Advising Appointments

The most common type of appointment is the Pre-Law Advising Appointment. This is a 30-minute appointment to discuss everything from a new interest in pursuing a legal career to application specifics.

Pre-Law Advising appointments are for individuals at any stage in the pre-law journey from freshman year to post-graduation and beyond.

Typical appointment topics may include:

• Exploring legal careers
• Building a pre-law resume
• Selecting a course of study or major
• Academic challenges
• Internships and gap year opportunities
• Planning for law school
• LSAT, GRE, and other entrance exams
• The application process
  • Application strategies/Where and when to apply
  • Utilizing the Credential Assembly Service
  • Understanding each step of the process
  • Questions about the applications themselves, including essays
  • Advice about selecting a law school
  • How and when to get letters of recommendation
  • Guidance on scholarships

Note: Students in the first four semesters of academic study are encouraged to complete the Pre-Law 101 workshop series, including a Prelaw 1-On-1 Appointment prior to scheduling Pre-Law Advising or Document Review appointment.

Document Review appointments are designed to provide feedback and insights on Personal Statements, Resumes, and Addendums. If you'd like us to review your personal statement or other law school addendums (supplemental essays) you will be asked to upload a draft of your document(s) at the time you schedule your appointment. If you have general questions or would like to generally discuss any document, please schedule a Pre-Law Advising Appointment.

Prepare for a Document Review Appointment:

• Our advisors can review up to 2 documents during one appointment. For example: A personal statement and a diversity essay OR a law school resume and a personal statement can be reviewed during one appointment. (Just upload it all as one file, preferably in Word format.) 
• Advisors will provide feedback on: Content, theme, structure, transitions, flow, and overall quality of writing. We'll give our impressions and offer suggestions on these topics. We'll also help to troubleshoot problem spots and brainstorm potential alternatives.
• Advisors won't: edit, proofread, correct grammar or spelling errors, rewrite, or restructure your statement. It's very important for applicants to express themselves in their own words, especially because the personal statement is intended as a writing sample reflecting your ability. Ours is not a proofreading service but one intended to help students clarify and convey ideas effectively for purposes of a law school application.
• For specific feedback, the personal statement review is most effective when your essay is fairly complete--meaning, you are at the point where you have a fairly complete draft, yet you are still open to feedback. 
• Peak Times:  Our busiest times are late October through December. During this period, our advisors will frequently be booked. Please reserve your appointment in advance and cancel in a timely way if necessary so that we can maximize our appointment availability. 
• There is currently no cap on the number of times an Advisor will review your statement, however, please be mindful that the most effective reviews will occur when your drafts are fairly complete, a final draft is not required.

If you have not yet created a meaningful draft but would like to discuss a personal statement strategy more generally, we recommend scheduling a Pre-Law Advising appointment or reviewing the personal statement resources we've posted on our Canvas page for some guidance.

Format: Document Review appointments are available on a remote basis only.  The recommended format for these appointments is Zoom to facilitate the document review process, however, phone appointments are also available upon request.

Pre-Law 1-On-1 advising appointments are specifically for individuals who have not previously met with a pre-law advisor. These are first-time appointments designed primarily for freshman and sophomore students who have completed the Pre-Law 101 Workshop series (Sessions 1 and 2). These appointments are intended to be your initial advising appointment with the PLAS office and can be utilized to introduce yourself to a member of the PLAS team, to share your general goals, or to ask individual questions on a wide range of topics, including:

• Exploring legal careers
• Pre-law student organizations and activities
• Building a pre-law resume
• Selecting a course of study or major
• Academic planning
• Planning for law school and law school applications
• Summer internships
• Gap years
• Scholarships
• LSAT, GRE, and other entrance exams

Freshmen and sophomores (students enrolled in the first 4 semesters) should complete the Pre-Law 101 Workshop series (Sessions 1 and 2) prior to scheduling an individual advising appointment. 

Now!  We work with students at any point in their academic journey from freshman year to post-graduation. It is never too early to start -we encourage you to begin connecting with our office as soon as you begin considering law school.  

• • For students in their first four academic semesters, we ask that you attend the Pre-Law 101 Workshop as the starting point of your engagement with the office. Once you have completed Pre-Law 101, you are welcome to schedule an initial Pre-Law 1-On-1 Appointment.
  • For students in their fifth semester to last semester, there is no time like the present.  Set up a meeting to discuss your goals and questions.
  • If you are uncertain, send us an email at prelaw@illinois.edu and we are happy to help direct you on what the best first step might be! There are no silly or “wrong” questions and we want to hear from you!

Reach out even if you are uncertain.  We are here to help you explore your interest in legal education and careers! We are happy to meet with students to hear about your goals and offer any insights we can.

It is also very common to be exploring multiple career paths at the same time – we encourage this.  Sometimes individuals ultimately decide that a path in law is not right for them.  Don't wait to start engaging and asking these questions now - whether you ultimately decide to attend law school, we can assist you in academic, extracurricular, and professional planning to ensure that you are as prepared as possible to apply if you decide law school is the right choice for you!

Remember – a great place to start is the Pre-Law 101 Workshop series!

Just Stay Connected.  We share considerable insights and information through our listserv communications, blog, and social media.   All pre-law-designated students are automatically added to our listserv.  You may also request to join the listserv or to be designated pre-law at any time by emailing prelaw@illinois.edu. 

Make a habit of checking these resources on a regular basis either daily, weekly, or monthly depending on how close you are to the application process. 

In addition, our many programs and events are an excellent way to get a lot of information about a variety of topics. Be sure to regularly check our event calendar for details.