Transfer to NYU - Bid List Criticism

[Anonymous User]

Hey all,

Transferred from T30 to NYU. Old school: top 10%; secondary journal. Hoping to work for a firm whose work (at least tangentially) touches the tech/start-up sectors. No significant work experience, straight through from undergrad. Ties to CA (hence the SF firms). Focusing mainly on NYC (35-40 bids) and secondary on SF (10-15 bids)

We get 50 bids but here are the 20 that I've tentatively ranked.

Ropes & Gray (NY)
Morrison & Foerster (NY)
Latham and Watkins (NY)
Kirkland Ellis (NY)
Cleary (NY)
Sidley (NY)
Covington & Burling (NY)
Pillsbury Winthrop (NY)
Goodwin Procter (NY)
Jones Day (NY)
Simpson Thatcher (NY)
K&L Gates (NY)
WilmerHale (NY)
DLA Piper (NY)
Skadden (NY)
Gibson Dunn (NY)
Mayer Brown (NY)
Cooley (SF)
Foley & Lardner (SF)
Orrick (SF)

Questions: 1) Can I rank the SF firms still lower? (Heard that secondary markets can be bid low and still grabbed). 2) Anyone I'm missing in my top 20 in terms of tough to get screeners?

Criticism is appreciated!

[ryanmot]

Might want to re-think Covington.

[Anonymous User]

I would rank the SF offices high if at all. I ranked some as high as 15 and didn't get a spot. They have small class sizes.

[Anonymous User]

I would rank the SF offices high if at all. I ranked some as high as 15 and didn't get a spot. They have small class sizes.

Oh really? I thought conventional wisdom was to bid on secondary markets later since they would be less bid.

Interesting thanks for the insight.

On that note, who DO you bid low then?

-OP

[Anonymous User]

If you're willing to work in Boston, Goodwin's office there does a good deal of start-up stuff and they have a much larger summer class than the NYC office.

[Anonymous User]

If you're willing to work in Boston, Goodwin's office there does a good deal of start-up stuff and they have a much larger summer class than the NYC office.

I actually would be and I was thinking the same with Ropes. Problem is my ties to Boston are weak at best....

[ryanmot]

Boston firms are notorious for asking about ties etc. If you have no family, never went to school there, then it will be tough. They have a large summer class, but usually the people that end up in it outside of the Boston schools have ties to the area.

(From Boston and went to school in Boston before transfering. Ended up in NYC).

[Anonymous User]

Why avoid Covington? Seems okay to me, albeit a small office. They have at least some tech clients.

I think this looks like a pretty good list, with a wide range of selectiveness.

[Anonymous User]

Any more suggestions for who to move or who I'm missing in my top 20?

-OP