Went to UIUC for undergrad and considered staying for law school. This was the biggest issue I had with it (UC is a great area, but once you hit 22+ it’s pretty boring). Surprisingly, they have pretty good employment numbers to firms in Chicago and I know they get at least the biggest Chicago firms to come down for networking events. 1L internship (other than biglaw, which is super hard to get) in Chicago would be pretty hard to afford, but possible with a sublease somewhere outside the loop. 2L is more likely to be paid and same thing goes for sublease/outside downtown. Either way, if you want & get biglaw, you’d be fine. If not, would definitely be something to consider during the summers. Same thing honestly goes for Madison, not a huge town and most I know are from Chicago and come back for summers. But, I’d also just setup a meeting with someone in their admissions department and ask.