Month: August 2015

Mark Your Calendars — Week of August 31

PLAS Events

Pre-Law 101 (for Freshmen or students new to pre-law): Tuesday, September 8, 4:00-5:00 pm in IUB 504.

This workshop is for any Illinois student who is new to pre-law. We will cover: What it means to be a pre-law student at Illinois; the profile of a successful law school applicant; building a pre-law resume during undergraduate years; and what helpful resources exist on campus. We will answer all of your pre-law questions! This workshop is primarily aimed at first year students but all students are welcome. First year students should attend a Pre-Law 101 prior to setting up an individual Pre-Law Advising appointment. Select any Pre-Law 101 session that suits your schedule–each covers the same material. Please register here.

Perfecting Your Personal Statement & Resume for Law School: Monday, September 21, 4:00 – 5:00 pm in IUB 514.

The personal statement and resume are a law school applicant’s opportunity to tell a school all about yourself and why you will make a great addition to their class. Students consistently tell us that this is the hardest part of the application, so we have developed this workshop to provide some insight. We will cover: What the personal statement is; how to begin writing it; what to include and exclude; writing separate addenda; how the personal statement and resume should work together; and an overview of the law school resume. Bring your questions because there will be plenty of time to ask them. Please register here.

Campus Events

Career Center Workshops – Unless otherwise indicated, all workshops are held at the Career Center, 715 S. Wright Street. For more information or to register for an event, click here.

  • The Career Center 101, Tuesday, September 1, 3-4 pm.
  • Finding an Internship, Wednesday, September 2, 4-5 pm.
  • Career Fair Prep: Maximize Your Experience, Thursday, September 3, 4-5 p.m.
  • Career Fair Prep: Maximize Your Experience, Tuesday, September 8, 4-5 p.m.
  • Creating Powerful Resumes & Cover Letters, Tuesday, September 8, 5-6 p.m.

Volunteer Fair: Tuesday, September 1 in the Illini Union, 10:30 am – 1:30 pm.

The Office of Volunteer Programs off the Volunteer Fair to explore volunteering and service opportunities that are available on-campus and around the Champaign-Urbana community

Illinois Abroad Day: Sept. 1, 11:00 am-5:00 pm (Visit the Illinois Abroad Website here for the detailed schedule) 

11 a.m.-2 p.m. (hosted by Illinois Abroad and Global Exchange): Visit with study abroad advocates and professionals on the Main Quad and learn more about campus wide programs and the steps you can take to study abroad.  Attend concurrent workshops being offered around campus focusing on the ‘how tos’ of study abroad.

2-5 p.m. (hosted by participating colleges): Program-specific information will be available for students at colleges across campus including Engineering, ACES, Business, LAS, Law, and Education.  Colleges are invited to put their best study abroad programs forward: equipping students to best integrate the experience.

5 p.m.: Keynote Lecture held in 100 Gregory Hall.

Engineering Career Services Career Fair: Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10 at the ARC. Begins at 8:30 am.

Held at the ARC, this career fair offers companies an opportunity to engage with highly motivated students in engineering-related fields. For more information, please visit http://ecs.engineering.illinois.edu/recruiting-students/career-fairs/.

Provost’s Undergraduate Student Advisory Board
Application: UG Advisory Board App 2015-16
Applications are now being accepted for this board, which provides feedback and generates ideas for programs, academic policies, and initiatives established or overseen by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Innovation. Meetings will take place 12:00-1:00 pm on Oct 8, Nov. 3, and Dec. 1, and lunch is provided.

Qualifying students will:

  • Be undergraduates for the 2015-2016 academic year,
  • Have an interest in academic affairs/campus initiatives
  • Demonstrate a strong record (GPA of 3.0+)
  • Be involved on campus.

Click on the link above to access the application. All applications due Sept. 11.

College of Law Events

Adam Liptak will deliver “The Roberts Court at Ten: A Reporter’s Reflections” for the fall 2015 Paul M. Van Arsdell, Jr. Memorial Lecture on Litigation and the Legal Profession. Liptak is the Supreme Court correspondent of The New York Times. Lunch will be provided for lecture attendees. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Check the College of Law’s website for additional events that are open to public: http://law.illinois.edu/.

Stayed tuned for more excellent pre-law programming and have a great week!

 

Welcome Back Edition

Welcome Class of 2019 and Welcome Back Pre-Law Students!

Hello students!  Our first blog posting of the 2015-2016 school year features a quick overview of a few events happening on campus in the next week and a brief update on PLAS.  We will resume our regular blogging schedule August 31.  Our postings will include updates on PLAS programs, campus events, internships (scroll down for a new addition to the list), and information on a variety of pre-law topics and items of interest so keep checking in!! One quick announcement for seniors preparing for the October 3, 2015 LSAT: the regular registration deadline is Friday, August 28! To register, go to www.lsac.org.

Upcoming Campus Events

Quad Day Events: Sunday, August 23!

The semester kicks off this weekend with Quad Day, Sunday, August 23, Noon-4pm.  Quad Day will introduce you to over 600 registered student organizations (RSOs)! Go and learn more about how you can make the most of your time at the University of Illinois and join an organization! Remember — law schools like to see applicants who are both good students and who are involved in their community.  Note: the Illinois Trial Team is one RSO that will have a booth to answer questions and to sign up interested students.  Scroll down for more information about the Illinois Trial Team.

Want to cool off after Quad Day? Head to Nevada Street to experience the Taste of Nevada, 3-5pm, Sunday, August 23, and relax at the Asian American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural Latina, and Native American House (between Mathews and Goodwin in Urbana) to meet and greet staffs at all three places. Find out what these centers are doing for their upcoming programs for the year. Snacks and refreshments will be served.

Social Justice Social with DiversityEd and Friends: Sunday, August 23rd, 3:30-6:30 pm (immediately following Quad Day) on the University YMCA Front Lawn (1001 S. Wright St., Champaign)

Care about social justice? Love socializing with cool people? Come to the first ever “Social Justice Social” cookout, sponsored by the University YMCA, YWCA at the University of Illinois, and U of I’s Diversity & Social Justice Education. Join together with other students who care about social justice issues and celebrate the start of a new school year. All students are welcome!

Other Campus Events and Opportunities

LGBT Resource Center Welcome Back Event — Tuesday, August 25, 4-6pm, Illini Union

Celebrate the start of a new year with food, music, and opportunities to meet LGBT Resource Center Staff and RSOs, and learn about a variety of campus resources!

Luce Scholars Program — Information Sessions August 27 and 28

The National and International Scholarships Program (NISP) is offering a two-day informational event about the Luce Scholars Program.  The Luce is a one-year internship in East or Southeast-Asia, and designed specifically for students who do not have much prior experience in that region.  Starting August 27th, NISP will offer an informational overview session, featuring an informal discussion with previous Luce Scholars. On August 28th, NISP will host a workshop designed to help students begin to craft their applications.

All events will be held in 514 IUB. The dates and times are as follows.

August 27th, 3:30-4:30pm – Informational session and discussion with former Luce Scholars.

August 28th 3:30-4:30pm – Workshop on how to craft a Luce application.

More information about the Luce can be found here: http://www.topscholars.illinois.edu/luce.

Illinois Trial Team

Thinking about law school and intrigued by the idea of being a trial attorney? Then this opportunity might be just what you are looking for! The Illinois Trial Team allows undergrads to prepare and perform real trials in real courtrooms in front of real judges and attorneys. This organization serves students interested in law school, debate, acting, and public speaking based activities. No experience is necessary, and all majors are welcome. The team recruits new members each Fall! Prospective members should make sure to visit the Illinois Trial Team’s booth on Quad Day, Sunday, August 23! In addition, the team will be holding informational meetings on Wednesday August 26th and Thursday August 27th at 6:30pm at the UIUC College of Law (504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue). For more information, go to www.IllinoisTrialTeam.com; Facebook: “Illinois Trial Team”; Twitter:@ILTrialTeam.  Questions? Send your emails to Illinoistrialteam@gmail.com.

Register for the LENS Diversity Certificate

The LENS (Learn, Envision, Navigate, Synthesize) Diversity Certificate Program is a two-semester program that encourages students to view and explore diversity, social justice, and intercultural relations to develop skills for functioning in a diverse and global society. Get a certificate for taking classes, developing projects with a team of your peers, and attending events focused on expanding your social justice lens!
To learn more about the program or register, visit the website at https://oiir.illinois.edu/diversityed/lens-certificate. Applications for the 2015-2016 LENS Cohort are due by Wednesday, September 2nd.

Interfaith Internship Program

Are you interested in interfaith conversations? What about working with students from other faiths? The interfaith internship will bring together students from different faith or non-faith background to lead conversations throughout the school year based on topics that are related to interfaith. Each intern will receive course credit for independent study and will work closely with Interfaith In Action student group. To apply, click here. Questions? Contact Ross Wantland at wantland@illinois.edu. Applications are due Wednesday, September 2, 2015.

 PLAS Updates for Fall 2015

1. What’s going on at PLAS? All of our events are listed in our Event Calendar here: http://illinois.edu/calendar/list/2508.  You may also look at the right side of this page for info on events coming up in the next few weeks, which include a FREE practice LSAT! Note that some of our workshops have limited seating, like the Pre-Law 101 sessions and the practice LSAT, so you’ll want to register for those in advance. We will add a few programs as the semester progresses.  Be sure to check our blog August 31  for an overview of the semester’s events!

2. Attend a Pre-Law 101 Workshop. If you are a new pre-law student you’ll definitely want to attend a Pre-Law 101 Workshop, which will answer most of your questions about what it means to be pre-law and how you can maximize your opportunities as an undergrad. These sessions are all listed in our Event Calendar and you can register there.

3. How do we keep in touch? Blog, Facebook group, Twitter, email
The best way to keep up with pre-law news is to read this blog and join our Facebook group or follow us on Twitter (@UIUC Pre-Law). We send occasional emails but we don’t want to clog your inbox…so instead, we update this blog, Twitter and our Facebook page at least once a week.

4. Making an appointment….is easy. Call 333-9669. Except please, if you’re sick, stay home in your jammies! You can call us at the appointment time if you really need to talk. Otherwise, please reschedule.

Practice LSAT opportunity

Pre-Law Advising Services has just added a Practice LSAT on September 18 to the fall calendar! This is a great opportunity to take the LSAT “cold” to get a baseline score. Or, if you are planning on taking the October or December LSAT, you can get more practice in a realistic classroom setting. This is a full length, actual, previously administered LSAT which will be proctored and timed. Seating is limited; location and other details will be sent after students register here.