Drop out? Forum

[Anonymous User]

T20, Top 1/3, LR, no W/E, and struck out. Drop out?

[Anonymous User]

T20, Top 1/3, LR, no W/E, and struck out. Drop out?

Debt level?

[polinerdemory]

90k for all three years.

[09042014]

90k for all three years.

Backup career?

[CanadianWolf]

Top third at a T-20 with law review suggests that you're in the right field. Try to find internships or externships whether paid or unpaid.

[quakpond]

I think it depends on whether you have anything else to do if you dropped out now.

If no, I would stay. I think you can still do it. There are still smaller law firm opportunities out there.

[zomginternets]

do you like being in law school, and want to practice law?

[Mick Haller]

I say drop out if you have a useful UG degree like accounting or econ.

[okinawa]

.

[keg411]

I hope I don't derail your thread, OP, but this is why every single 1L reading this should have contingency plans in case getting a SA doesn't work; and if you don't get a 1L SA, 1L summer is a great opportunity to look into other types of legal work and make connections outside of BigLaw -- whether it be a small firm, gov't (fed or local), prosecutor/PD, etc. And you should have a pretty decent idea what you're competitive for based on your grades, school, other experiences, etc. by the end of 1L.

And if you decide "drop out" is your contingency, you should at least have some sort of plan for that as well -- what do you want to do that's "not law" and how can you best go about doing that? Waiting until after you strike out to make that decision isn't going to be good for you in the long run.

To OP: I don't think you're totally screwed, since you have good grades at a good school + LR. But you need to figure out something else you're interested in besides BigLaw. $90k for three years isn't great, but it isn't terrible either.

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

Not OP, but can I ask your secret to such mass-mail success? I mass-mailed ridiculous amounts with decently competitive stats, and have little to show for it.

[3ThrowAway99]

T20, Top 1/3, LR, no W/E, and struck out. Drop out?

T20 as in MN or T20 as in UCLA? Just curious. I would stick with it even though it blows in many ways, but that is just me.

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

Stats and when did you mass mail those firms?

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

Not OP, but can I ask your secret to such mass-mail success? I mass-mailed ridiculous amounts with decently competitive stats, and have little to show for it.

I mean, it's not some crazy secret or anything, just strategizing how to maximize your chances of being noticed. Here's what worked for me (I did a much more scaled down version of this though, because I was lazy):
1. Make your list of NALP firms/go to Chambers and list out all the firms strong at practice areas you are interested in. Firms in major cities (NY/DC/Chicago/LA etc.) are still evidently hiring, so go for those for now. Definitely at least get all the V100 and probably everything on NALP for the geographic areas you are interested in.
2. Go to NALP to get the information for the hiring partner and recruiting contact. Address your email to the hiring partner, CCing the recruiting contact.
If there are multiple hiring partners listed, DEFINITELY seek out the ones you have something in common with and emphasize the common ties in your email (both offers I got, I had schools in common with the hiring partners, which probably got me noticed in the first place -- but this is obviously not necessary). Alums want to help students at their alma maters.
3. Create at least semi-targeted cover letters (mine weren't really targeted but just acknowledged an interest in whatever broad practice area -- lit/corp/reg -- the firm seemed to be strongest at, and framed my experience accordingly; so basically, I had three sets of letters). Put the cover letter in the body of the email, attach your resume and transcript. Don't be afraid to let your cover letters be a little braggy -- play up your strengths as much as possible (including in the email subject line; e.g. "UCLA Law Review 2L Summer Associate Application").
Mention that you will be in the city on dates x-y even if you aren't (because, you know, you WILL be in the city on x-y dates if you get a callback, so not a lie).
4. Save the email drafts. Send them around mid-morning (9:30-10 am) for the timezone you are targeting (addressed to partner, cc to recruiting contact, as I mentioned).

PROFIT?

If you have already mass-mailed most of the places that you would come up with under my method (as you probably have), just change 'applying for' to 'following up on application for' and keep the rest the same as described above. DEFINITELY FOLLOW UP.
Also, no shame in re-applying to places you already got rejections from (esp. to different offices of those firms).
If anyone would like to set up alt ID so you could PM me cover letters to look over, I'd be happy to do that.

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

Stats and when did you mass mail those firms?

T10, top 1/3rd, sometime in the past couple weeks.

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

Stats and when did you mass mail those firms?

T10, top 1/3rd, sometime in the past couple weeks.

Very helpful stuff. I have basically been doing the same, (emailing in those hours, practice based, personalized) but instead of e-mailing partners, I e-mailed recruiting coordinators. Not as much luck as you so far, but one can keep on hoping. I am tempted to e-mail some of the firms that rejected me on the screener stage, especially if I hear rumors about them hiring. Any opinions on that, one side of me feels stupid to go ahead on the basis of a TLS rumor, but on the other hand, what do I lose?

[Anonymous User]

I got TWO V50 offers in primary markets today, from CBs within the last week. Mass-mail the heck out of everything.

If you can make an alternate ID, I'll message you mass-mailing strategies to that account.
There are also non-SA gigs you could be considering.

Stats and when did you mass mail those firms?

T10, top 1/3rd, sometime in the past couple weeks.

Very helpful stuff. I have basically been doing the same, (emailing in those hours, practice based, personalized) but instead of e-mailing partners, I e-mailed recruiting coordinators. Not as much luck as you so far, but one can keep on hoping. I am tempted to e-mail some of the firms that rejected me on the screener stage, especially if I hear rumors about them hiring. Any opinions on that, one side of me feels stupid to go ahead on the basis of a TLS rumor, but on the other hand, what do I lose?

Exactly, what do you stand to lose? I did that, didn't get any positive responses, but that's no reason to NOT do it. ESPECIALLY for other offices.

[Anonymous User]

Was it usually partners who would contact you or recruiters?

[Anonymous User]

Was it usually partners who would contact you or recruiters?

about evenly split.

[Anonymous User]

Was it usually partners who would contact you or recruiters?

+1, I am wondering what role hiring partners play in the initial screening stage. after all, they are practicing attorneys.

Also, have u gotten any screeners from non-alum? wud u reccomend e-mailing non-alum hiring partner over regular alum partner with a cc to recruitng?

[Anonymous User]

Was it usually partners who would contact you or recruiters?

+1, I am wondering what role hiring partners play in the initial screening stage. after all, they are practicing attorneys.

Also, have u gotten any screeners from non-alum? wud u reccomend e-mailing non-alum hiring partner over regular alum partner with a cc to recruitng?

Yeah, I got screeners (or rather CBs, because firms rarely bother with screeners at this point) from non-alums. I'm lucky enough to have schools with alumni networks vast enough to cover hiring partners at a great number of firms between my law and undergrad schools, but the responses haven't come exclusively from those.

I'd say stick with hiring partners, as identified by NALP. You could reach out to other alumni just as networking contacts though.

[thesteelers]

Don't drop out. If you network this year, you'll have a chance at 3L OCI.

Edit: A slim chance. My advice is based on people I know who did this and got something through 3L OCI.

[deebs]

I am you one year ago (same everything except top 25%). I have more debt and did not drop out. I should have, even though I would have struggled to find a job with a finance/econ degree from a craptastic undergrad. If you have strong family connections to law, then it is probably worth staying. If you have a useful undergrad degree from a well regarded school, apply to what you want to do over winter break. If you don't find a job or can't get interviews, then you have a hard decision to make. HTH, signed - unemployed & no hope 3L.

[Aberzombie1892]

Without more information, I would say drop out.