Anonymous User wrote:
I have ok but not incredible WE and undergrad, not IP or URM.
If I had to guess why I'm doing well, I'd say it's because I don't buy into the whole TLS idea that grades/urm/undergrad prestige are the end all be all of law firm hiring. Those things may get you in the door of an interview room, but they will not get you a callback. In my experience, success in this process requires the ability to show that you're charming, articulate and interesting in 20 minutes without making it look like work. The people conducting interviews generally seem more willing to take a chance on someone they would like to work with rather than a kid who just happens to be good at law school exams.
I guess the short answer is that I'm a good interviewer and I don't let the fact that others have better grades than I do affect my performance in this process
Were these all NYC screeners, or is that cumulative (NYC + DC + OCI + mailings)? If just NYC off-campus, then I (and a lot of others) are having trouble understanding how this happened. A top 20%, non-IP, non-URM at WUSTL with 14 NYC screeners and 7 CBs is an incredible anomaly. Obviously things like grades/URM/WE/undergrad are not the be all and end all of law firm hiring, but as you said yourself, they get you in the door of the interview room. Most people with top 20% grades got like 2-4 NYC screeners (or worse), and even people with tippy-top of the class grades often got like 12-14 NYC off-campus interviews. So what gives?
I'm certainly not trying to take away from anything you did, it is mighty impressive. I'm just trying to figure out what you're doing right and I (and everyone else) are doing wrong, and the answer isn't "interview better." Do you know what the secret to your success is? Now that you have an offer, throw a bone to your poor classmates.
