3L at CLS. The clerkship office here has been pretty unhelpful and grades are a black box, so I wanted to see if any of you could help me understand my chances at locking down a clerkship.
I'm top 20-30% of the class using the mylsn class rank estimator (depending on the values for median and various percentiles- which are hard to figure out), v5 SA, board of secondary journal, note being published.
Recommendations from 2 profs will be effusive, third will be fine but nothing special.
How much of a shot do I have at a SSC/AIII clerkship? Is it worth it to apply now, or should I wait to apply as an alum? I know SDNY will be about impossible, but any shot at EDNY? Secondary markets?
Clerkship Chances Forum
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WheninLaw
- Posts: 620
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:35 pm
Re: Clerkship Chances
Assuming you are applying for 16-17?Anonymous User wrote:3L at CLS. The clerkship office here has been pretty unhelpful and grades are a black box, so I wanted to see if any of you could help me understand my chances at locking down a clerkship.
I'm top 20-30% of the class using the mylsn class rank estimator (depending on the values for median and various percentiles- which are hard to figure out), v5 SA, board of secondary journal, note being published.
Recommendations from 2 profs will be effusive, third will be fine but nothing special.
How much of a shot do I have at a SSC/AIII clerkship? Is it worth it to apply now, or should I wait to apply as an alum? I know SDNY will be about impossible, but any shot at EDNY? Secondary markets?
With excellent recommendations and a great writing sample, I'd think you'd have an outside shot at less competitive circuits and a decent shot for most district courts. As you already said, SDNY will be very difficult, but not impossible.
Just apply and see what bites. Apply again in a year with work experience if it doesn't go well.
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jbagelboy
- Posts: 10361
- Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:57 pm
Re: Clerkship Chances
16-17 is over
17-18 is still open in some regions, although new york clerkships will be filling up quickly.
you are certainly competitive for district court clerkships, the trick will be timing. if you could send out applications right now you'd have a shot for some 2017 positions that waited to review apps until 3+ semesters were out. If you wait until March you'll be too late and then you'll probably have to hold in silence until around June when interviewing picks up again.
the alternative that might be preferable would be to apply as an alumni clerk and first year associate for 2018-19. Then you get two years at your firm and can use the clerkship as a solid jumping off point to something else.
best of luck!
17-18 is still open in some regions, although new york clerkships will be filling up quickly.
you are certainly competitive for district court clerkships, the trick will be timing. if you could send out applications right now you'd have a shot for some 2017 positions that waited to review apps until 3+ semesters were out. If you wait until March you'll be too late and then you'll probably have to hold in silence until around June when interviewing picks up again.
the alternative that might be preferable would be to apply as an alumni clerk and first year associate for 2018-19. Then you get two years at your firm and can use the clerkship as a solid jumping off point to something else.
best of luck!
