Illinois Law 1L Taking Questions Forum

[mako_shark]

what no pride for the chicago blackhawks or dallas stars?
im canadian, hockey = religion haha

[hkm6315]

Canadians are the best. I sat next to a Canadian in half of my classes last semester and between his aboots and the Chicago accent (from everyone else here), I managed to pick up some strange Texan/Chicago/Canadian twang...

[tymt]

Coming in to join my fellow Illinois 1Ls. I think you guys might be in my section?

Thanks for the replies.

Do you have any recommendations or warnings when it comes to landlords? (in that area of Urbana or throughout CU)

UIUC runs a Tenant Union--they have a website, just Google it. They can find apartments according to the criteria you give them, and they maintain complaints/reports about the landlords in the area. Given that this is a college town, there are a lot of crappy places, so do your research!

Hey! Thanks for taking the time to be so informative with your answers! I saw that you had said something about a website where you can try to find roommate matches...is that through this website or another one? Would you mind giving me a link?

Also, is finding roommates in this way something you recommend? What do most people do? I am from Virginia, never been to Illinois in my life and don't know anyone else there (as is the case with a lot of people Im sure). But anyways, basically just wondering your thoughts on how to work out a housing arrangement if I want to live with at least one other person.?

Thank you so much!

Be extremely cautious about the kinds of apartments that advertise room-mate matching--I mistakenly went this route and it was a disaster. Luckily I was able to switch apartments, but had to pay more a month that I would've liked. I suggest doing what everyone else said--trying to find a room mate within the law school by using the message board.

[chalis8]

Coming in to join my fellow Illinois 1Ls. I think you guys might be in my section?

Section A? That's us.

[tymt]

Coming in to join my fellow Illinois 1Ls. I think you guys might be in my section?

Section A? That's us.

Yep!

[Hook 'Em]

i guess to make things easier for anyone meeting for drinks on thursday,
if your interested in meeting up just head over to the blind pig sometime around 830,
I'll probably wear a san jose sharks shirt, or UBC (university of british columbia) polo
cheers!
Sean

I'll see you there. I'll be the tired black guy in a grey polo shirt (driving in from Austin ).

Can't wait to meet everyone this weekend!

[HipHopAPotamus]

i guess to make things easier for anyone meeting for drinks on thursday,
if your interested in meeting up just head over to the blind pig sometime around 830,
I'll probably wear a san jose sharks shirt, or UBC (university of british columbia) polo
cheers!
Sean

I'll see you there. I'll be the tired black guy in a grey polo shirt (driving in from Austin ).

Can't wait to meet everyone this weekend!

I'll try to meet you guys there as well!

[fightin illini 25]

See you all there, I will be the guy who looks like he could still be in high school haha...

[afadingfiction]

I will see you guys at the Blind Pig as well. Hm. Maybe i'll wear a blackhawks shirt in response to the Sharks supporter. Thank goodness you are not a Canucks fan, though, that would not go well right now.

[coolkatz321]

I just checked out their taplist...get the Arcadia Hopmouth on cask...it's a really, really good beer. They had the Arcadia IPA on cask when I visited and it was excellent.

[hkm6315]

Coming in to join my fellow Illinois 1Ls. I think you guys might be in my section?

Section A? That's us.

Yep!

What is your name tymt?

[upintheair]

Quick question and I appreciate your help and information whoever responds...

For those of you getting summer work outside of the Champaign/Chicago/Illinois area what are you planning to do and what kind of leg work do you have to do on your own? How helpful is the career center?

[chalis8]

Quick question and I appreciate your help and information whoever responds...

For those of you getting summer work outside of the Champaign/Chicago/Illinois area what are you planning to do and what kind of leg work do you have to do on your own? How helpful is the career center?

I'll take a shot at this. I decided to stay in Champaign for the summer for a gig with a federal judge here but there are definitely a lot of people I know who have decided to work out of state for the summer. It's pretty much the same application process no matter where you decide to work. Most people do externships because paying jobs are few and far between (especially in this economy). The school allows you to work for 2-4 credits depending on how many hours you put in and you can apply those credit hours toward your fall semester so you don't have to pay summer tuition and can potentially have a slightly smaller class load in the fall.

It seems that the most common jobs are federal judges, state judges, state's attorney, attorney general etc so it's just a matter of deciding where in the country you want to work and sending out materials because you'll find these types of jobs no matter where you're looking. Wherever you want to work (in IL or out) you'll still be responsible for putting together your own materials and sending them out. Most people waited until after grades came out to send out materials (so basically the first week of school in Jan). Career services is really helpful with resumes, cover letters, and also figuring out how to find opportunities wherever you want to work. They're always available and willing to help.

I would say the only benefit of staying in Illinois is that you can apply to jobs through Symplicity, which is an online system with job postings specifically for Illinois law (and also comes into play during OCI both 1L year and 2L year). There were a couple firms that did do on campus interviews for 1Ls but for the most part it was judges and law offices looking for externs and you submit your cover letter and resume directly through Symplicity. However, Career Services has tons of resources where you can find listings for the rest of the country and there were definitely listings from across the country on Symplicity, just not as many as for in the state. I haven't talked to anyone who wanted to work outside of Illinois and had trouble finding plenty of places to send resumes to and finding something to do there. Just off the top of my head I know people doing internships in Texas, Colorado, four in California, and a couple in NY and I'm sure there are many more that I don't know about. All the advice I've gotten is that it's not so important what you do over the summer so long as it's some sort of legal position and you have some good experiences to talk about during OCI the next fall.

Hope that helps

[Timmybb13]

what no pride for the chicago blackhawks or dallas stars?
im canadian, hockey = religion haha

Go Sharks...we've got Anaheim next. I hate the Ducks.

Will you be attending Illinois?

[seatown12]

So people were talking about Hamilton in Pless's thread and it made me wonder: is he basically the consensus best prof at the school? Because it sounds like everyone who visits gets sent to his class, and I'm wondering how representative of the other professors I should consider him to be.

PS: wtf Sharks?

[mako_shark]

what no pride for the chicago blackhawks or dallas stars?
im canadian, hockey = religion haha

Go Sharks...we've got Anaheim next. I hate the Ducks.

Will you be attending Illinois?

Ya i'll be attending Illinois in the fall

So people were talking about Hamilton in Pless's thread and it made me wonder: is he basically the consensus best prof at the school? Because it sounds like everyone who visits gets sent to his class, and I'm wondering how representative of the other professors I should consider him to be.

PS: wtf Sharks?

gotta say dude, of all our chokes in the playoffs, this year has been by far the most frustrating and worst to watch. Not because we got the prez trophy nor cause it was the 8th seed knocking out the 1st (all make it more dissapointing though) but its a terrible loss because of the BS effort given by the sharks. In the past, such as agains the oilers and red wings, we lost cause both of those teams outworked us to win the series - but its not like the sharks didnt show up those games.
This year on the other hand - well game 5 was the only one where there was any glimmers of regular season brilliance. Game 3 was almost a lucky win. Basically at the end of the day it seemed that the sharks couldnt put up any sustained effort.

question is, what happens in the off season? you set the franchise record for wins & get the presidents trophy, so who goes?

[chalis8]

So people were talking about Hamilton in Pless's thread and it made me wonder: is he basically the consensus best prof at the school? Because it sounds like everyone who visits gets sent to his class, and I'm wondering how representative of the other professors I should consider him to be.

Hamilton is really great (he's actually new this year) but there are plenty of other equally fantastic professors, and I'm only speaking from the 8 classes that I've actually taken thus far. I think part of the reason all the visiting students end up in our Con Law class might be because it's at a good time, right after lunch, and it's a typical big 1L class (actually it's bigger than a typical 1L class because a lot of transfer students have to take it their 2L year)... oh yeah, and because Hamilton is awesome...

[hkm6315]

Did everyone here that we jumped up to 23 in the US News Rankings?

[HipHopAPotamus]

Did everyone here that we jumped up to 23 in the US News Rankings?

Yes I did hear that . As an incoming student, I don't really care all that much about the rankings jump, but it was icing on the cake after I'd made my decision to go to Illinois.

Are you current students excited about it? Do you expect it to have any sort of impact on your job prospects or anything, or is it just kind of a nice thing to boast about?

[fightin illini 25]

Did everyone here that we jumped up to 23 in the US News Rankings?

I heard and was really excited by it! I like the above poster had already decided to attend earlier in the cycle but it is comforting to know that Illinois is doing what it takes to make themselves the best law school they can be .

I am also interested in hearing the current students take on it, so lets hear it!

[Hook 'Em]

Did everyone here that we jumped up to 23 in the US News Rankings?

I was excited when I saw the rise, but I made my decision to attend after admitted students day. I had a great time, and can't wait for the fall. Hopefully, we won't have to defend Bush and our great state of Texas against any more Yankee insults .

[chalis8]

The sense I get is that historically Illinois has generally been thought of as a top 25 school even though it has slipped slightly out of the t25 in past years. Hopefully we'll stay put though Makes me that much happier that I chose to come here.

[notme]

I have a question for the existing Illinois students. Given the choices I have now, Illinoi is clearly the best choice, but for location. What is the weather like. I am from California, and am not fond of the cold. How often does it snow? Also, it's a long way from home. How inconvenient is it to travel back for the holidays, etc. Anything you can tell me that might help the decision would be appreciated, particularly if it comes from, or is about, someone else from from Southern CA. Thanks.

[chalis8]

I have a question for the existing Illinois students. Given the choices I have now, Illinoi is clearly the best choice, but for location. What is the weather like. I am from California, and am not fond of the cold. How often does it snow? Also, it's a long way from home. How inconvenient is it to travel back for the holidays, etc. Anything you can tell me that might help the decision would be appreciated, particularly if it comes from, or is about, someone else from from Southern CA. Thanks.

Well it's certainly not Cali weather, but it's not terrible. It hovered around 35-45 for most of the winter with the occasional much colder day. It didn't snow a whole lot and when it did it wasn't very much (which was disappointing since there is this enormous sledding hill in a park by my apt and there was never enough snow to actually use it.) We get a month off for xmas break and that was probably when the majority of the coldest days were so you'd probably miss a lot of it. Also everything is in one building (library, classes, all of it) so you don't have to worry about trekking through the cold to get to class.

As far as travel goes, you can fly into Chicago and take the train, bus, or drive or you can fly directly into Willard Airport in Champaign... honestly I don't have any experience flying directly into town but I know it can be done. We also get a week off for fall break which is nice, so there's enough time to travel home for Thanksgiving if you want to.

[hkm6315]

I lived in Texas all of my life before I came here, LOATHE the cold, and had only seen true snow once when I went skiing in Colorado back in high school. Honestly, it can get REALLY cold here. I am a wimp compared to everyone here who is from Chicago, but it is definitely a bit of adjustment. What gets bad is the windchill factor. It will be 25 degrees outside, but feel like ten. BUY A LONG NORTHFACE JACKET! I did that back in August just to be safe lol. The first snow started about December 1st. Right after I got back from Thanksgiving. It is really pretty and charming at first until it all turns to ice and drops another 15 degrees. Don't go outside with your hair wet because it will freeze. I learned that the hard way a couple of times.

The weather here does take some getting used to, but it is really not that bad. Like she said, you walk to your car, drive to school, and then walk into the law school where you stay all day... DO buy an icescraper if you don't have a garage because you will have to scrape ice off your windshield in the mornings to get to school. The city does an AWESOME job of salting and plowing the roads and sidewalks, but don't get cocky and go on a bunch of side roads first thing in the morning before they have been driven on unless you want to have an episode of car-capades (also learned that one the hard way).

I still don't like the cold, but it is kind of cool to actually see it for the first time and experience seasons. The leaves change colors, when it snows everything is white, it is not 103 in August. PLUS, it is not nearly as cold here as Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc. We are far south enough to where it is tolerable. I missed the few weeks where it was steadily below freezing over Christmas break. If you are prepared and just get a decent cold weather jacket, you won't even feel it. Seriously, my Northface is like a fortress. There are a handful of people here from CA, and they don't really seem to mind it. One of my CA friend found it as a fantastic opportunity to increase his wardrobe and bought five different coats.

Honestly, the cold was a big terrifying factor for me when choosing schools and I thought I was going to be miserable all winter because I have never been really exposed to "cold," but it is really not that bad at all and it really doesn't last for that long. Northface, blow dry your hair, and use an icescraper and you will be fine : )