Please critique my bidlist- Median at NYU Forum

[Anonymous User]

Want corporate
3.3 GPA at NYU
First choice is LA, then NY
FYI: I got tired of writing NY on my list. So if it doesn't say LA, then it's NY

Interview skills - probably a B+ with practice. I'm pretty bad. Obviously I will spend all summer practicing but I've been told I'm pretty horrible

Proskauer (NY) 58
Proskauer (LA) LA 21
Paul Hastings (NY) 58
Milbank Tweed (LA) LA 21
Mayer Brown (NY) 51
Orrick (NY) 58
Sidley (LA) LA 21
Skadden (LA) LA 21
Skadden (NY) 96
Sidley (NY) 77
Weil (NY) 77
O'Melveny (LA) LA 21
Goodwin Procter 39
Jones Day (LA) LA 21
Akin Gump (NY) 96
Orrick (SF) 21
McDermott 77
Perkins Coie (NY) 21
Willkie Farr (NY) 134
Latham (LA) LA 42
KL Gates 77
Milbank Tweed 108
Pillsbury (LA) LA 21
Kramer Levin Naftalis 39
Dechert 143
Stroock 115
Jones Day 77
Chadbournde 77
Clifford Chance 77
Cadwalader 164
O'Melveny 77
Cahill 96
Fried 115
King and Spaldin 39
Kaye Scholer 58
Shepard Mullin LA 21
Akin Gump (LA) LA 21
Gibson Dunn LA 42
Davis Polk 192
Greenberg Traurig 39
Simpson Thatcher (LA) LA 21
Simpson Thatcher 154
Latham (NY) 163
Debevoise 154
Baker Botts 20
Binham McCutchen 39
Shearman and Sterling 96
Hogan Lovell 58
Paul Weiss (NY) 173
Cleary 192



Are the last couple too aggressive? I know the last 6 or so are 3.6+ firms.

Also, any safeties/target I'm missing? It's very difficult to get info on this...

[RodneyRuxin]

S&C should be on this list. Take off Perkins.

[Pokemon]

I am not an NYU bro, but still feel like throwing my $.02.

In your position, I would go all in NYU and then maybe as a 3L, with an offer, try to go for LA.


But, if LA is uber important to you, that is fine. What I do not understand however is why are you placing LA firms so high in your bidlist? Is there a big contigent of Los Angelinos in your school? I went to NU, and the rule of thumb used to be that NYU and Chicago firms must be in the top-10 of your bidlist, and then secondary markets would be after that.
I imagine it is the same way at NYU. You can probably get Milbank (LA) or Proskauer (LA) at 10-15, so why bid them this high (2 and 4 respectively)??

[SLS_AMG]

Do you have ties to LA? If you don't, I don't see how you're going to get California from median at NYU. Sorry if that sounds cynical, but I agree with the poster above that you should focus your efforts on NY.

[Anonymous User]

Do you have ties to LA? If you don't, I don't see how you're going to get California from median at NYU. Sorry if that sounds cynical, but I agree with the poster above that you should focus your efforts on NY.

Yes. Grew up in LA, worked here before school and working here for summer.

I am not an NYU bro, but still feel like throwing my $.02.

In your position, I would go all in NYU and then maybe as a 3L, with an offer, try to go for LA.


But, if LA is uber important to you, that is fine. What I do not understand however is why are you placing LA firms so high in your bidlist? Is there a big contigent of Los Angelinos in your school? I went to NU, and the rule of thumb used to be that NYU and Chicago firms must be in the top-10 of your bidlist, and then secondary markets would be after that.
I imagine it is the same way at NYU. You can probably get Milbank (LA) or Proskauer (LA) at 10-15, so why bid them this high (2 and 4 respectively)??

I see where you're coming from. However, my preference for LA is much greater than NY. Thinking abuot doing an overall 15 LA - 35 NY split. Unsure how to set the ratios for my top 10 and 20 though.

I was under the impression that a) smaller class size b) those who want LA will bid LA meant that I would have to bid higher on LA firms. Can anyone confirm if I would be able to get LA firms cleared at a lower level? NU seems different since there aer two makrets aleady (NY and Chi) wheras for NYU the primary market is NYC and the second most bidded market is probably CA (though I'm not sure)
I know Proskauer NY gets cleared pretty high at my school (top 5 or so). I put Proskauer LA at 2 since I figured it would be similar to NY

I'm waiting on career services for feedback, which wil come out probably 3 days before bids are due. This worries me since this won't be ample time to make a good bidlist. They gave me general advice, which was to bid LA higher.


Also, do I have too many grade selective firms? I have STB, Cleary, Weil, Latham, Skadden, DPW, Gibson, Debevoise.

@ sticker so I DO NOT WANT TO STRIKE OUT

[Anonymous User]

S&C should be on this list. Take off Perkins.

I left S&C off since I thought it was a longshot. Why Perkins?

[Tiago Splitter]

I put Proskauer LA at 2 since I figured it would be similar to NY

...

Also, do I have too many grade selective firms? I have STB, Cleary, Weil, Latham, Skadden, DPW, Gibson, Debevoise.

@ sticker so I DO NOT WANT TO STRIKE OUT

There's a good chance Proskauer NY's competitiveness means nothing when it comes to Proskauer LA's. It might, but look at data from past years and you could find that you can bid all the LA firms much lower.

Right now, you need a job more than you need any one firm. Make sure you aren't missing the less grade selective firms that typically make offers to a lot of NYU people because you put them too low on the list. And yeah, I'd only interview with the firms you listed if you can easily land them toward the bottom of the bid list.

As for S&C, any bid on them is wasted.

[Anonymous User]

I was NYU 3.42 last year. I grew up in CA. Undergrad in CA. Worked in CA as a paralegal for 2 years. 5-10 years work experience overall, most in CA. Targeted CA and NYC.

The only callback I got from a CA office was from a connection I made with a partner at that West Coast connection thingy. Not from a screener. And I didn't get an offer from that office either.

Do what you will with that anecdote.

[Anonymous User]

S&C has ~150 summers and consistently dips below median at UChi.

Perkins NY has very few summers.

I'd advise you to stop focusing on the big names (it seems you are doing this regardless of presence in your target market) and focus on who has the most summers in your target market.

[smaug_]

As for S&C, any bid on them is wasted.

yeah sorry, I don't get the people pushing for S&C, they are very grade selective

[Anonymous User]

S&C has ~150 summers and consistently dips below median at UChi.

Perkins NY has very few summers.

I'd advise you to stop focusing on the big names (it seems you are doing this regardless of presence in your target market) and focus on who has the most summers in your target market.

Wait so you're saying I should add in S&C? I know Perkins has less slots but since they are less selective and less desired, I might snag them lower (I might be wrong)

Definitely will take your latter advice though.This is a preliminary list.

There's a good chance Proskauer NY's competitiveness means nothing when it comes to Proskauer LA's. It might, but look at data from past years and you could find that you can bid all the LA firms much lower.

Right now, you need a job more than you need any one firm. Make sure you aren't missing the less grade selective firms that typically make offers to a lot of NYU people because you put them too low on the list. And yeah, I'd only interview with the firms you listed if you can easily land them toward the bottom of the bid list.

As for S&C, any bid on them is wasted.

Where can I get this data? I already called career services and they won't give me any info. I think NYU is much more cryptic about bidding than Columbia (in terms of releasing data).

Does anybody have a list of less grade conscious firm? Is it just most of the V50-V100 with the exception of a certain few firms?

I was NYU 3.42 last year. I grew up in CA. Undergrad in CA. Worked in CA as a paralegal for 2 years. 5-10 years work experience overall, most in CA. Targeted CA and NYC.

The only callback I got from a CA office was from a connection I made with a partner at that West Coast connection thingy. Not from a screener. And I didn't get an offer from that office either.

Do what you will with that anecdote.

Thanks. Question though: When you say CA (for both your ties and screeners/callbacks), do you mean Norcal or Socal? Were your ties to the same city or just CA overall?

[Anonymous User]

OP here
I got mixed up with open slots v. class size....
I get why I should take perkins off now

[dixiecupdrinking]

IMO you need to put NYC "targets" near the top of your list. You should be doing your damndest to get those interviews. E.g. Fried Frank, Cadwalader, Kaye Scholer, Stroock, Chadbourne, K&L Gates, Dechert. You are at a real risk of getting few or none of those if you are bidding them in the 30s or 40s. L.A. is a luxury, and one you might not be able to afford. Getting a job is a necessity.

[Tiago Splitter]

Where can I get this data? I already called career services and they won't give me any info. I think NYU is much more cryptic about bidding than Columbia (in terms of releasing data).

Does anybody have a list of less grade conscious firm? Is it just most of the V50-V100 with the exception of a certain few firms?

At CLS, some of the firms that make a fair number of offers without being overly grade selective include Cadwalader, Cahill, Clifford Chance, Fried Frank, Kaye Scholer, K&E NY, Kramer Levin, Milbank, Paul Hastings, Proskauer, Schulte Roth, Sidley, Willkie, and even Weil.