UVa OGI 2011 thread Forum

[Cavalier]

Yeah I don't think you'll find anyone who did better in DC than in NYC, assuming they interviewed at a significant number of firms in both cities. In addition to what the above poster said, keep in mind that at UVA, a lot of people with strong grades want to go to DC no matter what, and they will take any V100 there over a V10 in NYC. So the competition is a lot tougher too, which also explains why getting callbacks in DC is much more difficult.

[Anonymous User]

Maybe I read that wrong, but do you mean a V10 in NYC?

[Cavalier]

Maybe I read that wrong, but do you mean a V10 in NYC?

Yes I did. Edited.

[Anonymous User]

I have 4 open interview slots. How likly would someone with top 1/4 grades be to convert on Special Requests?

[Cavalier]

I have 4 open interview slots. How likly would someone with top 1/4 grades be to convert on Special Requests?

It's impossible to predict as it's entirely dependent on the firms you choose. Some firms will be in more demand than others, and some firms' interviewers will be more willing to take special requests than others (some interviewers will want to keep their long lunch break and arrive and leave on time, other interviewers will cancel every break they have and arrive early and leave later to accommodate as many special requests as possible). I would guess that you'll have better luck in secondary markets, but I really don't know.

[Anonymous User]

Damn. I ended up getting 22 preselects (including successful alternates), and I dropped down to 19 so I could take my shot with the lottery. I did not get a single interview via lottery, and now I'm crafting my special requests.

+1

[Anonymous User]

Damn. I ended up getting 22 preselects (including successful alternates), and I dropped down to 19 so I could take my shot with the lottery. I did not get a single interview via lottery, and now I'm crafting my special requests.

+1

Interesting. I went down to 19 and acquired 2 lottery picks, though they were both firms that had alternated me initially so I didn't gain much except an extra interview.

[Anonymous User]

wait people got no interviews with lotto. I got like 3.

[Anonymous User]

wait people got no interviews with lotto. I got like 3.

You got less if you had more preselects. I'm one of the dudes who got no lotto luck and to some degree I should have expected it - I got a decent chunk of preselects in my top 20, and most of the firms at the top of my bid list were only interviewing 20 or 40 people (I figured those interviewing more would be likely to preselect me). It's slightly disappointing, but not a big deal.

[Anonymous User]

10 preselect / alt interviews + 11 lotto
all DC

[5ky]

10 preselect / alt interviews + 11 lotto
all DC

Man, DC must have been seriously underbid this year. I'm curious to see how it swings back next year, if people take pause to bid on NYC.

[joeshmo39]

Can people with some experience talk about what goes on during these 2 OCI weeks other than screeners? I plan to stop and talk to some firms at hospitality suites because I've heard that's a good use of time. Do firms have receptions at all like some did during the year? Do firms have evening events that you are supposed to come to? I remember hearing about one firm did interviews during the day then invited some students to dinner in the evening. Do people mostly just hang out during these 2 weeks?

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Can people with some experience talk about what goes on during these 2 OCI weeks other than screeners? I plan to stop and talk to some firms at hospitality suites because I've heard that's a good use of time. Do firms have receptions at all like some did during the year? Do firms have evening events that you are supposed to come to? I remember hearing about one firm did interviews during the day then invited some students to dinner in the evening. Do people mostly just hang out during these 2 weeks?

You may be invited to certain secret receptions. If you are not, there will be plenty of douchebags on TLS to let you know that they are going on without you.

[Cavalier]

Can people with some experience talk about what goes on during these 2 OCI weeks other than screeners? I plan to stop and talk to some firms at hospitality suites because I've heard that's a good use of time. Do firms have receptions at all like some did during the year? Do firms have evening events that you are supposed to come to? I remember hearing about one firm did interviews during the day then invited some students to dinner in the evening. Do people mostly just hang out during these 2 weeks?

A lot of the bigger firms have hospitality suites, which you should definitely visit if you're interviewing there. Not only is it a good way to meet additional people at the firm and get some free goodies (best goodie award goes to Cleary, in my opinion, for giving out 4 GB flash drives), but some firms keep track of which interviewees stop by. A few firms have receptions, which you should go to in order to show your interest. An even smaller number of firms invite some of their interviewees to dinner afterwards. Last year S&C did this for everyone they decided to call back, and GDC for a select group of interviewees, many of whom did not receive callbacks.

Other than that, there isn't much to do during those two weeks. You should be using your spare time to prepare for future interviews, and to work on special requests or mailings if you feel it's necessary. If possible, you might try and fit a callback into those two weeks if you have a day with no screening interviews. If you do an early callback and subsequently get an offer, the rest of the interview process will be a breeze.

I'd recommend avoiding the law school and TLS as much as possible. Some of your classmates will love to have the opportunity to let you know which callbacks they received, but I think you can make the process less stressful if you just focus on yourself rather than what's happening to your classmates.

[Anonymous User]

Was one of those top 1/4 students that ended up with few NYC PS's. Ended up with 13 NYC interviews; can't tell if it was lottery or alternate (had a ton of alternates). But things look better now than they did a few weeks ago. (Then again, the economy might have just crashed and we're screwed if we're not top 10% of the class at a T9 school)

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Was one of those top 1/4 students that ended up with few NYC PS's. Ended up with 13 NYC interviews; can't tell if it was lottery or alternate (had a ton of alternates). But things look better now than they did a few weeks ago. (Then again, the economy might have just crashed and we're screwed if we're not top 10% of the class at a T9 school)

Did everyone in the top 1/4 waste bids on the V10?

[vamedic03]

his is not necessarily logically sound. Sure, there are more jobs in NYC. But is there also a correspondingly high number of candidates (not just at UVa, but among law students generally) competing for those jobs? I don't know the answer to this question, and it's crucial to the calculus.

Not only that, but reputation differences by region play a huge factor. Frankly, NYC just isn't UVA's strength. There are several schools that either have stronger reputations in NYC or have a stronger base there. The competition for spots in NYC does not bode in favor of UVA. For example, in every market we take a back seat to HYS. But in NYC we take a backseat to HYS, CCN, Penn and Cornell. Two of those schools are actually IN NYC and a huge number of attorneys at NYC firms attended them. Penn and Cornell are closer to NYC (with Cornell actually IN the state) and both are smaller than UVA. On top of that both schools have NYC as their primary market and have more alumni in NYC. UVA's strength isn't NYC. Our strength is DC and Southern secondary markets. Many southern firms view the school as the next best thing to Harvard and Yale. And in DC we only play second fiddle to HYS. Further, many DC firms actually hold spots in their summer classes for UVA. Kaye Scholer DC actually had a summer class last year of NOTHING but UVA students (and note that NYC firms do this as well, but they do it for the schools in their region--NOT UVA). All of this comes into play, not just what market has the highest number of spots open. Yes NYC has more spots, but it has more applicants, and more applicants from schools that are preferred by NYC firms over UVA.

This is simply wrong.

And why is this anonymous?

[Anonymous User]

Was one of those top 1/4 students that ended up with few NYC PS's. Ended up with 13 NYC interviews; can't tell if it was lottery or alternate (had a ton of alternates). But things look better now than they did a few weeks ago. (Then again, the economy might have just crashed and we're screwed if we're not top 10% of the class at a T9 school)

Did everyone in the top 1/4 waste bids on the V10?

I'm top 1/4 and bid on 8 V10s. Received preselects from 5 and alternates from 2.

Edit--whether interviewing with them is a waste remains to be seen.

[Anonymous User]

Was one of those top 1/4 students that ended up with few NYC PS's. Ended up with 13 NYC interviews; can't tell if it was lottery or alternate (had a ton of alternates). But things look better now than they did a few weeks ago. (Then again, the economy might have just crashed and we're screwed if we're not top 10% of the class at a T9 school)

Did everyone in the top 1/4 waste bids on the V10?

I'm top 1/4 and bid on 8 V10s. Received preselects from 5 and alternates from 2.

Edit--whether interviewing with them is a waste remains to be seen.

Interesting. I bid on 8 as well (if we're counting K&E NY and Covington NY as actual V10s, which they really aren't, I don't think). 2 preselects, 4 alternates (none of which converted). Top 15%

[RVP11]

Was one of those top 1/4 students that ended up with few NYC PS's. Ended up with 13 NYC interviews; can't tell if it was lottery or alternate (had a ton of alternates). But things look better now than they did a few weeks ago. (Then again, the economy might have just crashed and we're screwed if we're not top 10% of the class at a T9 school)

Did everyone in the top 1/4 waste bids on the V10?

Top quarter bidding on V10 isn't a "waste." This makes me doubt whether you're actually a UVA 3L.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Was one of those top 1/4 students that ended up with few NYC PS's. Ended up with 13 NYC interviews; can't tell if it was lottery or alternate (had a ton of alternates). But things look better now than they did a few weeks ago. (Then again, the economy might have just crashed and we're screwed if we're not top 10% of the class at a T9 school)

Did everyone in the top 1/4 waste bids on the V10?

Top quarter bidding on V10 isn't a "waste." This makes me doubt whether you're actually a UVA 3L.

You're right, I should have said "all of the V10" instead of just "the V10." There are 3-4 that top quarter ppl have a legit shot at. I think Covington, SullCrom, Cravath, Wachtell, and W&C are clearly throw-away bids for top quarter ppl. Cleary is a longshot too. The others are somewhat achievable with a 3.5.

[Anonymous User]

I have a 3.59 and after alternates came in I have interviews at the V4-12. I was an alternate with Sull Crom but it didn't convert. I don't think we're walking into these interviews with no shot . . . Right? Hope I didn't overreach here.

[dgouzoul]

so many questions here are easily answered, but i think the ones that are EASIEST to answer are the ones like

3.xx, Z # of interviews, am i gonna be okay?

It's hard for me to restrain myself from posting which firms you're going to get offers from since it's so predictable

[badwithpseudonyms]

so many questions here are easily answered, but i think the ones that are EASIEST to answer are the ones like

3.xx, Z # of interviews, am i gonna be okay?

It's hard for me to restrain myself from posting which firms you're going to get offers from since it's so predictable

I know. When I answered "Probably not," someone got red carded.

[Cavalier]

I have a 3.59 and after alternates came in I have interviews at the V4-12. I was an alternate with Sull Crom but it didn't convert. I don't think we're walking into these interviews with no shot . . . Right? Hope I didn't overreach here.

Not at all. W&C will be extremely tough, as will Cov (DC), but you're just fine for the other firms in that range. But keep in mind that most of the people you'll be competing against at those firms have your grades or higher, so you can't just expect to coast.