DC corp vs NY lit competitiveness Forum

[Anonymous User]

Older data point (I’m now a junior associate) but I interviewed with transactional groups in NY and DC during OCI. Had DC ties and went to Penn. My grades were probably bottom of the top third (Penn doesn’t calculate GPAs but I had around a 3.5, definitely not top of the class). Ended up taking a NY V10 offer, but I had several DC transactional offers, including Latham. I didn’t get the impression that it was that difficult if you were coming from a T14 with reasonable grades. I didn’t interview with Covington or WH, but I did a screener with GDC. No callback.

I lateraled from the V10 to a DC-based regulatory group. I get the impression based on credentials, etc. that my current group/practice is far harder to get into, probably because there are way fewer positions.

Also probably a useless data point, but I was ~top 15% at a T6 and "undecided" and got traction at competitive firms in both cities. Did not get traction at Jenner, Williams & Connolly, or Wachtell. Ended up going with NYC. Got the impression my experience was in line with what good/not top students had at my school

[Anonymous User]

The issue is that DC is more random because there are fewer spots, not that DC has across the board rigid GPA cutoffs that are higher. It’s competitive in that it’s far less predictable, and that doesn’t really change THAT much based on practice area. Ofc lit is still more competitive, etc, but there’s a level of randomness regardless of firm and interest area