is ~$40K. The only good thing is the Illinois Guarantee Program which means that tuition will stay at the same rate as the year I was admitted.

The most pressing issue, however, is the blow of the scandal to UIUC's employment figures: http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... s&show=ABA

The employment figures are currently worse than Loyola (no $$$) and Chicago-Kent ($20K/yr and no stipulations). That is not something I would've expected and it leads me to believe that the scandal has had a tremendously bad impact on the school's image at the worst time possible.

Can any current 1L's, 2L's and especially 3L's give me an idea about:

1) Whether or not it is worth attending?
2) Will employment rebound? (i.e. has Career Services taken a more aggressive approach to bringing recruiters in?)
3) What has the Law School done to turn things around, if anything?
4) Will things turn around or is the scandal more or less irreparable to the reputation and future employment prospects of its students?
5) Has this happened to other schools in the past (besides Villanova) and what was the outcome down the road?

The scandal is not the problem. The problem is the shitty employment market and the issues with trying to use USNWR to predict employment rates.

What you're seeing is that USNWR rankings do not track raw FT/LJ employment rates. What Illinois (or other T30 schools) get you is a slightly better chance at high status legal employment (biglaw, AIII or SSC clerkships, and PSLF qualifying government/PI). Add up the numbers on LST and you'll see Chicago Kent at about 13%, Loyola at 20% and Illinois at 30%.

The issue now is that the cost is so enormous and the overall chance of HSLE still so small that it's not worth taking on the extra debt over a full ride at a lower-ranked school.