. Forum

[Grizz]

You know, Symplicity actually lists the stuff each employer is looking for. GPA cut offs, journal, etc.

No. Do not use that.

Agreed. That's almost as bad as bidding solely by Vault ranges.

[thesealocust]

You know, Symplicity actually lists the stuff each employer is looking for. GPA cut offs, journal, etc.

No. Do not use that.

Agreed. That's almost as bad as bidding solely by Vault ranges.

YESSSSSSS the thing I say all the time is now getting said before I can even get to the thread. GOOOOOOD. LET THE HATE (for law firm shenanigans) FLOW THROUGH YOU.

[5ky]

[thesealocust]

Tar'd

[dood]

OP send me a PM, i deleted my poast for UR PROTECTION.

[Eco]

Agreed. That's almost as bad as bidding solely by Vault ranges.

Whaaat? So you shouldn't take into account what the employer is literally saying on symplicity (e.g. "3.6 gpa, top 10%") when you apply? I was doing that + NALP directory information to get an idea on who to apply to. Exactly what other information should I be considering really?

[Aston2412]

Agreed. That's almost as bad as bidding solely by Vault ranges.

Whaaat? So you shouldn't take into account what the employer is literally saying on symplicity (e.g. "3.6 gpa, top 10%") when you apply? I was doing that + NALP directory information to get an idea on who to apply to. Exactly what other information should I be considering really?

The general consensus seems to be that the Symplicity info is not always precise. Yes, even when it says 3.7 GPA required. Some firms apparently love to break their own guidelines. Unfortunately GW CDO isn't incredibly helpful in regards to specific selectivity (ie, unlike other schools they don't have records of who went where with what GPAs).

[Eco]

So it doesn't sound like I have much of a choice besides to trust the symplicity info and to look up NALP stats etc... to make sure I'm applying to the right firms?

[emciosn]

So it doesn't sound like I have much of a choice besides to trust the symplicity info and to look up NALP stats etc... to make sure I'm applying to the right firms?

I think their point is that if they are asking for say top 20% and you are only top third, that shouldn't keep you from applying. In some cases they reach deeper into a given class at a given school then they say they will. This may depend on the rank of your school as well.

For an idea of what firms to apply to in the first place simplicity and NALP are probably the best place to start, just take whet they say with a grain of salt. I also have used the US news best law firms site, you can put in a city and browse pretty much all of the firms in the city, even little shit law firms. They give rankings for practice areas for the city and nationally (if applicable). It was a little helpful to catch a few firms not listed on NALP.

link: http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/

[Eco]

Thanks for the advice!

[Aston2412]

GW gives you access to Vault Career Insider (you can link to it by going to the portal home page and then going to the CDO link on the portal and then scrolling down - it's on the left). VCI, once you register and login, will give you access to the full information available for the Vault website's "Get Hired" section for each firm. Sometimes there isn't anything more than what's on the Vault site normally; sometimes there is.

Also the website Chambers Associates has information on hiring criteria for firms. It's not specific, but it's general enough to sometimes be helpful.

If you want a preliminary checklist of what to do:

1) Vault Career Insider
2) NALP - check class sizes, the larger the better
3) Chambers Associates
4) Ask on TLS
5) Check with CDO to see if they can confirm/deny your inklings

[Eco]

Thanks man! I'll be going through all those steps (was already doing step 2 and of course step 4). I'll skip the CDO thing though. All they do is freak you out, GW Law's CDO is generally useless.