Final OCI results: 2011 Version Forum

[Anonymous User]

School: T14
Market(s): both coasts
Approximate class rank: just above median
Law review: no
Work experience: 1 year
IP background: no
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): no
Screening Interviews: 32
Mass mails: 40+
Callbacks received: 21
Callbacks accepted: 10
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 v5, 3 v10, 2 v20, 1 v50
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: almost all of the mass mails
Thank-you notes sent: to my first callback (got offer), then stopped because it was too laborious. i think it makes zero difference

Ok, there absolutely has to be something beyond the listed criteria that would explain such stellar results from median grades. Anything you can think of? Are you just an inanely good interviewer?

[Anonymous User]

School: T14
Market(s): both coasts
Approximate class rank: just above median
Law review: no
Work experience: 1 year
IP background: no
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): no
Screening Interviews: 32
Mass mails: 40+
Callbacks received: 21
Callbacks accepted: 10
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 v5, 3 v10, 2 v20, 1 v50
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: almost all of the mass mails
Thank-you notes sent: to my first callback (got offer), then stopped because it was too laborious. i think it makes zero difference

Ok, there absolutely has to be something beyond the listed criteria that would explain such stellar results from median grades. Anything you can think of? Are you just an inanely good interviewer?

insanely or inanely, i really don't think so at all. i just wanted to post to give some hope out there to current 1Ls and to 2Ls who are still looking.

[Anonymous User]

School: T14
Market(s): both coasts
Approximate class rank: just above median
Law review: no
Work experience: 1 year
IP background: no
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): no
Screening Interviews: 32
Mass mails: 40+
Callbacks received: 21
Callbacks accepted: 10
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 v5, 3 v10, 2 v20, 1 v50
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: almost all of the mass mails
Thank-you notes sent: to my first callback (got offer), then stopped because it was too laborious. i think it makes zero difference

Ok, there absolutely has to be something beyond the listed criteria that would explain such stellar results from median grades. Anything you can think of? Are you just an inanely good interviewer?

insanely or inanely, i really don't think so at all. i just wanted to post to give some hope out there to current 1Ls and to 2Ls who are still looking.

By T14, do you really mean HYS or T6? if not, then there must be some other special factor. Barely above median at a lower T14 generally won't cut it for V10s.

[Anonymous User]

School: T14
Market(s): both coasts
Approximate class rank: just above median
Law review: no
Work experience: 1 year
IP background: no
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): no
Screening Interviews: 32
Mass mails: 40+
Callbacks received: 21
Callbacks accepted: 10
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 v5, 3 v10, 2 v20, 1 v50
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: almost all of the mass mails
Thank-you notes sent: to my first callback (got offer), then stopped because it was too laborious. i think it makes zero difference

Ok, there absolutely has to be something beyond the listed criteria that would explain such stellar results from median grades. Anything you can think of? Are you just an inanely good interviewer?

insanely or inanely, i really don't think so at all. i just wanted to post to give some hope out there to current 1Ls and to 2Ls who are still looking.

By T14, do you really mean HYS or T6? if not, then there must be some other special factor. Barely above median at a lower T14 generally won't cut it for V10s.

T10.

[Anonymous User]

Well, there obviously has to be something to it, whether you consciously perceive it or not. I'm at a T6, and no one at median was racking up multiple V5 offers absent some special factor or credential.

[Anonymous User]

Not the above poster, but there are several 2L I've talked to at my T10 that are around median with 1 or more V5 offers. At least two off the top of my head do not have significant work experience, or qualify as a diversity candidate.

[Anonymous User]

Well, there obviously has to be something to it, whether you consciously perceive it or not. I'm at a T6, and no one at median was racking up multiple V5 offers absent some special factor or credential.

as cliché as it is, i think being yourself is the most important thing because you aren't going to do well at a place where you don't fit in. don't try to be someone you're not (i came really close to making stuff up to fit the flexible profile better but didn't: i told them i wanted lit and that's what i'm getting). i had good undergrad grades and had a specific story about the type of practice I wanted to do in the future, but had no ties to where i ended up (NY).

[Anonymous User]

School: Transferred from TTT to BU/BC
Market: Boston
Class Rank: top 7% at TTT
Journal: None
Work experience: Lots
IP Background: No
Mass mail interviews: 0
Callbacks received: 5
Callbacks accepted: 5
Offers: 0
Rejections: Rejected by everyone

Edited for proper # of callbacks received. Sorry about that.

Was your TTT in Boston as well?
Does your TTT usually place anyone (even if its only the tippy top of the class) in biglaw?
Did you have any prior legal work experience?

[Blindmelon]

School: Transferred from TTT to BU/BC
Market: Boston
Class Rank: top 7% at TTT
Journal: None
Work experience: Lots
IP Background: No
Mass mail interviews: 0
Callbacks received: 5
Callbacks accepted: 5
Offers: 0
Rejections: Rejected by everyone

Edited for proper # of callbacks received. Sorry about that.

Was your TTT in Boston as well?
Does your TTT usually place anyone (even if its only the tippy top of the class) in biglaw?
Did you have any prior legal work experience?

Sorry to say it, but 0 for 5 sounds like you might need to brush up on interviewing skills. Or... as this poster is alluding to, it could be a ties to Boston issue... or they could have just treated you as a top 7% at your old school (I'm guessing Suffolk) - and so top 7% doesn't give you a great shot at biglaw anyway. In all, that sucks man - but don't give up. At BU, at least 5 people got jobs through 3L OCI with bigfirms... not many, but theres still a shot.

[Anonymous User]

School: TT
Market(s): NYC, Chi, DC, Bos and school's market (secondary)
Approximate class rank: Median
Law review: Yes
Work experience: Yes
IP background: Yes
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): URM, right undergrad, great WE.
Screening Interviews: 17 (including job fairs)
Mass mails: none
Callbacks received: 5 (1 from resume collect came too late I turned it down)
Callbacks accepted: 4
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 V100 (HOLYLUCKYMOTHERFUCKER)
Rejections: Everyone else

[Anonymous User]

School: T-14
Market(s): Was, NYC, a few secondaries
Approximate class rank: 20%
Law review: Yes
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No
Screening Interviews: 35
Mass mails: 23
Callbacks received: 6
Callbacks accepted: 6
Offers: 2
Rejections: Everyone else, didn't hear from some mass-mails
Thank yous: no correlation with results
Dress: conservative, as per recommendations

Posting as a cautionary tale that grades are often necessary, but rarely sufficient to guarantee great results in this process.

Got a market-paying offer in the end that I'm happy with, but I think a lot of public service work on my resume and mistakes in interviews hurt me early in the process. Don't shoot for too narrow a practice area and try not to be awkward, I guess.

[IAFG]

School: T-14
Market(s): Was, NYC, a few secondaries
Approximate class rank: 20%
Law review: Yes
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No
Screening Interviews: 35
Mass mails: 23
Callbacks received: 6
Callbacks accepted: 6
Offers: 2
Rejections: Everyone else, didn't hear from some mass-mails
Thank yous: no correlation with results
Dress: conservative, as per recommendations

Posting as a cautionary tale that grades are often necessary, but rarely sufficient to guarantee great results in this process.

Got a market-paying offer in the end that I'm happy with, but I think a lot of public service work on my resume and mistakes in interviews hurt me early in the process. Don't shoot for too narrow a practice area and try not to be awkward, I guess.

I don't think this is anywhere near as rare as this thread would suggest. This thread heavily skews toward people sharing their victories.

[Anonymous User]

School: T-14
Market(s): Was, NYC, a few secondaries
Approximate class rank: 20%
Law review: Yes
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No
Screening Interviews: 35
Mass mails: 23
Callbacks received: 6
Callbacks accepted: 6
Offers: 2
Rejections: Everyone else, didn't hear from some mass-mails
Thank yous: no correlation with results
Dress: conservative, as per recommendations

Posting as a cautionary tale that grades are often necessary, but rarely sufficient to guarantee great results in this process.

Got a market-paying offer in the end that I'm happy with, but I think a lot of public service work on my resume and mistakes in interviews hurt me early in the process. Don't shoot for too narrow a practice area and try not to be awkward, I guess.

I had almost exactly the same results. t14 top 15-20%, got shut out of OCI and had to rely on connections to get a market paying nonvault job. Still pretty fuckin stoked, but my tale should definitely serve as a cautionary one for others.

[Helmholtz]

School: T-14
Market(s): Was, NYC, a few secondaries
Approximate class rank: 20%
Law review: Yes
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No
Screening Interviews: 35
Mass mails: 23
Callbacks received: 6
Callbacks accepted: 6
Offers: 2
Rejections: Everyone else, didn't hear from some mass-mails
Thank yous: no correlation with results
Dress: conservative, as per recommendations

Posting as a cautionary tale that grades are often necessary, but rarely sufficient to guarantee great results in this process.

Got a market-paying offer in the end that I'm happy with, but I think a lot of public service work on my resume and mistakes in interviews hurt me early in the process. Don't shoot for too narrow a practice area and try not to be awkward, I guess.

I don't think this is anywhere near as rare as this thread would suggest. This thread heavily skews toward people sharing their victories.

+1

[Anonymous User]

NU
Market(s): NY & Chi
Approximate class rank: top 10-15% (we don't have class rank, so can't say for sure)
Law review: No
Work experience: 2-3 yrs, finance
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): Non-URM minority, did a minority job fair; strong ties Chi, weak ties NYC
Screening Interviews: 34
Mass mails: No
Callbacks received: 22
Callbacks accepted: 14
Offers w/vault ranges: 5 total (3 V10, 2 V15)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? None
Thank-you notes sent: Only when I was particularly interested in the firm, but I don't think these mattered much

[Anonymous User]

School: UCLA/USC
Market(s): LA/Orange County
Approximate class rank: Top 5%
Law review: Y
Work experience: 2 years (and 2 in-house legal internships)
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): 1L V40 SA (non-diversity)
Screening Interviews: 10
Mass mails: 0
Callbacks received: 10
Callbacks accepted: 8
Offers w/vault ranges: 8 (2 v5, 2 v10, 3 v20, 1 v30) (*also had offer to return to previous V40 employer for 2L summer)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: 0
Thank-you notes sent: A few if I really connected with someone.

[Anonymous User]

School: Midwest t1
Market(s): Chicago, secondary markets and other smaller markets
Approximate class rank: Top half
Law review: secondary
Work experience: straight from UG (good 1L summer experience though)
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No
Screening Interviews: 7
Mass mails: 20+
Callbacks received: 0
Callbacks accepted: 0
Offers w/vault ranges: 0
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: 2

[Grizz]

School: TT
Approximate class rank: Median
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 V100 (HOLYLUCKYMOTHERFUCKER)

To be fair, you have the quadfecta (WE, IP, LR, URM). But well done homie.

[Anonymous User]

School*: T25
Market(s): LA/SF/NY
Approximate class rank: 40%
Law review: N
Work experience: Lots
IP background: Y
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): Told I interview well.
Screening Interviews: 18
Mass mails: 50+
Callbacks received: 4
Callbacks accepted: 4
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 (V40)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? From OCI/Job Fairs 8 just didn't respond, even after multiple follow-ups at 2-3 week intervals. The vast majority of the mass mails did not respond.
Thank-you notes sent: Every interviewer/recruiter at each firm.

[Anonymous User]

School: T20
Approximate class rank: Bottom Quartile
Law review: Secondary
Work experience: Yes, after 1L year. However, different firm than the firm I will be working at next summer.
IP background: Y
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): Advanced Technical Degree
Screening Interviews: 20+
Mass mails: 200+
Callbacks received: 4
Callbacks accepted: 4
Offers: 1 (mid-sized firm)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? Lots from mass mails. A couple from the Loyola PLIP program. Everyone from school's OCI got back to me.
Thank-you notes sent: Every interviewer/recruiter at each firm.

[Anonymous User]

School: DCNG
Market(s): wide net in mid-atlantic primary and secondary markets
Approximate class rank: bottom 30%
Law review: No
Work experience: ~5 years
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): No
Screening Interviews: 30+
Mass mails: 50-60
Callbacks received: 1 non-Vault from OCI, 2 non-Vault from massmails
Callbacks accepted: 3
Offers w/vault ranges: 2 non-Vault
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? They're still trickling in. 3 or 4 screeners from OCI never rejected me. I sent "update emails" to all my OCI firms twice, and they didn't say anything. Before I accepted my offer I updated them again telling them I had a decision to make and at that point they told me that I was rejected. In fact, when I emailed my favorite massmail firms and told them I had an offer but was still interested, they suddenly were willing to entertain the idea of giving me interviews. Having one offer can really be a golden ticket. I noticed the same phenomenon when I told firms I had a CB in a secondary. One firm's endorsement can help a lot.
Thank-you notes sent: One to a recruiter at the CB firm I didn't get an offer from.

[Anonymous User]

School*: T10
Market(s): NYC, Secondary
Approximate class rank: Middle 1/3. Possibly median-ish.
Law review: Lol, no. Secondary J.
Work experience: Yes
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): Rushed some of my CBs and screeners into making a decision since I got an exploding offer early so this probably had somewhat of a negative impact.
Screening Interviews: aprox. 40
Mass mails: 7 of the screeners were from mass mails
Callbacks received: 5
Callbacks accepted: 5
Offers w/vault ranges: 2. Fuck vault, money is money.
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? Dunno, maybe 5
Thank-you notes sent: All CBs.

[Anonymous User]

School: transfer from T30 --> DCNG
Market(s): Chicago
Approximate class rank: 10% (at old school)
Law review: wrote on to LR at old school, secondary at new school
Work experience: N
IP background: N
Anything else that might have an impact? (diversity, etc. or whatever, really): N
Screening Interviews: ~25
Mass mails: ~50
Callbacks received: 4
Callbacks accepted: 4
Offers w/ vault ranges: 1 (V100)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? under 10
Thank-you notes sent: N

Couldn't be happier with where I ended up, and I'm extremely fortunate and grateful. Very seriously considered dropping out at one point, but one offer can obviously change everything. Absolute best of luck to everyone still looking.

[Anonymous User]

School: T20 (UT/Vandy/UCLA/USC)
Market(s): DC/BOS
Approximate class rank: Top-40%
Law review: No, secondary journal
Work experience: Yes, 3 years substantive/relevant WE
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact?: Minority...but not the URM kind.
Screening Interviews: 2 OCI, 10-15 job fair interviews.
Mass mails: 10-20
Callbacks received: 13
Callbacks accepted: 6
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 V5, 1 V20, 1 V80, and 1 non-Vault.
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? Only ones that didn't get back to me were the mass-mails. I think, all but one or two mass-mails never got back to me.
Thank-you notes sent: Always sent thank you notes to my call back interviewers...but only by email. Never sent handwritten notes.

I believe that my work experience was the biggest factor in getting offers.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

School: T20 (UT/Vandy/UCLA/USC)
Market(s): DC/BOS
Approximate class rank: Top-40%
Law review: No, secondary journal
Work experience: Yes, 3 years substantive/relevant WE
IP background: No
Anything else that might have an impact?: Minority...but not the URM kind.
Screening Interviews: 2 OCI, 10-15 job fair interviews.
Mass mails: 10-20
Callbacks received: 13
Callbacks accepted: 6
Offers w/vault ranges: 1 V5, 1 V20, 1 V80, and 1 non-Vault.
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback? Only ones that didn't get back to me were the mass-mails. I think, all but one or two mass-mails never got back to me.
Thank-you notes sent: Always sent thank you notes to my call back interviewers...but only by email. Never sent handwritten notes.

I believe that my work experience was the biggest factor in getting offers.

Congrats on your Skadden offer!