Pre-Law Advising Services – Important Updates for Spring and Summer

Hello Pre-Law Students!

As most of you know, there are big changes coming for the PLAS Office.  Alex Gil, our Graduate Assistant, who is a 3L at the UIUC College of Law, will be graduating in May.  Jamie Thomas-Ward, our long-time Director of Pre-Law Advising Services, took a new position in the LAS Department of Economics in January.  Judy Argentieri, Pre-Law Advisor, is retiring on April 30.  There is a search underway for a new Director of Pre-Law Services, but that person will not be “here” on May 1, when we are all gone. So what are you going to do?

Appointments – Alex will be accepting appointments through this Thursday, April 23, then will be focusing on his law school final exams.  Judy will be taking student appointments through next Wednesday, April 29.  Please go to our online scheduling portal to make appointments.

New Team – As mentioned above, the search for a new Director of Pre-Law Services is ongoing.  The hope/plan is to have that person on board soon, possibly by June 1.  In any event, there will be a new director in place before classes resume in the fall.

In the meantime, when you have pre-law questions….

  1. SEARCH THE PLAS BLOG!! Do not forget to search this blog for any topic related to pre-law.  For example, as you all begin Fall 2020 course registration, you can use our March 30 blog post “Suggestions for Fall 2020 Courses” to assist you. Even some of our older posts, covering a wide variety of topics, can be helpful!
  2. USE THE PRE-LAW HANDBOOK!!  As we have mentioned many, many times, the PLAS Handbook, accessible on our webpage, has answers to a lot of your questions with embedded links to help with your research on a host of issues.  Spend some time reading through it.
  3. USE THE PLAS COMPASS PAGE!!  Our Compass page contains a lot of good information, such as: info on UIUC law school applicants; Pre-Law 101 and Personal Statement short videos; the Jobs/Internship Newsletter; and more!  Not sure how to access it?  Go to the Resources tab on our PLAS webpage, and then scroll all the way to the bottom for instructions on how to add the PLAS Compass page.
  4. KEEP CHECKING THE PLAS FACEBOOK PAGE!!  As updates are available concerning the new PLAS team, this will be the best place for up-to-the-minute information.  Haven’t joined our Facebook page yet?  Ask to join Pre-Law Advising Services at Illinois ASAP!
  5. KEEP CHECKING LSAC.ORG!! LSAT registrants and law school applicants – make sure you check www.lsac.org for announcements about LSAT cancellations, LSAT Flex (registration OPENS THIS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 – TEST TO BE ADMINISTERED MONDAY, MAY 18 OR TUESDAY, MAY 19), law school application changes, etc.  And do not forget that you can access the LSAC’s FREE LSAT Test Prep Class, developed in partnership with Khan Academy, on LSAC’s website.
  6. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!! Now is not the time to be passive.  You must be proactive to stay on top of the constant changes happening here and elsewhere.  Put reminders in your mobile phones to check each of the above resources for important updates and changes!!  Here are a few other areas of interest that most pre-law students want/need to learn more about:
    1. Financing Law School: AccessLex (https://www.accesslex.org/) Law School Transparency (https://www.lawschooltransparency.com/ Our PLAS resources, including our Handbook, list these and other good sources for information on how to manage the cost of a law school education.
    2. Employment Information: ABA’s website http://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/MainHome.aspx. You can also check each individual law school website – this data MUST be published on their websites by ALL ABA-accredited law schools. Articles featured in the Law.com and NationalJurist.com publications, as well as data compiled by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) are also helpful. https://www.nalp.org/
    3. LSAT and GPA Medians ABA 509 Report data – ABA’s website here http://www.abarequireddisclosures.org/MainHome.aspx. You can also check each individual law school website – this data MUST be published on their websites by ALL ABA-accredited law schools.

Refer back to this post or the PLAS Handbook as questions arise during this transition period.  And stay tuned for announcements and updates related to the new Director of Pre-Law Advising Services!