Illinois Law 1L Taking Questions Forum

[Barbie]

Really? Its a lot easier to look good in navy, than in orange!!

[Thirteen]

Hi! Recently accepted to Illinois, which was my biggest reach (huge, huge reach haha), so I am THRILLED and 98% sure I'll be there in August. I've never even been to Illinois, though. I live in south Florida, so its going to be a HUGE change for me, no doubt. (My fav. professor/mentor attended Illinois Law, and she is who really got me into it). My boyfriend will be coming with me. He is graduating with a business degree and worried about finding a job there. I was wondering what the job market is like in UC for someone like him? He would be okay managing a bar or doing something along those lines as long as he was making enough to support both of us (not including my law school tuition). We have some friends up there from highschool that play on the Illinois football team so we are going to be BIG supporters! Are the law students big into the football team? Tailgates, etc? Thanks!!

Congrats!

[MBZags]

Really? Its a lot easier to look good in navy, than in orange!!

Straight up blasphemy.

[zILch]

One L here: How do we get grades? Do we get them all at once or do they go up as profs get done grading exams? How long does it normally take?

[Barbie]

Really? Its a lot easier to look good in navy, than in orange!!

Straight up blasphemy.

"Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed"

[ChattelCat]

One L here: How do we get grades? Do we get them all at once or do they go up as profs get done grading exams? How long does it normally take?

They all go up at the same time on Enterprise. Dean V will send out an email letting us know when they'll be available and they often come out about four or five days before the date she gives us (at least that's been the trend for the last two years). I can't remember exactly, but I want to say it's usually around Jan 15.

[ChattelCat]

Really? Its a lot easier to look good in navy, than in orange!!

Straight up blasphemy.

"Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed"

what's totally disturbing is that after a few years, bright Illini orange starts to seem like a normal, everyday, wear-able color.... I swore it would never happen to me but it did!!

[Barbie]

Really? Its a lot easier to look good in navy, than in orange!!

Straight up blasphemy.

"Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed"

what's totally disturbing is that after a few years, bright Illini orange starts to seem like a normal, everyday, wear-able color.... I swore it would never happen to me but it did!!

haha. I guess as long as no one tries to make it their lipstick color of choice we will be okay
My tar is stylin' in orange !

[Barbie]

What is the grading curve @ Illinois?

[MBZags]

What is the grading curve @ Illinois?

Median is 3.2 for 1L, 3.4ish for 2L and 3L.

[thewarflamingo]

Did any of you go to one of the UIUC open houses not in Illinois like in NYC, Houston, etc. last year? If so, how was it, what did they talk about, and did it have a large impact in your decision to attend? If anyone went to the Houston one, were there a lot of local alumni who showed up?

[Kilpatrick]

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[blurbz]

Hahahaha. I see what you did there....and I like it.

[Barbie]

free food & booze?? I'm kind of sad I'm missing all this now
Decided on doing my own private tour of the campus, that way my boyfriend and I can spend the weekend looking at real estate, and him and my dad won't feel weird walking around campus with me

[thewarflamingo]

I went to the one in Los Angeles last year and it was awesome. I got to meet Dean Smith, Suzanne Rogers from admissions (Pless couldn't make it), a couple of my future classmates and a bunch of alumni. There was free food and alcohol. As far as the structure it's mostly just a social reception. Smith gave a brief speech. Then it's just schmoozing. But it's cool to meet alumni from your area and it's cool to meet graduates with jobs. I met a guy who had just graduated, OK grades, no journal, and he had a job doing environmental law.

It didn't really impact my decision to attend, I was pretty much certain at that point, but it was a lot of fun.

PROTIP: Don't bring your mom and have her network for you

Sounds like a lot of fun! How many admitted students would you estimate were there?

So what happened with the person and their mom??? You can't bring it up without sharing the story

[Kilpatrick]

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[thewarflamingo]

I went to the one in Los Angeles last year and it was awesome. I got to meet Dean Smith, Suzanne Rogers from admissions (Pless couldn't make it), a couple of my future classmates and a bunch of alumni. There was free food and alcohol. As far as the structure it's mostly just a social reception. Smith gave a brief speech. Then it's just schmoozing. But it's cool to meet alumni from your area and it's cool to meet graduates with jobs. I met a guy who had just graduated, OK grades, no journal, and he had a job doing environmental law.

It didn't really impact my decision to attend, I was pretty much certain at that point, but it was a lot of fun.

PROTIP: Don't bring your mom and have her network for you

Sounds like a lot of fun! How many admitted students would you estimate were there?

So what happened with the person and their mom??? You can't bring it up without sharing the story

It was a lot of fun. There weren't that many admitted students there. Less than 10. There were definitely more alumni than admitted students which was cool because I wanted to talk to them more anyway.

One guy brought his mom. Which in and of itself is not that bad. But she was a lawyer and spent the whole night networking for him. She would talk to people, tell them she was his mother and then drag them over to him so he could talk. It was pretty awesome. He ended up at Illinois AND in my section AND becoming one of the most annoying epic gunners in the world.

You must have the worst luck in the world

So did anyone else bring anyone with them or did everyone pretty much come solo? Also, what was the attire? I'm assuming it was at least business casual since it was a small reception.

By the way, thank you so much for answering my questions!

[Kilpatrick]

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[samfii]

Hey guys!!! SO I got into Illinois today, INSANELY huge reach for me and I'm super excited about it. My only issue is that I would be paying out of state tuition, and while I received a 10K scholly, I'm still going to be paying a fortune for tuition which kind of scares me. I'm from the LA area and want to practice in LA, how do you guys say the job prospects look for people that want to get placed out here? I'm not really looking for Biglaw, though I'm not opposed to it, that's not the lifestyle I envision myself living. That being said I obviously don't have a 200k job to look forward to, and ITE do you think this would be a sound decision on my part? Let's hypothetically say I will also receive half tuition at a high/low tier 2. With your experience, I wanted to know what you guys thought about this.
thanks for taking questions guys

[thewarflamingo]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but do y'all have open or closed note exams?

ETA: and is LRW graded?

[Kilpatrick]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but do y'all have open or closed note exams?

Depends on the professor. This semester I had two closed and one open

[thewarflamingo]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but do y'all have open or closed note exams?

Depends on the professor. This semester I had two closed and one open

Is LRW graded?

[Kilpatrick]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but do y'all have open or closed note exams?

Depends on the professor. This semester I had two closed and one open

Is LRW graded?

No. And thank God. Pass/Fail with high honors for top 10% and honors for the next 30%.

[Barbie]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but do y'all have open or closed note exams?

Depends on the professor. This semester I had two closed and one open

Is LRW graded?

No. And thank God. Pass/Fail with high honors for top 10% and honors for the next 30%.

You can get honors in a pass/fail course?

[NancyBotwin]

No. And thank God. Pass/Fail with high honors for top 10% and honors for the next 30%.

You can get honors in a pass/fail course?

Yep. It doesn't affect your GPA at all, but it looks good on your resume and can open up some summer jobs and other stuff for you.