University of Illinois c/o 2018 Applicants Forum

[Username123]

Looking at the last two ABA reports (2013, 2014) from UIUC, just less than 2% receive more than full tuition in scholarships/grants each of the two years.

For those who have received full tuition scholarships, any idea if negotiating for what would be considered "more than full tuition" (fees, living stipend, etc.) is possible?

If I were able to up my full tuition scholarship to include the fees over the three years, there is no doubt that I would attend UIUC.

[KMart]

I'm also curious in this and how exactly to go about doing it...

[Username123]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one haha I felt pretentious as hell asking that question, but it would make UIUC the obvious choice if I were offered fees covered in the scholaship or a living stipend.

[Okie25]

Dean Pless was later arrested for hiring a hooker. Go figure.

Strong suggestion to everybody in with money - do not be afraid to try to negotiate up. If you're close to a full tuition ride, try to get it all the way there. Urbana-Champaign is cheap as f- for living expenses and I would estimate having less than $50,000 at repayment if you're only borrowing for living expenses and school fees.

Biglaw is mostly likely not going to happen from this school so minimizing your debt is critical. ~$50k in debt should be manageable for anybody with an "average" attorney gig and a smart sense about spending habits.

Would this require having a full ride from a peer school, or are there other ways of getting them to increase ones scholarship

[Chardee_MacDennis]

Looking at the last two ABA reports (2013, 2014) from UIUC, just less than 2% receive more than full tuition in scholarships/grants each of the two years.

For those who have received full tuition scholarships, any idea if negotiating for what would be considered "more than full tuition" (fees, living stipend, etc.) is possible?

If I were able to up my full tuition scholarship to include the fees over the three years, there is no doubt that I would attend UIUC.

Hate to burst your bubble, but that won't happen. Besides, that's only an extra $5K at most, maybe $6K.

[Chardee_MacDennis]

Dean Pless was later arrested for hiring a hooker. Go figure.

Strong suggestion to everybody in with money - do not be afraid to try to negotiate up. If you're close to a full tuition ride, try to get it all the way there. Urbana-Champaign is cheap as f- for living expenses and I would estimate having less than $50,000 at repayment if you're only borrowing for living expenses and school fees.

Biglaw is mostly likely not going to happen from this school so minimizing your debt is critical. ~$50k in debt should be manageable for anybody with an "average" attorney gig and a smart sense about spending habits.

Would this require having a full ride from a peer school, or are there other ways of getting them to increase ones scholarship

You don't need a full ride from a peer school, but you need some sort of leverage. 25% at WUSTL when you have nothing, maybe. 75% at UMinn when you have 25%, definitely.

[Psy123]

I applied last year and am attending this year. I started at 75%, got moved up to full tuition, and then finally had student fees covered as well. Basically just ask for it and see what they say.

[megs2015]

Dean Pless was later arrested for hiring a hooker. Go figure.

Strong suggestion to everybody in with money - do not be afraid to try to negotiate up. If you're close to a full tuition ride, try to get it all the way there. Urbana-Champaign is cheap as f- for living expenses and I would estimate having less than $50,000 at repayment if you're only borrowing for living expenses and school fees.

Biglaw is mostly likely not going to happen from this school so minimizing your debt is critical. ~$50k in debt should be manageable for anybody with an "average" attorney gig and a smart sense about spending habits.

Would this require having a full ride from a peer school, or are there other ways of getting them to increase ones scholarship

You don't need a full ride from a peer school, but you need some sort of leverage. 25% at WUSTL when you have nothing, maybe. 75% at UMinn when you have 25%, definitely.

Would you say there's any negotiation potential with an equal offer from Indiana?

[Wingtip88]

Folks, even if you debt-finance every part of the cost of living including the fees, it would be terribly easy to borrow no more than $16,000 per year. That's.... Not a lot.

[Username123]

Folks, even if you debt-finance every part of the cost of living including the fees, it would be terribly easy to borrow no more than $16,000 per year. That's.... Not a lot.

Yeah but there's no harm in trying to get as much financial assistance as possible.

[Wingtip88]

Folks, even if you debt-finance every part of the cost of living including the fees, it would be terribly easy to borrow no more than $16,000 per year. That's.... Not a lot.

Yeah but there's no harm in trying to get as much financial assistance as possible.

True that. Also bear in mind, you'll hopefully be working and earning something during summers to pay down your loans/save money. Gotta put it all into perspective.

[Username123]

Folks, even if you debt-finance every part of the cost of living including the fees, it would be terribly easy to borrow no more than $16,000 per year. That's.... Not a lot.

Yeah but there's no harm in trying to get as much financial assistance as possible.

True that. Also bear in mind, you'll hopefully be working and earning something during summers to pay down your loans/save money. Gotta put it all into perspective.

Hopefully lol

[Chardee_MacDennis]

Dean Pless was later arrested for hiring a hooker. Go figure.

Strong suggestion to everybody in with money - do not be afraid to try to negotiate up. If you're close to a full tuition ride, try to get it all the way there. Urbana-Champaign is cheap as f- for living expenses and I would estimate having less than $50,000 at repayment if you're only borrowing for living expenses and school fees.

Biglaw is mostly likely not going to happen from this school so minimizing your debt is critical. ~$50k in debt should be manageable for anybody with an "average" attorney gig and a smart sense about spending habits.

Would this require having a full ride from a peer school, or are there other ways of getting them to increase ones scholarship

You don't need a full ride from a peer school, but you need some sort of leverage. 25% at WUSTL when you have nothing, maybe. 75% at UMinn when you have 25%, definitely.

Would you say there's any negotiation potential with an equal offer from Indiana?

Very little, if any. The school views IU as a peer, so if you have 50% there, why would UIUC increase? Also, it depends on your numbers. If you're above both medians (both 75% if you really want leverage), you may get a slight bump.

[isuperserial]

Would this require having a full ride from a peer school, or are there other ways of getting them to increase ones scholarship

You don't need a full ride from a peer school, but you need some sort of leverage. 25% at WUSTL when you have nothing, maybe. 75% at UMinn when you have 25%, definitely.

Would you say there's any negotiation potential with an equal offer from Indiana?

Very little, if any. The school views IU as a peer, so if you have 50% there, why would UIUC increase? Also, it depends on your numbers. If you're above both medians (both 75% if you really want leverage), you may get a slight bump.

I got 75k from Indi, and 36k from Notre Dame. When I sent those to UIUC they bumped me to 120k.

I don't think my situation is isolated, but it might have also had something to do with my numbers. But to say they won't negotiate off of an offer from Indiana may not be correct.

[pcph]

.

[isuperserial]

@isuperserial What was your original Illinois offer?

Half tuition.

[pcph]

.

[isuperserial]

@isuperserial What was your original Illinois offer?

Half tuition.

Pretty good deal then!

Yeah. This was last year though, so who knows if this trend is continuing this year.

[Ms4life]

Status update on the 30th to "File Complete, In Review." I thought it already changed to this once before, so maybe it was just a date update? Is this normal?

[cal2013]

Status update on the 30th to "File Complete, In Review." I thought it already changed to this once before, so maybe it was just a date update? Is this normal?

This happened to me as well on 1/30.

[ShipitHolla]

Looking at the last two ABA reports (2013, 2014) from UIUC, just less than 2% receive more than full tuition in scholarships/grants each of the two years.

For those who have received full tuition scholarships, any idea if negotiating for what would be considered "more than full tuition" (fees, living stipend, etc.) is possible?

If I were able to up my full tuition scholarship to include the fees over the three years, there is no doubt that I would attend UIUC.

There are multiple people in the current 1L class that got tuition and fees covered.

[Username123]

Looking at the last two ABA reports (2013, 2014) from UIUC, just less than 2% receive more than full tuition in scholarships/grants each of the two years.

For those who have received full tuition scholarships, any idea if negotiating for what would be considered "more than full tuition" (fees, living stipend, etc.) is possible?

If I were able to up my full tuition scholarship to include the fees over the three years, there is no doubt that I would attend UIUC.

There are multiple people in the current 1L class that got tuition and fees covered.

Great news! Thank you!

[FutureJD21]

Anyone know how long it took after it went "Under Review"?

[pcph]

.

[JMWZ]

Anyone know how long it took after it went "Under Review"?

Mine was about a month and a half or so, maybe a little less. This was back in December, though.

Illinois is pretty slow. I applied almost a month ago and only went under review a few days ago. And it might take another month? Awh jeez.