The 2025–2026 academic year was once again both demanding and rewarding, marked by numerous achievements alongside the expected challenges of navigating the undergraduate experience, professional opportunities, and another highly competitive admissions cycle. We are incredibly proud of the perseverance, resilience, and successes demonstrated by our Illini pre-law students and alumni throughout the year and congratulate our entire Illini pre-law community on another fantastic year!
On behalf of PLAS, we thank our Illinois pre-law student & alumni leaders, law expert volunteers, and all who supported our pre-law Illini this academic year! Per tradition, we have compiled highlights from the year to celebrate all that has been achieved. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to enjoy and celebrate with us as the academic year draws to a close!
Check out this year’s highlights in the video below!
Read below for some highlights from this year!
Advising Appointment & Student Engagement
In addition to open office hours, workshops, programming, and over 10 unique student engagement events across campus, PLAS held over 1,000 individual advising appointments (and counting) this year!
Individual advising appointments are a great way for students and alumni to explore their unique goals and plans, including determining if a legal education and career are the right choice! During advising sessions, Illini receive expert guidance on the pre-law undergraduate experience, ways to prepare for law school, internship & post-graduation opportunities, and the law admissions process. We welcome the opportunity to support you in a successful journey to law school from freshman year and beyond.
Whether you have met with us in the past or are new to prelaw, we look forward to seeing you soon!
Workshops & Events
This academic year, PLAS hosted over 60 student workshops, programs, and events, including Pre-Law 101, Pre-Law for Parents, Drafting Your Application, Application Roadmap, Spring Application Strategies, and more!
Workshops & events are a perfect way to gain invaluable expert insights and specialized topics in a very efficient way. Live workshops are available throughout the year (in-person and virtual) and also include an impressive catalogue of on-demand webinars to access at any time! Upcoming live workshops and programs are posted to the PLAS Calendar each year – be sure to check back often for upcoming events!
Note – PLAS programming is open to all current Illinois undergraduate students and alumni!
Unique Prelaw Programs & Opportunities
Four programs, the Pre-Law Advisory Council, APPtitude Certificate Program, LSAT Jumpstart workshop series, and the I Am Ready: Law Admission Readiness Program co-hosted with the University of Illinois College of Law, saw great success in their fourth year!
PLAS hosted two unique programs for prelaw students for the third year: Illinois Pre-Law Day and the Pre-Law Leadership Summit.
Additionally, PLAS welcomed special on-campus visits and webinars from Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, the University of Chicago Law School, and a very special visit with Dean Jason Czarnezki and Assistant Dean Melissa Hansen of Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Last, but certainly not least, we welcomed five members of the Illinois Latino Judges Association for an impactful afternoon of networking and mingling. A very special muchas gracias (thank you) to the Hon. Louis Aranda, Hon. Brenda Claudio, Hon. Carlo Colisimo, Hon. David Garcia, and Hon. Sandra Page for taking time out of their schedules to meet with our students!
Yale Law School Visit – Oct. 6, 2025 | Harvard Law School Virtual Q&A – Oct. 20, 2025 | University of Chicago Law School Virtual Q&A, Nov. 5, 2025 | Chicago-Kent Visit – Mar. 11, 2026
Illinois Latino Judges Association Meet and Mingle | Nov. 11, 2025
2026 Pre-Law Leadership Summit | February 20, 2026
Illinois Pre-Law Day with students from UIUC, UIC, and UIS | April 9, 2026
Law School Fair & Law Dean Panel
This past fall, admissions representatives from nearly 100 law schools from across the country, TestMasters, and AccessLex visited our campus to engage with nearly 400 attendees from the University of Illinois and throughout central Illinois. The 2025 Law School Fair was hosted as part of the annual Midwest Association of Pre-Law Advisors (MAPLA) Caravan.
We also hosted our annual panel of law admissions experts directly following the Law School Fair, featuring:
2025 Panelists:
Dave Farnum – Director of Student Recruitment, The University of Texas School of Law
Janet Hein – Director of Admissions, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Rebecca Ray – Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, University of Illinois College of Law
Alison Smith – Assistant Dean of Admissions, Washington University Law School
A huge thank you to all the law school representatives, students, and volunteers who made the day a success!
Save the Date for the 2026 Law School Fair
on September 23!
Blog Posts
We uploaded over 35 articles to our blog this year, covering insights from attorneys, helpful tips & resources on the pre-law path, monthly events, and more!
This year, we welcomed several guest bloggers and contributors. A special thank you to:
Phoebe Adams – Illinois College of Law
Lauren Anderson ’26
Max Ando – Fordham Law School
Ben Aranda ’28
Ava Basolo ’28
Carter Cohen ’25
Emma Costello-Wollwage ’28
Joel Diaz ’27
Erika Efigenio ’27
Josh Ellison ’26
Hibba Hoda ’26
Allie Johnson – Illinois College of Law
Harry Kennedy ’27
Elizabeth King ’26
Lev Linderman ’29
Marcos López II – Illinois College of Law
Eshal Mirza ’26
Savanah Misius ’26
Diti Nainwal ’28
Kyla Osborne ’26
Alyse Raggs-Caldwell ’26
Elizabeth Segel ’28
Lauren Strojny ’25
Mia Starke ’28
Anais Tatem ’28
Pranav Thamballapalle ’28
Paige Thing – Advisory Council Chair
Rebekah Tindall – Illinois College of Law
Julia Trevino ’27
Imaan Zaheer ’27
We will continue to create blog content this summer, so be sure to stay tuned and check back for updates!
Legal Expert Volunteers
A huge thank you to the judges, attorneys, law professors, and other law experts who volunteered their time to engage with students through programming as guest speakers and 1:1 meetings this year. A very special thank you to the 12+ alumni featured on the Alumni Attorney Talks blog series this year – joining dozens of past volunteers!
Congratulations and Thank You to all our pre-law students, alumni, and law expert volunteers for making it a great year!
Stay in touch this summer…
Our office remains open during the summer for virtual advising and resources. Be sure to stay in touch! Find more details online at prelaw.illinois.edu.
Check-out the Summer Spotlight Series!
Be sure to help us celebrate our Illini applicants and graduates this summer through the annual Spotlight Series celebrating Illini on their law school selections and post-graduation plans!