Bottom of Class T-14 Job Thread Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hang in there guys!! I know it's hard, but push through this.

Bottom third is a hard place. If an offer does not materialize is everyone willing to hang in for 2L. Your 2L grades should improve (with the elimination of the curve).

Admittedly, TLS lore is a bit mixed on how people fare if they have not secured an offer this go-around. Some claim your odds greatly diminish while others note that they have secured great offers. So, will a strong uptick in grades be of great help, or not?

My situation is very different but I can share my experience. I received an offer from a lower V100. The next year I killed classes (2L year). After my summer, I was able to get an offer (as a 3L) from a V10 in primary market. Extreme example, but just shows you that huge jumps can happen if you keep plugging at it.

Mind if I ask what you mean by killing it? What were your grades before and after, or what was your approximate ranking before/after, or something like that?

[Anonymous User]

checking in with some positive news:

3.0X at Columbia/NYU (don't know where that puts me, but most definitely below 1/3, probably closer to bottom 1/5).
7 callbacks, so far 1 V30 offer, haven't heard back from the rest (all NYC).
I'm not an under represented minority, also pretty much straight through from college. Personally I thought what worked was just being incredibly confident; I walked in all the interviews with the attitude that I was top 1/5, not bottom 1/5. If they buy it they buy it, and if they don't they would have dinged me for my grades anyway. I also recognize I'm very lucky, and I'm very grateful for my offer. Just wanted to let you guys know its not impossible. Good luck to the rest of you.

[Anonymous User]

I'm assuming to get do well at 3L OCI you would need at least a V100 firm for this summer. Am I wrong?

[Anonymous User]

Bottom 1/3 at MVP - bid a 70/30 DC/NYC split for OCR. 1 offer from a V50 in NYC, 2 from v70 firms in DC. It's doable, guys!

[Anonymous User]

Bottom 1/3 at lower T14.

20 Screeners - 1 CB - 1 Offer

All I needed was one. (but that was close)

[Anonymous User]

Way below bottom 1/3 at lower T14. 2 callbacks. Radio silence so far.

[Anonymous User]

NVM.

[Anonymous User]

tbh if you have a 3.2 or so you are likely bottom 1/3 at any t14 but aren't exactly in super-fucked territory if you go to like ccn. I have a 2.9 at mvp and have 0 cbs so far, did mass mail/fairs/talked with head of career services/bid strategically, etc. Just got a personalized ding from a partner telling me that I shouldn't be discouraged at this point, so I don't think I was a complete fuckup interviewing-wise, just super shitty grades

TL; DR-- how are other sub-3.0 people doing?

[Anonymous User]

Checking in for 1st time. Glad someone started this thread.
Lower T14, 3.2ish gpa, straight out of college (Ivy where I had very high gpa)
Semi urm.
22 screeners, 3 cb's, 3 more cb's to do; no offers, no rejections.
Plenty of rejections post screeners. Still waiting to hear from about 6 firms.
Not looking pretty at this point.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone hoping that the laws of mathematics will save someone ranked at the bottom third/fourth of their class is delusional. Welcome to the ’12 job market.

i hate the negativity i encounter in here.

MVPB 3.17...bottom 35-40%....6 callbacks, 3 offers so far in nyc. one v25, 2 v75....definitely possible if you are a good interviewer and have the goods. also, everyone please remember that it is september 8th. over the next month many of you will hear from firms with good news.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone hoping that the laws of mathematics will save someone ranked at the bottom third/fourth of their class is delusional. Welcome to the ’12 job market.

i hate the negativity i encounter in here.

MVPB 3.17...bottom 35-40%....6 callbacks, 3 offers so far in nyc. one v25, 2 v75....definitely possible if you are a good interviewer and have the goods. also, everyone please remember that it is september 8th. over the next month many of you will hear from firms with good news.

MVP around the same rank. 14 CB, 1 V50, 1 ding so far. Bid everywhere, CB everywhere (ties or no ties). WE (what you have to offer) and personality (how you fit) matters more at many firms it seems. Although I'd also admit grades will bar you at some other firms.

[Anonymous User]

3.1 at columbia/nyu, straight out of undergrad(non-ivy public school), no impressive work experience or skills like arabic or mandarin. two CBs, radio silence ever since. sigh......................................

[Anonymous User]

checking in with some positive news:

3.0X at Columbia/NYU (don't know where that puts me, but most definitely below 1/3, probably closer to bottom 1/5).
7 callbacks, so far 1 V30 offer, haven't heard back from the rest (all NYC).
I'm not an under represented minority, also pretty much straight through from college. Personally I thought what worked was just being incredibly confident; I walked in all the interviews with the attitude that I was top 1/5, not bottom 1/5. If they buy it they buy it, and if they don't they would have dinged me for my grades anyway. I also recognize I'm very lucky, and I'm very grateful for my offer. Just wanted to let you guys know its not impossible. Good luck to the rest of you.

congrats on offer! can u say where at?

[Anonymous User]

Bottom 1/3 at MVP checking in to share some good vibes.
12 screeners, 6 callbacks, so far 1 offer from an NYC V30 (have yet to hear from rest). Don't give up hope! It's doable and far from over.

[Anonymous User]

Is everyone in here with good results at 3.1-3.2 or so? I'm sub-3.0 at MVP with nothing so far...

[Anonymous User]

I'm CCN, I'm pretty sure below 20% (maybe even 15%), between 3.0 and 3.1. I had 6 callbacks, and have an offer at Vault 100 so far. However, I had a lot of job experience and interview really well. (Though 2 rejections after callbacks, and I cancelled one callback interview). I have a feeling that even at callbacks my grades played a significant factor, but you will find people that don't care about grades and will fight for you at the firm meeting if they like you. In this case, it was just making a good connection - I don't mean sucking up to the interviewers - i mean showing them that you're a real personable person that they would enjoy working with. Be able to have a genuine conversation with them as if they're regular people and be genuinely interested in them as people and what they have to say. This sounds obvious - I don't mean this in a condescending way - it can actually be really difficult to do this in a stressful situation when there's a lot on the line. (I'm inferring from what I was told, that conversational skills is really helpful).

[Anonymous User]

Lower T14 here, below median, gp 3.2. Had 21 screeners, only 5 cb's and one V100 offer (still waiting to hear from 4 of my cb's). I agree that conversation skills played a part. No significant WE.
But, I might be considered urm by some (not sure)

[Anonymous User]

Very low 3.1, CLS/NYU, offers from 1 V5, 4 V20-50, 2 V100. Cancelled remaining callbacks.

Non-law WE, non-law grad degree. Career services made me feel unemployable with my GPA, and I think that motivated me to prove them wrong. Just practice interviewing, research the firms like your job depends on it (and/or it's an exam, which is how I treated each and every callback), and act like you want to be at the firm without being desperate. A healthy interest/enthusiasm can go a long way. My friends with honors designations told me that I have a super high EQ, which translates into connecting with people well. Don't know how accurate it is, but I did my best to have a fantastic conversation with every single interviewer. I didn't necessarily do this, but other successful friends told me that they conceptualized their firm interviews as if they were second dates with incredible people, and that strategy worked for them.

It's possible. Truly, it's possible. Best of luck!

[Anonymous User]

Hang in there guys!! I know it's hard, but push through this.

Bottom third is a hard place. If an offer does not materialize is everyone willing to hang in for 2L. Your 2L grades should improve (with the elimination of the curve).

Admittedly, TLS lore is a bit mixed on how people fare if they have not secured an offer this go-around. Some claim your odds greatly diminish while others note that they have secured great offers. So, will a strong uptick in grades be of great help, or not?

My situation is very different but I can share my experience. I received an offer from a lower V100. The next year I killed classes (2L year). After my summer, I was able to get an offer (as a 3L) from a V10 in primary market. Extreme example, but just shows you that huge jumps can happen if you keep plugging at it.

Mind if I ask what you mean by killing it? What were your grades before and after, or what was your approximate ranking before/after, or something like that?

I'd be really interested in this as well. Coming from CCN, I have a V100 offer for this summer and would love to be in a position to be competitive for a V10-25 next year.

[Anonymous User]

Below median at T14 with a verbal offer for next summer from a V100 which was not followed by email or snail mail letter. I am getting scared that this really wasn't an offer, or that perhaps they mixed me up with someone else. (Being below median it did sound too good to be true) What should I do? The partner who called me to extend the offer said they don't typically send letters and just make calls. I am thinking I need to email the recruiter but I don't want to be a pain. What should I do?

[Anonymous User]

3.1 at MVP checking in with 5 offers- 3 V100, 2 market-paying boutique. K-JD. A certain practice area (non-IP) is all over my resume, and despite a lack of full time (or paid) WE, I think this is what saved me.

[Anonymous User]

above median at MVP and 0 offers so far bidding primarily on NYC, this thread makes me feel fantastic.

[Anonymous User]

Bottom 1/5 at CCN-
Went on 29 screeners, 12 CBs, 5 offers so far (V25, V50, V100)

Grades were really bad, I just basically told myself that I couldn't have any interviews just "go well"- I had to be memorable and really crush every interview; really made an effort to connect with my interviewers outside of the basic generic interview questions. I feel super lucky, TLS helped alot with this process.

[Tanicius]

Below median at T14 with a verbal offer for next summer from a V100 which was not followed by email or snail mail letter. I am getting scared that this really wasn't an offer, or that perhaps they mixed me up with someone else. (Being below median it did sound too good to be true) What should I do? The partner who called me to extend the offer said they don't typically send letters and just make calls. I am thinking I need to email the recruiter but I don't want to be a pain. What should I do?

You sound fine. If you're super worried, maybe email the recruiter and just ask them if there's anything else you need to do to accept the offer.

[somewhatwayward]

above median at MVP and 0 offers so far bidding primarily on NYC, this thread makes me feel fantastic.

I'm sorry. That sucks. If you don't mind saying, which school? V seems to be somewhat worse than M, which seems to be a little more than somewhat worse than P. I suppose that itself does not matter. How many CBs? Rejections or just silence? Have you sought feedback from rejections? You are far from striking out at this point. Keep up the mass mailing and get in touch with career services so they can keep you informed of openings. Some firms do not fill their classes through OCI and reach out to career services offices to get more resumes.

It is easy to get down on yourself, but now is not the time. There is a degree of luck in the process, so having no offers does not mean you are awkward or antisocial or whatever. Hang in there!

Take a look at this thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=191815