The 2023 – 2024 academic year was busy and filled with many successes! To our UIUC pre-law students and alumni, congratulations on a successful academic year and application cycle!
We thank our UIUC pre-law student & alumni leaders, law expert volunteers, and all those who helped support our over 1500 prelaw Illini this academic year!
Read below for some highlights from this year!
Advising Appointments
PLAS held over 1000 advising appointments (and counting) this year! Individual advising appointments are a great way to explore your goals and plans including determining if a legal education and career is the right choice for you! Advising sessions afford the opportunity to 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. We loved meeting with all of you!
Workshops & Events
This academic year, PLAS hosted over 55 student workshops, programs, and events, including Pre-Law 101, Pre-Law for Parents, Drafting Your Application, Application Roadmap, Selecting a Law School, Strategies for Spring Application Success, and more!
Workshops & events are a perfect way to gain invaluable expert insights and specialized topics in a very efficient way. Note – PLAS programming is open to all UIUC current students and alumni!
Unique Programs
Four programs, the Pre-Law Advisory Council, APPtitude Certificate Program, and 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 second year!
PLAS also hosted three new and unique programs for prelaw students: Illinois Pre-Law Day, the Pre-Law Leadership Summit, and a very special visit to campus by American Bar Association President Mary Smith.
Spring 2024 Cohort – I Am Ready Law Admission Readiness Program
Pre-Law students visit with ABA President, Mary Smith, at the College of Law.
Law School Fair & Law Dean Panel
This past Fall, admissions representatives from over 90 law schools across the country visited campus to engage with nearly 400 students in Central Illinois. The 2023 Law School Fair was hosted as part of the annual Midwest Association of Pre-Law Advisors (MAPLA) Caravan.
We also featured a law school panel right after the Law School Fair that included opening remarks by Dean Jamelle Sharpe of The University of Illinois College of Law.
Panelists included:
Janet Hein, Indiana University – Bloomington
Pop Little, Rutgers University
Kristen Mercado, University of California – Davis
Michael Morales, University of Texas at Austin
Rebecca Ray, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Save the Date for the 2024 Law School Fair on October 1!
Student Engagement Events
PLAS participated in 12+ student engagement events around campus. We met with students at PLAS Open Office Hours, Grainger Engineering, Gies Success Lab, the First Gen Resource Fair, the DIA Networking Nite, and the Poli Sci & Econ Kick-Off event to answer questions about the pre-law path and share information about our office resources! We look forward to seeing you around campus again next year!
Blog Posts
We uploaded over 39 articles to our blog this year that covered insights from attorneys, helpful tips & resources regarding the pre-law path, monthly events, and more! We will continue to create content for the blog this summer so be sure to stay tuned and check back for updates!
Legal Expert Volunteers
A huge thank you to the attorneys, law professors, and other law experts who volunteered their time to engage with students through programming and 1:1 meetings this year, including our featured panelists and the 15+ alumni featured on the Alumni Attorney Talks blog series!
Thank you to all our pre-law students, alumni, and law expert volunteers for making it a great year!
