Why UIUC Sucks Forum

[Rob Johnson]

Taking Helmholtz's advice, I am starting a new thread all about why UIUC sucks. Reasons:

1) UIUC is expensive and their students stand virtually no chance of securing jobs that will allow them to repay their student debt in a reasonable period of time

2) Number fudging. They do it more then anyone else. I would read and listen to their brochures very carefully because the school suck a lot more then they would like you to know.

3) See point #1.

Have to go now. I'll add to this later.

[romothesavior]

This person is one of the most pathetic posters on TLS. He has only posted a handful of posts, but they have all been blatant anti-UIUC banter. I understand if people want to voice valid criticisms of a school, but could we at least do it in a respectful manner?

That said, UIUC does not suck. It is very well respected in the Chicago area and throughout the state of Illinios as a whole. Is it Northwestern or U of Chicago? No. Will it land you in New York or California? Probably not. But if you want to practice in the Midwest or in Illinois and it is financially feasible for you to attend, it is a good choice.

[john titor]

from what i can tell, rob johnson's hobby is talking smack about UIUC. rob johnson needs a better hobby.

[Matthies]

tell us what you really think

[98234872348]

Taking Helmholtz's advice

Here's to doubting that a mod supported your endeavor to start a flame thread.

[john titor]

i dont think i could handle living in the midwest. i almost went to wustl, but i dont htink i would have liked living there. its like the sky sits 6 feet above your head.

[romothesavior]

i dont think i could handle living in the midwest. i almost went to wustl, but i dont htink i would have liked living there. its like the sky sits 6 feet above your head.

I'm from the Midwest, so I know exactly what you mean. It definitely isn't for everybody. I love it though, despite the crappy weather and lack of scenery. (It has been raining for the past 48 hours and it has been miserable in general)

[rondemarino]

The don't fudge their numbers, but they do a good job of WUSTL-style numbers gaming, i.e. accepting almost exclusively splitters of both types. I don't know if the schools sucks, but with NU and Chicago in their backyard, I'd think twice about going there.

[Helmholtz]

Taking Helmholtz's advice

Here's to doubting that a mod supported your endeavor to start a flame thread.

No, I told him he could. He was crapping all over the UIUC student taking questions thread and I told him that he can choose to air his grievances in his own separate thread if he so chooses.

I'd recommend people ignore this thread if they don't like it and if it gets out of hand with personal attacks, then it will be locked.

[09042014]

Taking Helmholtz's advice, I am starting a new thread all about why UIUC sucks. Reasons:

1) UIUC is expensive and their students stand virtually no chance of securing jobs that will allow them to repay their student debt in a reasonable period of time

2) Number fudging. They do it more then anyone else. I would read and listen to their brochures very carefully because the school suck a lot more then they would like you to know.

3) See point #1.

Have to go now. I'll add to this later.

I'm guessing you struck out at OCI this year? I heard it was terrible this year.

[Rob Johnson]

In addition, I'll add that UIUC seems like a pretty congenial place to study law. I visited there last week and found all the students I met to be very helpful and pleasant. They all said that they have a lot of fun and they find a good balance of social life and academic life. It is definitely going to be one of my top choices. Granted, it may be too expensive for some students who do not qualify for big scholarships, but isn't that true of any law school outside the T-10?

I don't doubt for a second that UIUC would be an awesome place to attend for 3 years. I actually hung out there a lot during undergrad (I couldn't afford to go to school there but I had a friends there). Just make sure you can brawl though, everyone is a violent ass drunk (although we probably asked for it). We almost got into so many fight just sitting outside on my buddy's porch talking shit to people who walked by and got into a few actual brawls.

But hell, my TTT was an awesome place to attend. The people are cool, the partying was fun, the area was great. But that's not really what most people here are worried about when they talk regretting law school. The cognitive dissonance sets in after you graduate, i.e. when you actually realize you financial burden or repaying your student debt without a great paying job.

As for scholarship- I have no idea how UIUC does scholarships, but I'd be cautious about it if it has any GPA requirements. Often they are set high enough where you need to make top 1/3 or top 1/2 and that's a huge risk of potentially losing the scholly and being in a really shitty place because you gave up attending a better school to attend that school.

[Rob Johnson]

The don't fudge their numbers, but they do a good job of WUSTL-style numbers gaming, i.e. accepting almost exclusively splitters of both types. I don't know if the schools sucks, but with NU and Chicago in their backyard, I'd think twice about going there.

I didn't mean number fudging in terms of acceptances. I'll just quote what I wrote in the other thread.

number fudging-- e.g. "we're a top 10 public law school" -- what the hell kind of a metric is that? Then there was the part where they tell you to ignore USworld news rankings and to attend the school you want and not to worry about rankings-- that'd be great advice if it really didn't matter but it does as far as firms are concerned. Then they tell you it really doesn't matter what the salary statistics are, but to just look at what you want to do and if you want to work at a larger firm then the average is $160K. Do they think people are retarded? I mean seriously, median salary at least hints at the ability of students to go into certain jobs (as does the total % that went into large firms). I don't have the video or brochures with me but I remember there being much more that was bad.

[Z3RO]

Nobody wants to mention the scandals that got almost their entire UG adcomm to resign?

[DoubleChecks]

Nobody wants to mention the scandals that got almost their entire UG adcomm to resign?

oh now im curious

[98234872348]

Taking Helmholtz's advice

Here's to doubting that a mod supported your endeavor to start a flame thread.

No, I told him he could. He was crapping all over the UIUC student taking questions thread and I told him that he can choose to air his grievances in his own separate thread if he so chooses.

I'd recommend people ignore this thread if they don't like it and if it gets out of hand with personal attacks, then it will be locked.

I would give him more credence if he didn't resort of derogatory, name calling tactics and rather presented an well articulated, reasoned and mature argument substantiated by empirical evidence to advance his position.

Until that time, I maintain that he is an insufferable flame.

[Z3RO]

Nobody wants to mention the scandals that got almost their entire UG adcomm to resign?

oh now im curious

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009 ... llinois-3/

[starstruck393]

As for scholarship- I have no idea how UIUC does scholarships, but I'd be cautious about it if it has any GPA requirements. Often they are set high enough where you need to make top 1/3 or top 1/2 and that's a huge risk of potentially losing the scholly and being in a really shitty place because you gave up attending a better school to attend that school.

To be fair, afaik, their scholarships don't have any requirements to them. All the ones I know of were unconditional...

[Rob Johnson]

Taking Helmholtz's advice

Here's to doubting that a mod supported your endeavor to start a flame thread.

No, I told him he could. He was crapping all over the UIUC student taking questions thread and I told him that he can choose to air his grievances in his own separate thread if he so chooses.

I'd recommend people ignore this thread if they don't like it and if it gets out of hand with personal attacks, then it will be locked.

I would give him more credence if he didn't resort of derogatory, name calling tactics and rather presented an well articulated, reasoned and mature argument substantiated by empirical evidence to advance his position.

Until that time, I maintain that he is an insufferable flame.

I didn't do any name calling. Also, go away.

[Rob Johnson]

Nobody wants to mention the scandals that got almost their entire UG adcomm to resign?

oh now im curious

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009 ... llinois-3/

Yeah, I remember reading the email w/ dean pless. I don't have the link though.

[romothesavior]

The don't fudge their numbers, but they do a good job of WUSTL-style numbers gaming, i.e. accepting almost exclusively splitters of both types. I don't know if the schools sucks, but with NU and Chicago in their backyard, I'd think twice about going there.

I didn't mean number fudging in terms of acceptances. I'll just quote what I wrote in the other thread.

number fudging-- e.g. "we're a top 10 public law school" -- what the hell kind of a metric is that? Then there was the part where they tell you to ignore USworld news rankings and to attend the school you want and not to worry about rankings-- that'd be great advice if it really didn't matter but it does as far as firms are concerned. Then they tell you it really doesn't matter what the salary statistics are, but to just look at what you want to do and if you want to work at a larger firm then the average is $160K. Do they think people are retarded? I mean seriously, median salary at least hints at the ability of students to go into certain jobs (as does the total % that went into large firms). I don't have the video or brochures with me but I remember there being much more that was bad.

This is HILARIOUS stuff, Rob Johnson. I know you have been baptized in the religion of USWNR rankings, so this may be futile to even argue with you. But what the U of I people told you really isn't that ridiculous, and I'm sure many admissions people from all across the country at all kinds of different schools would say the same thing.

If I want to practice in Illinois, would I be wise to go to USC? Texas? Cornell? According to your logic, yes I should. After all, they have a higher ranking! But to just completely dismiss geographic location, markets, etc. is to remove a crucial aspect of choosing a law school. I want to stay in the Midwest. Going to Illinois for me would be wiser than going to UCLA, even though I am pretty sure I could get into UCLA, Texas or USC without much trouble.

Also, numbers fudging with respect to median salary happens EVERYWHERE. The T-5s all the way down to the TTTs do it. Why does U of I get the brunt of your hostility? Could it be that you are bitter about getting rejected by UIUC during your first cycle? Is it because you had to go pwn a bunch of 150 LSATs at some TTT in order to get to where you are?

[starstruck393]

But it is scary how fast the employment numbers drop off once you get out of the T14 or so. For a school that's in the T25, those employment numbers aren't super encouraging. And that's not just UIUC, but all the schools from ~20-30, and it just gets worse after that. I was a big supporter of UIUC, and I still think highly of the school, but there is something to be said about forgoing sticker at a T25 and taking the big scholarship to a lower ranked, regional school with the way hiring is going...

[98234872348]

I didn't do any name calling. Also, go away.

Oh, that's right, UIUC sucks isn't an inflammatory statement, is it...

My mistake...

[Matthies]

Taking Helmholtz's advice

Here's to doubting that a mod supported your endeavor to start a flame thread.

No, I told him he could. He was crapping all over the UIUC student taking questions thread and I told him that he can choose to air his grievances in his own separate thread if he so chooses.

I'd recommend people ignore this thread if they don't like it and if it gets out of hand with personal attacks, then it will be locked.

I would give him more credence if he didn't resort of derogatory, name calling tactics and rather presented an well articulated, reasoned and mature argument substantiated by empirical evidence to advance his position.

This, unfortunately, is near impossible on an internet message board. People who actually know what the hell they are talking about don’t bother posting.

[09042014]

But it is scary how fast the employment numbers drop off once you get out of the T14 or so. For a school that's in the T25, those employment numbers aren't super encouraging. And that's not just UIUC, but all the schools from ~20-30, and it just gets worse after that. I was a big supporter of UIUC, and I still think highly of the school, but there is something to be said about forgoing sticker at a T25 and taking the big scholarship to a lower ranked, regional school with the way hiring is going...

UIUC placed very well for its rank before the economy crashed. But now its crap, and it doesn't even have a good smaller market to dominate. Notre Dame is in a similar position. Both counted on the big law leftovers from U of C and NU, and this year there just aren't any to go around.

[romothesavior]

But it is scary how fast the employment numbers drop off once you get out of the T14 or so. For a school that's in the T25, those employment numbers aren't super encouraging. And that's not just UIUC, but all the schools from ~20-30, and it just gets worse after that. I was a big supporter of UIUC, and I still think highly of the school, but there is something to be said about forgoing sticker at a T25 and taking the big scholarship to a lower ranked, regional school with the way hiring is going...

I agree with all of this. But still, there is no need to bash UIUC. If UIUC sucks, then so does Minnesota, Boston College, Notre Dame, Iowa, BU, Indiana, etc. etc. etc.

If you can get a good scholarship from UIUC (as I expect to), then it may be worth going there rather than sticker at a lower T-14. It just depends on where you want to practice.