Northwestern OCI Forum

[mirroroferised7]

I feel like every OCI-participating 2L needs a giant care-package waiting for them on the first day of classes.

Contents include:
Alcohol
Comfort food
Time Turner

[Dr. Filth]

I feel like every OCI-participating 2L needs a giant care-package waiting for them on the first day of classes.

Contents include:
Alcohol
Comfort food
Time Turner

Hi!

[Anonymous User]

Here's a thought: Do people think that our class' now-notorious failure to network/attend employer events had anything to do with this? Or unrealistic/aspirational bidding? I'm just skeptical that Chicago was meaningfully worse this year than past years.

Posting this partly for the benefit of future classes. Food for thought/discussion that might be helpful down the line.

I think networking only has an effect to the extent that you had the grades for the firm anyways so i dont think not networking really hurt you that badly.

Personally, I think not networking actually did hurt you badly.

Getting a callback isn't purely grade driven. Yes, grades are important. They're a necessary condition for many firms. But each firm at OCI isn't going to automatically give a callback out to every single 3.7+ person they interview. They're looking for this random thing called fit and it's extremely hard to understand what a firm wants and what a firm is looking for w/r/t to fit without actually interacting with the firm and engaging the firm's attorneys in a meaningful way. So networking is helpful to the extent that it really teaches you subtle things about each of the different firms and helps you really differentiate yourself during a short 20-minute screener. The answers I gave to the same generic interview questions were quite different in my Sidley and Kirkland interviews. I mean, guys, interviewing is basically a game of telling your interviewers exactly what they want to hear. Knowing what they want to hear in many cases requires networking.

Oh lord...what is this flame? Most of my callbacks are with firms I had no interaction with prior to OCI. Networking can never hurt, and can help you practice just talking to people, but no firm is gonna place it above grades. From the looks of this OCI, some of the big time firms did absolutely callback everyone with a 3.7+ with little regard to social skills.

Networking won't make up for average grades - I never said that. But if you're a firm that's only going to call back 5 people out of the 40 people you're interviewing you're going to ding plenty of people who did meet (and exceed) your cut offs. So to this extent networking helps. It's neither sufficient nor necessary but everything comes down to this really opaque notion of fit and I think networking helps you tremendously in that regard. Not being aspie as fuck helps too, but what can you do.

[Anonymous User]

Some of the big chi firms didn't give a fuck about a 3.7+.

- hi. struck out in chi w ties

3.7+ GPA's from NU get the royal treatment in NYC, especially with our rep for having WE.
Not exactly a lock, but it's yours to lose.

[Anonymous User]

I personally know another lower T14 rising 2L with a 2.9x GPA who secured multiple CBs as a result of his efforts to network and hustle. CBS were in NY, and CA - all Vault firms. He spoke to alums, attended mixers, researched firms, talked to partners & associates. He is not Science undergrad or IP. Just regular social science major.

I thought he would strike out, but was pleasantly surprised when he secured multiple callbacks, which have turned into a couple of offers.

It is possible to get CBs and offers with a low GPA if you hustle, network and interview well. He went into each screener & CB as if his life depended on it.

Sure, this is one anecdote, but don't dismiss the idea that networking wont overcome a low gpa.

Not flame.

Oh lord...what is this flame? Most of my callbacks are with firms I had no interaction with prior to OCI. Networking can never hurt, and can help you practice just talking to people, but no firm is gonna place it above grades. From the looks of this OCI, some of the big time firms did absolutely callback everyone with a 3.7+ with little regard to social skills.

Networking won't make up for average grades - I never said that. But if you're a firm that's only going to call back 5 people out of the 40 people you're interviewing you're going to ding plenty of people who did meet (and exceed) your cut offs. So to this extent networking helps. It's neither sufficient nor necessary but everything comes down to this really opaque notion of fit and I think networking helps you tremendously in that regard. Not being aspie as fuck helps too, but what can you do.

[Anonymous User]

I personally know another lower T14 rising 2L with a 2.9x GPA who secured multiple CBs as a result of his efforts to network and hustle. CBS were in NY, and CA - all Vault firms. He spoke to alums, attended mixers, researched firms, talked to partners & associates. He is not Science undergrad or IP. Just regular social science major.

I thought he would strike out, but was pleasantly surprised when he secured multiple callbacks, which have turned into a couple of offers.

It is possible to get CBs and offers with a low GPA if you hustle, network and interview well. He went into each screener & CB as if his life depended on it.

Sure, this is one anecdote, but don't dismiss the idea that networking wont overcome a low gpa.

Not flame.

(didn't get Chicago CBs, which is the focus of the discussion)

(ignores people with 3.7+ who say they networked and still struck out in Chicago at most/all the big firms)

[Anonymous User]

I personally know another lower T14 rising 2L with a 2.9x GPA who secured multiple CBs as a result of his efforts to network and hustle. CBS were in NY, and CA - all Vault firms. He spoke to alums, attended mixers, researched firms, talked to partners & associates. He is not Science undergrad or IP. Just regular social science major.

I thought he would strike out, but was pleasantly surprised when he secured multiple callbacks, which have turned into a couple of offers.

It is possible to get CBs and offers with a low GPA if you hustle, network and interview well. He went into each screener & CB as if his life depended on it.

Sure, this is one anecdote, but don't dismiss the idea that networking wont overcome a low gpa.

Not flame.

(didn't get Chicago CBs, which is the focus of the discussion)

(ignores people with 3.7+ who say they networked and still struck out in Chicago at most/all the big firms)

If you're striking out with a 3.7 in Chicago, then grades are not sufficient for callbacks. Knowing that this is true, networking will not hurt. There are people with lower GPA's who did well in Chicago.

[Anonymous User]

my only point was that even people who were prepared for Chicago to be harder than other markets have been surprised at how hard its actually been. Blaming it on our class's supposed "failure to network" is completely ridiculous.

[Anonymous User]

my only point was that even people who were prepared for Chicago to be harder than other markets have been surprised at how hard its actually been. Blaming it on our class's supposed "failure to network" is completely ridiculous.

But was our failure to network indicative of a larger theme of us not hustling enough for Chicago? Walking into a Chicago interview with top 25% grades thinking that you'll definitely get a callback because of your stellar grades is a recipe for getting outshined by others. Because lol it's just top 25% and there aren't that many spots open in Chicago to begin with.

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

[Anonymous User]

Story time (the people in this story will know I am talking about them, hopefully they're cool with that):

Latham reception: Me and 3 other NU peeps chat up one senior associate basically all night. It was probably the most fun, least awkward, social interaction I have had at these things. We were the last people to leave the building and it was all-in-all a rather enjoyable experience.
Anyway, I email the guy the next day to say thank you even though I was not bidding Chicago (which he knew). He emailed me back asking for the full name of the other 3 people there, who were all bidding Latham Chicago. He gave those names to the screeners, and I know at least two of them got callbacks (Don't know their GPA but 1 of them is on LR, the other one not on LR and strongly suggested s/he had grades below Latham's supposed cut-off).

With that said, I still think networking makes a marginal difference in the grand scheme of things (certainly, marginal enough that this much posting should not be wasted on it). It easily could, and likely does, account for a few callbacks a year that otherwise would not be gotten, and that's great, but a large percentage of the time someone with lower grades getting a callback over someone with higher grades has a million other explanations besides "didn't I see you brush by me once in a room full of 200 people conspicuously on your way to the dessert tray?" (yes, exaggeration, but still).

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

I know people got CBs already and a few rounds of dings have also gone out.

[Anonymous User]

Have people heard from Perkins Coie?

[Anonymous User]

Have people heard from Perkins Coie?

radio silence for this guy

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

Nope. silence over here.

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

Nope. silence over here.

+1

[Anonymous User]

Baker Hostetler ding via snail mail.

[Anonymous User]

Have people heard from Perkins Coie?

radio silence for this guy

Don't hold your breath. I'm still waiting on word from last year.

[Anonymous User]

Have people heard from Perkins Coie?

radio silence for this guy

Don't hold your breath. I'm still waiting on word from last year.

Oh good

[Anonymous User]

Have people heard from Perkins Coie?

radio silence for this guy

Don't hold your breath. I'm still waiting on word from last year.

[mirroroferised7]

I feel like every OCI-participating 2L needs a giant care-package waiting for them on the first day of classes.

Contents include:
Alcohol
Comfort food
Time Turner

Hi!

Hi, Filth.

How you doin?

[Anonymous User]

Has everyone heard back from Kirkland?

Nope. silence over here.

+1

callback within 48 hours of screener.

[Anonymous User]

CB Pillsbury NYC last week----> DING via email w/pdf attachment this morning

Just keep swimming...