Re: UChicago OCI Alums Answering Questions About the Job Hunt
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:05 pm
I don't even know where to begin with making my bid list... any advice? So many firms, and I don't know anything about any of them.
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Percentiles (non-cumulative):Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone remind us of the
for percentiles, K&E etcexcellent use of AD reference to communicate the word "cutoffs"
Anonymous User wrote:I don't even know where to begin with making my bid list... any advice? So many firms, and I don't know anything about any of them.
Regulus wrote:Quick question: Will our GPA simply be (Grade for Each Class x Number of Credits for Each Class) / Total Number of Credits? Or do they use a weird formula to give us some 155~186 "score" based on the average of our grades?
If they're not coming to OCI, sure. I doubt they communicate.Anonymous User wrote:Is it ok to mass mail different offices of the same firm? I've seen conflicting opinions around TLS. What say ye, UChi OCI alums?
Thank you for the help, I PMed you.Neal Patrick Harris wrote:Slightly hard to pin down considering you're not interested in major markets. Practice area?
Firm strength in various practice areas vary dramatically--it's less likely firms are giant one stop shops in secondary markets.
PM me for more specific info if you're worried about anonymity.
Which market are you an expert on?Neal Patrick Harris wrote:If they're not coming to OCI, sure. I doubt they communicate.Anonymous User wrote:Is it ok to mass mail different offices of the same firm? I've seen conflicting opinions around TLS. What say ye, UChi OCI alums?
I have no experience with this though. I had some success mass mailing but didn't mail different offices of the same firm.
Remember this is at graduation alsobeepboopbeep wrote:Percentiles (non-cumulative):Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone remind us of the
for percentiles, K&E etcexcellent use of AD reference to communicate the word "cutoffs"
182+: 0.5%
180.5+: 7.2%
179+: 22.7%
K&E would presumably depend on grade distribution within our class. But if 180.5% is around 7.7% cumulative, I'd guess it's a shade north of that.
As in which market did I mass mail? I mass mailed NY because most firms I wanted in other markets were coming to OCI.Rahviveh wrote:Which market are you an expert on?Neal Patrick Harris wrote:If they're not coming to OCI, sure. I doubt they communicate.Anonymous User wrote:Is it ok to mass mail different offices of the same firm? I've seen conflicting opinions around TLS. What say ye, UChi OCI alums?
I have no experience with this though. I had some success mass mailing but didn't mail different offices of the same firm.
Totally depends on the year. Last year, K&E cutoff was 180.5; the year before, it was 181 flat. Same goes for LR.beepboopbeep wrote:Percentiles (non-cumulative):Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone remind us of the
for percentiles, K&E etcexcellent use of AD reference to communicate the word "cutoffs"
182+: 0.5%
180.5+: 7.2%
179+: 22.7%
K&E would presumably depend on grade distribution within our class. But if 180.5% is around 7.7% cumulative, I'd guess it's a shade north of that.
2014 wrote:At the risk of sounding condescending, your GPA is whatever firms say it is. If they look at it and turn it into a number, that's what it is, if they plug it into excel, that's what it is. Most people will do the excel approach, but I'm a big proponent of the mindset that your GPA is more of a range than a fixed number. In terms of calculating honors, I'm sure it's excel'd.
K&E is probably 181.5ish, not positive though. Median is likely 177.5 but again, firms have no idea and don't have time to whip out a calculator so you shouldn't concern yourself with whether you are 51st percentile vs 44th or whatever because no one notices or cares. It all looks like median most likely.
The way I've heard it explained (I think by Regulus when I was dumbfounded by the concept) is that we're not actually on a normal distribution.bearsfan23 wrote:2014 wrote:At the risk of sounding condescending, your GPA is whatever firms say it is. If they look at it and turn it into a number, that's what it is, if they plug it into excel, that's what it is. Most people will do the excel approach, but I'm a big proponent of the mindset that your GPA is more of a range than a fixed number. In terms of calculating honors, I'm sure it's excel'd.
K&E is probably 181.5ish, not positive though. Median is likely 177.5 but again, firms have no idea and don't have time to whip out a calculator so you shouldn't concern yourself with whether you are 51st percentile vs 44th or whatever because no one notices or cares. It all looks like median most likely.
Is this true? I thought median was 177.1. Median for every 1L class is 177, then LRW is 178. That's 36 credits at 177, 4 at 178. Not a big deal just want to know if I am missing something here?
Basically this. A couple people get tripped up about this and it hits their confidence. Don't let it. If you're around 177.3 or something, employers still see that as above median (though as 2014 points out, they'll probably just see it as median).Robb wrote:The way I've heard it explained (I think by Regulus when I was dumbfounded by the concept) is that we're not actually on a normal distribution.bearsfan23 wrote:2014 wrote:At the risk of sounding condescending, your GPA is whatever firms say it is. If they look at it and turn it into a number, that's what it is, if they plug it into excel, that's what it is. Most people will do the excel approach, but I'm a big proponent of the mindset that your GPA is more of a range than a fixed number. In terms of calculating honors, I'm sure it's excel'd.
K&E is probably 181.5ish, not positive though. Median is likely 177.5 but again, firms have no idea and don't have time to whip out a calculator so you shouldn't concern yourself with whether you are 51st percentile vs 44th or whatever because no one notices or cares. It all looks like median most likely.
Is this true? I thought median was 177.1. Median for every 1L class is 177, then LRW is 178. That's 36 credits at 177, 4 at 178. Not a big deal just want to know if I am missing something here?
Say you have three people. These are their grades in classes 1, 2, and 3:
A: 177 180 177
B: 177 177 180
C: 180 177 177
The median for each classes is a 177. However, the median GPA for the class as a whole is actually a 178.
So, if grades are distributed more broadly above the 177 median than below (say the distribution is something like 176 177 177 177 177 177 177 178 178 179 179 179 180), the median GPA is going to be above 177 even though the median grade in each class is 177.
Sure hope LR cutoff is lower this year since I'm sitting in the lower end of the typical range. What % of the class grades on?WheninLaw wrote:Totally depends on the year. Last year, K&E cutoff was 180.5; the year before, it was 181 flat. Same goes for LR.beepboopbeep wrote:Percentiles (non-cumulative):Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone remind us of the
for percentiles, K&E etcexcellent use of AD reference to communicate the word "cutoffs"
182+: 0.5%
180.5+: 7.2%
179+: 22.7%
K&E would presumably depend on grade distribution within our class. But if 180.5% is around 7.7% cumulative, I'd guess it's a shade north of that.
Outliers matter a lot as a 1L and there are more high outliers than low by the nature of our system. Most people will have a smattering of grades around Median and 1 that is high and it will drag their total GPA over 177. Teachers can/do seem to use 180+ more than 174- so it's a necessary result. I heard a well known teacher say one time that we were the only school that manages to make like 75% of the class above median.bearsfan23 wrote:2014 wrote:At the risk of sounding condescending, your GPA is whatever firms say it is. If they look at it and turn it into a number, that's what it is, if they plug it into excel, that's what it is. Most people will do the excel approach, but I'm a big proponent of the mindset that your GPA is more of a range than a fixed number. In terms of calculating honors, I'm sure it's excel'd.
K&E is probably 181.5ish, not positive though. Median is likely 177.5 but again, firms have no idea and don't have time to whip out a calculator so you shouldn't concern yourself with whether you are 51st percentile vs 44th or whatever because no one notices or cares. It all looks like median most likely.
Is this true? I thought median was 177.1. Median for every 1L class is 177, then LRW is 178. That's 36 credits at 177, 4 at 178. Not a big deal just want to know if I am missing something here?
You will grade-on to LR, and all of these firms are in reach. Being a K&E scholar (if you become one) will do wonders at MTO. Nobody will care about the "weird mix" of grades. I had similar grades and targeted CA/DC, so happy to help in PM.Anonymous User wrote:Joining the aspie train. 181 flat, 2 years shitty WE. Did writing comp but who knows. Would any of these firms be wasted bids? Targeting lit/reg in DC or CA.
Boies DC
Cleary DC
Covington
Gibson DC/LA
MTO
Sidley DC
W&C
Also, regarding GPA: if we have a weird mix of median (177-179) and higher 180s (183-184), is that going to look worse than someone who has straight lower 180s (180-182) but has the same approximate GPA? Either for OCI or clerkship applications?
-Septimus Warren Smith