GULC EIW 2018 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone gotten an offer from BakerHostetler DC? CB was the second week of August. Followed up with the recruiter and haven't gotten a response. do firms ghost people that they brought in for CB?

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else still waiting to hear from Latham NY from OCI?

[Anonymous User]

W&C offer

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else still waiting to hear from Latham NY from OCI?

Probably ghosted. Know someone who accepted an offer from them already - GULC student

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone gotten an offer from BakerHostetler DC? CB was the second week of August. Followed up with the recruiter and haven't gotten a response. do firms ghost people that they brought in for CB?

I know someone who did OCI last year and was ghosted by 2/5 firms for cbs, went to CLS

[Anonymous User]

W&C offer

Do you mean Williams & Connolly or White & Case?

[Anonymous User]

May as well get these started for the future students.

Approx. class rank: frustratingly close to top 1/3
Journal:Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.:No
IP background?:No
Significant work experience?: A lot of work experience, none very prestigious.
#Years out of undergrad: 1
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets:DC NY
Type of work sought: Litigation and/or Regulatory
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong (told so based on multiple practice interviews)
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 1 Callback pre EIW in DC
#Screeners received for EIW: 7 through lottery (overbidding DC does this). Hustled up to 17 through open sign up, outreach, and mass mail. (Picked up mostly NY and some from tiny class size home markets)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 5 - All NY
#Offers received: 2
Offer Accepted: V 50 NY
Other/Commentary: Hustle hard, mass mail early, don't target DC only. DC is a weird market as has been echoed on this blog - never put all your eggs in that basket if you need big law. Struck out with many firms I was well above the 75th GPA in DC. Know others toward the top of the class who either struck out completely in DC or edged by with an undesirable offer (for their personal desires and class rank). Myself and others noticed that GPA was not nearly as predictive as one would hope.

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Top 1/3
Journal: No
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: 3 years
#Years out of undergrad: 3
Prestigious undergrad: Not even close
URM?: No
Other relevant factors: Significant international experience. No foreign language skills. Unique 1L summer gig.
Target markets: NY
Type of work sought: Corporate (particularly cross-border M&A)
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Fairly strong.
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 0
#Screeners received for EIW: 9 through the lottery; 1 more through email
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 4
#Offers received: 3
Offer Accepted: V20 NY
Other/Commentary: I was very specific in what I wanted and bid quite low (about 20 firms) because I was so selective (really too selective for my grades, looking back). I was super lucky and it worked out, but only do that if you are certain of the type of work you want, and even then maybe don't do it. Mass mail early, especially in NY where pre-OCI was a big deal this year. If you know you want corporate, don't worry about journal unless you actually want to be on a journal. Seriously do not waste your time. Not a single person asked about it. I even got an offer from a firm that had "Journal Required for NY" on their hiring criteria list on Symplicity. Also, OCS will make you feel will way more comfortable than you should feel. Don't believe them.

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Middle
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: Two years of firm experience
#Years out of undergrad: 2
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: Yes
Other relevant factors:
Target markets:DC NY
Type of work sought: Litigation
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 1 CB Pre-EIW with DC Firm
#Screeners received for EIW: 18 through lottery; signed up for an additional 2 for a total of 20.
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 7; Mix of DC and NY
#Offers received: 4
Offer Accepted: Decision Pending
Other/Commentary: Don't put all eggs in DC basket and bid wisely w/regard to class size.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone heard from Reed Smith DC?

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Between Top 1/4 and Top 1/3
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: K-JD
#Years out of undergrad: K-JD
Prestigious undergrad: Not that prestigious, but a top school.
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets: NY, D.C.
Type of work sought: Specific type of transactional practice
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong (probably).
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 2 (1 NY Screener, 1 DC Screener, each of which I converted to a CB).
#Screeners received for EIW: 12 through lottery (bid primarily NY with a handful of D.C.). 4 through open sign-up. 6 through MM after lottery results were posted. Total screeners: 22 (although I cancelled 2 after I received my first offer).
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 12 CBs received through EIW interviews. 2 additional CBs received around and during EIW through MM.
#Offers received: 4 (Withdrew from or cancelled the majority of my callbacks after my first offer).
Offer Accepted: Undecided, but likely v10 NY.
Misc: I participated in both OTIP SF and OTIP Chicago. I went 0/6 in SF and 2/4 in Chicago in terms of screener to callback. I have very strong California ties & weaker Chicago ties. I would highly suggest participating in OTIP Chicago, but OTIP SF/LA appears to be challenging unless you're an extraordinary candidate (Top 15%+, strong CA ties, and a decent interviewer). As a general rule, OTIP success (or the lack thereof) does not translate to EIW success. OTIP is technically still pre-OCI, where I imagine grades are substantially less forgiving.
Other/Commentary:

1. Interviewing skills are pretty important. In addition to just being a sociable, likable person in the 20 minute span of a screener, you need to 'sell' your positive traits (e.g. showing that you're collaborative, intellectually-curious, and proactive with work). I benefitted a lot from studying interviewing methods for investment banking (although I would say being likable is more important than seeming impressive as a 2L -- but don't discount the latter entirely). I don't think that it's necessary to ask substantive questions during your interviews; since I was interviewing for a specific area of the law, I went into all of my interviews just knowing that the firm did my practice area. I steered my interviews to be conversational in nature, but I did drop a few 'substantive' lines in them.
2. Summer job: I don't think that your summer job matters too much, but I spent the past summer in a narrow area of the law that translated well to what I wanted to practice. For future 2Ls, it's important to get a job that you can talk about substantively in broad terms (e.g. able to give examples of situations of responsibility or collaboration). Additionally, I strongly advocate for summering where you'd like to practice in the future, so that you'd be a more attractive candidate for pre-EIW CBs. Being a local candidate for the summer will additionally open more opportunities for you to network prior to EIW (I talk about this more below).
3. Mass mailing: I highly advocate MMing irrespective of your stats. I received CB invites pre-oci from firms where I was 25th percentile for GPA-wise. MMing should be done both before and after EIW. If you're risk averse, MM even if you have many CBs in hand until your first offer.
4. Bidding & the Lottery: Bid NY if you're risk averse. In my experience, I went 3/3 in terms of screener:callback for interviews that I had in D.C., but from a numbers perspective, I would advise against bidding D.C. (or any other market other than NY) heavily. I picked up the majority of my interviews through EIW outside of the lottery process. When it comes to picking up additional interviews, your strategy should be two-fold: 1) obsessively refresh the open-sign up page to pick-up interviews (Especially the first few minutes of the start of the open sign-up period -- you should be able to pick up your top two choices that you didn't get if you're diligent); 2) MM the recruiting contacts for the firms that you didn't get an interview with, but that you're in the range for (preferably at least 50th GPA, but ideally 75th+). When the recruiting contact didn't respond, I followed-up with the hiring partner for the office and got additional interviews that way. For posterity sake, firms that have shadow schedules at EIW include: Latham (all offices), Ropes & Gray (all offices), and Proskauer Rose (all offices).
5. Grades: Following up on bidding, you should bid conservatively. I managed to convert nearly all of my EIW screeners where I was at least 50th percentile for to callbacks. On the other hand, I was only able to convert one of my screeners to a CB where I was below the 25th for. EIW is heavily a numbers game. For 1Ls, it goes without saying, but get high grades. The firms with the largest class sizes in NY tend to be the more selective ones.
6. Networking: During the summer, you'll be invited to a lot of receptions. I advocate for attending them. Some receptions will have resume drops, although CBs from these will depend very strongly on your grades (and generally, unless you're top 15%...). I think attending receptions are useful in that it gives you something to talk about during your interviews -- especially for the "Why X firm?" question (e.g. I talked with Associate at the firm reception in July, where I learned...). If a firm that you're very interested in does not have a reception (or if you're not in the city), I suggest emailing a GULC alumnus at the firm. Generally, alumni are happy to arrange informative calls for non-local candidates (and tend to be pretty candid). If you're in the same city, you can arrange a coffee meet-up; attorneys will invariably pick up the bill (they have a specific firm budget for this). For these meetings, you'll benefit from both 1) having something to talk about during EIW; and 2) many firms have formal/informal systems in place that allow associates to forward your resume to recruiting. I've had a friend at a different t14 who received 6-7 CBs this way before his OCI (Although he was top 10%, so take that for what you will). In my experience, NY & SF are especially active pre-OCI markets.

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: top 10%
Journal:Yes (Don't do it unless you want to clerk. It sucks, and it came up in one interview.)
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.:No
IP background?:Kind of, but no interest in IP
Significant work experience?: Military, long time
#Years out of undergrad: decade+
Prestigious undergrad: Yes
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets:Boston, Dallas, San Diego
Type of work sought: Litigation
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Pretty good; it's just a conversation unless the interviewer sucks.
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 3 Callbacks pre EIW in a small non-biglaw market
#Screeners received for EIW: whatever the max was (I think 18) then 2 or 3 where they called me to do the side schedule
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 12: 3 Boston, 4 Dallas, 4 SD, 1 Denver (I did not end up doing all of them since a good offer came fast)
#Offers received: 5
Offer Accepted: V 30 SD
Other/Commentary:

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Median
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: Kind of, but no interest in IP
Significant work experience?: No
#Years out of undergrad: 1-2
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets: NY/DC/CA
Type of work sought: Corporate
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong (I think)
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 2 callbacks pre-EIW
#Screeners received for EIW: 16 (5 were through add/drop or hustling in general)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 10 (cancelled a good amount after I had a couple of offers)
#Offers received: 4
Offer Accepted: V50 CA
Other/Commentary: Grades are important but I'd argue that interviewing skills/being personable and likable is almost as important, if not more important. Was able to land a V15 NYC offer despite my grades because I had my interview down cold.

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: N/A Transfer
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: 1 year work as paralegal for major company
#Years out of undergrad: 1
Prestigious undergrad: Eh.
URM?: Yes
Other relevant factors:
Target markets: NY/DC/DE
Type of work sought: Litigation
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Very strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 2 callbacks pre-EIW
#Screeners received for EIW: 16
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 12 (cancelled most)
#Offers received: 7 (100% offer rate on the callbacks)
Offer Accepted: V5 NY
Other/Commentary: Only filling this out in case any future student is thinking of transferring. It worked out for me, but it was a hustle. I think the things that firms liked about me were my stellar grades (even though they weren't Georgetown) and my ability to interview. I had offers from three v5 firms, a v10, a v20, a v50, and a v100. I also leveraged every single contact that I knew during this process. If I met them at some point in my life and they were an attorney I probably sent them an email. I think that process was very helpful in making sure I didn't get lost in the OCI shuffle, especially as a transfer.

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Top 15%
Journal: Yes, secondary - literally forgot to give half the firms my updated resume with journal
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: No, but internships in ibanking that firms liked
#Years out of undergrad: 0
Prestigious undergrad: State school
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets: DC
Type of work sought: Corporate,
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 3 OTIP screeners
#Screeners received for EIW: 18 (10 lottery + 3 mass mail + 5 open sign up)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 15 (12 EIW + 3 OTIP)
#Offers received: 2 (only went on 4 callbacks, canceled the rest after I got two offers from my top choices)
Offer Accepted: V30 DC
Other/Commentary: Grades get your foot in the door, but interviewing is what gets you callbacks and offers.

E: clarifying that I withdrew before I heard back from my other two callbacks.

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Top 15%
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: No, but a good amount of internships
#Years out of undergrad: 0
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets: DC/Southern California
Type of work sought: Litigation
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Pretty strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: None
#Screeners received for EIW: 13 (12 lottery + 1 open sign up)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 4
#Offers received: 1 (only went on 3 callbacks, canceled the last one after receiving offer from my top choice)
Offer Accepted: V10 SoCal
Other/Commentary: It's a roll of the dice. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

[johndhi]

Good luck everybody!

-former GULC guy who remembers this process.

[Lawstudent3692]

Approx. class rank: Median
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: Kind of, but no interest in IP
Significant work experience?: No
#Years out of undergrad: 1-2
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets: NY/DC/CA
Type of work sought: Corporate
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong (I think)
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 2 callbacks pre-EIW
#Screeners received for EIW: 16 (5 were through add/drop or hustling in general)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 10 (cancelled a good amount after I had a couple of offers)
#Offers received: 4
Offer Accepted: V50 CA
Other/Commentary: Grades are important but I'd argue that interviewing skills/being personable and likable is almost as important, if not more important. Was able to land a V15 NYC offer despite my grades because I had my interview down cold.

Can I ask what firm in CA? Did you get it through OCI or pre?

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: Top 15%
Journal: Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.: No
IP background?: No
Significant work experience?: No
#Years out of undergrad: 0
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors: N/A
Target markets: DC
Type of work sought: Litigation/Regulatory
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Medium to strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 6 screeners and 1 callback
#Screeners received for EIW: 11 (9 lottery and 2 open sign up)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 6
#Offers received: 2 (cancelled one callback after receiving better offer)
Offer Accepted: V50 DC
Other/Commentary: Although I am very happy with where I ended up, I would echo what seems to be the advice of everybody and say do not only bid DC. It was a very stressful experience and having the backup of some NY firms would have been nice. Also make sure to mass-mail, I only ended up getting one callback from it that didn't convert to an offer but having those screeners was invaluable experience and a big reason of why I was able to convert more EIW screeners into CBs.

[Anonymous User]

Wow the top 15% at GULC really like to brag about what they got

[Anonymous User]

Wow the top 15% at GULC really like to brag about what they got

Somebody didn't get an offer this year......

[Mephistopheles09]

W&C offer

Do you mean Williams & Connolly or White & Case?

Williams & Connolly

[Anonymous User]

Approx. class rank: top 10%
Journal:Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.:No
IP background?:No
Significant work experience?: K-JD
#Years out of undergrad: 0
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets:DC; NY
Type of work sought: Litigation
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 1 Callback pre EIW in NY
#Screeners received for EIW: 21 (initially get 15; firms contacted me to do additional screening)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 18, mix of DC and NY; cancelled 5
#Offers received: 11
Offer Accepted: V5 NY
Other/Commentary:

[m052310]

Approx. class rank: top 10%
Journal:Yes
Moot Court, Mock Trial, etc.:No
IP background?:No
Significant work experience?: K-JD
#Years out of undergrad: 0
Prestigious undergrad: No
URM?: No
Other relevant factors:
Target markets:DC; NY
Type of work sought: Litigation
Self-assessed interviewing ability: Strong
#Screeners or callbacks prior to EIW from mass-mailing: 1 Callback pre EIW in NY
#Screeners received for EIW: 21 (initially get 15; firms contacted me to do additional screening)
#Callbacks received from EIW screeners: 18, mix of DC and NY; cancelled 5
#Offers received: 11
Offer Accepted: V5 NY
Other/Commentary:

You actually did 13 callbacks!?! That would have killed me. Good on you for keeping it together for that many.

[Anonymous User]

Wow the top 15% at GULC really like to brag about what they got

Somebody didn't get an offer this year......

I did - going to a v50 in NY. It just seems very unlikely that people next year will actually look at this thread, so the idea of posting your stats seems silly in the first place. And considering they're mainly the top 15% responding, it's really just the best of our class bragging about where they're going and how many offers they got.