Northwestern OCI Forum

[echooo23]

I believe those resume books had no restrictions. GPA and journal membership should have definitely been on there. Whatever your GPA is, firms will assume it's bad.
FWIW, I think of my "regular resume" as the one with GPA and journal on it, and my "OCI Resume" as the special one for OCI.

Oci resume is supposed to be diff?

Yup you can't put GPA/Journal on there -- only when you actually walk into the interview and hand them your physical resume:

OCI Resume Requirements For All Students
Do not include grade point average.
Do not have a resume longer than one page
Do not include journal information (current or future)
Do not upload your resume without submitting it to your Career Adviser for review!
Do include Dean’s list and other honors
Do list 1L Provisional JTIP membership;
Do include any research you did for a journal as a summer job;
Do list GPA and journal membership on resumes you use to apply to employers outside of OCI; and
Do include GPA and journal membership on the resume you hand to employers during OCI.

Oh poop. Time to go change things.

Thanks!!!

No, those rules don't apply to transfers. As a transfer, you can (should) put your GPA and rank.

[Anonymous User]

Critique my OCI Bid List? 3.3 GPA - Fine with Bay Area, New York, or LA, but tried to mostly focus on NY. Thanks!
1) -Freshfields – New York = 20 slots -- I've always thought freshfields was a bit more GPA selective, but you have the GPA info, and if you've determined that you fit in it, then that's fine.
2) -Linklaters - New York = 20 slots -- good
3) -Bryan Cave – San Francisco = 40 slots -- this is a really high bid for a 40 slot firm (is 40 for Chicago too?)
4) -Cooley – San Francisco and San Diego = 36 slots
5) -Paul Hastings – San Francisco = 20 slots
6) -Kaye Scholer – New York = 40 slots
7) -DLA Piper – San Francisco = 20 slots -- just double check to see that this is the office you want. I think their Palo Alto office is larger?
8 ) -Fried Frank – New York = 40 slots
9) -Dechert – New York = 20 slots -- put this higher, for sure. Everyone median/below will bid dechert
10) -Pillsbury Winthrop – San Francisco = 20 slots
11) -Fenwick – San Francisco = 20 slots -- is this the right office you wana bid on? Pretty sure Fenwick's flagship is Mountain View. But if you factored that in, then that's fine.
12) -Sidley Austin – Palo Alto = 20 slots -- Sidley is generally pretty GPA selective, so my gut instinct is that this shouldn't be a target, but again you have the chart.
13) -Proskauer – New York = 20 slots -- put this higher
14) -Kirkland & Ellis – San Francisco = 40 slots
15) -Wilson Sonsini – Palo Alto = 40 slots -- put this higher; I'm pretty sure this is the most frequently bid CA firm on your list
16) -Paul Hastings – New York = 20 slots -- put this higher
17) -Proskauer – Los Angeles = 20 slots
18) -Goodwin Procter – Los Angeles = 20 slots
19) -Foley and Lardner – LA = 40 slots
20) -Cahill Gordon & Reindel – New York = 20 slots -- You won't get Cahill at 20.
21) -Vinson & Elkins – New York = 20 slots
22) -Gunderson Dettmer – Redwood City = 20 slots
23) -White & Case – New York = 20 slots -- You won't get W&C at 23, for sure.
24) -Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft – New York = 40 slots
25) -Mayer Brown – New York = 80 slots -- Pretty sure their 80 slots includes Chicago, so I'm confident you won't get it at 25.
26) -O’Melveny & Meyers = 60 slots
27) -Pircher Nichols & Meeks = 20 slots
28) -Sidley Austin = 20 slots -- Which office? In any case, this is likely a wasted bid.
29) -Alston & Bird – New York = 20 slots
30) -Allen & Overy – New York = 20 slots -- Probably a wasted bid at 30.
31) -Weil – New York = 60 slots -- Wasted bid. You won't get it at 31.
32) -Simpson Thatcher – New York = 40 slots -- Also a wasted bid.
33) -Weil – Redwood Shores = 17 slots
34) -Shearman Sterling – New York = 20 slots -- I think this one's too far down as well.
35) -Seward Kissel – New York = 20 slots
36) -Latham & Watkins – San Diego = 9 slots
37) -Sidley Austin – New York = 20 slots
38) -Wilmerhale– New York = 20 slots

See above. Messed up that anon, hopefully no one saw

A lot of your 20 slot firms are in the 20+ range. Especially if their medians are ~3.3 or 3.4, I'd be skeptical about getting them. If you've taken this into account, that's fine. But I think you might have a reasonable shot at some of the NY firms, and in those situations, they really are wasted bids. Cross check the GPA data and adjust.

[Anonymous User]

Critiques on how many interviews I'll be getting out of this?

3.6/secondary journal/going hard Chicago

Anything in my top 15/20 that I absolutely won't get? The Boston firms are there in an attempt to pick off some interviews since I think that no Chicago/NYC firms will be available there, let me know if that's off.

1. Foley (Chi) 40
2. Proskauer (NYC) 20
3. Kirkland (Chi) 80
4. Sidley (Chi) 80
5. Jenner (Chi) 60
6. Katten (Chi) 40
7. Schiff (Chi) 80
8. DLA Piper (Chi) 20
9. Baker (Chi) 20
10. Skadden (Chi) 60
11. Winston (Chi) 60
12. K&L Gates (Chi) 20
13. Latham (Chi) 76
14. Jones Day (Chi) 40
15. Weil (NYC) 60
16. Fried Frank (NYC) 40
17. STB (NYC) 40
18. Davis Polk (NYC) 40
19. Debevoise (NYC) 20
20. Bryan Cave (Chi) 40
21. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
22. Chapman (Chi) 20
23. Dechert (Chi) 20
24. Dentons (Chi) 20
25. Drinker (Chi) 23
26. Dykema (Chi) 11
27. Edelson (Chi) 20
28. Holland & Knight (Bos) 20
29. Goodwin Procter (Bos) 20
30. Wilmerhale (Bos) 20
31. Cooley (Bos) 36
32. Mayer (Chi) 80
33. Paul Hastings (Chi) 20
34. Ropes and Gray (Chi) 60
35. Vedder Price (Chi) 20
36. McDermott (Chi) 80
37. mcguirewoods (Chi) 20
38. Reed Smith (Chi) 20
39. Faegre (Chi) 11
40. Locke Lorde (Chi) 20

[Anonymous User]

Critique my OCI Bid List? 3.3 GPA - Fine with Bay Area, New York, or LA, but tried to mostly focus on NY. Thanks!
1) -Freshfields – New York = 20 slots -- I've always thought freshfields was a bit more GPA selective, but you have the GPA info, and if you've determined that you fit in it, then that's fine.
2) -Linklaters - New York = 20 slots -- good
3) -Bryan Cave – San Francisco = 40 slots -- this is a really high bid for a 40 slot firm (is 40 for Chicago too?)
4) -Cooley – San Francisco and San Diego = 36 slots
5) -Paul Hastings – San Francisco = 20 slots
6) -Kaye Scholer – New York = 40 slots
7) -DLA Piper – San Francisco = 20 slots -- just double check to see that this is the office you want. I think their Palo Alto office is larger?
8 ) -Fried Frank – New York = 40 slots
9) -Dechert – New York = 20 slots -- put this higher, for sure. Everyone median/below will bid dechert
10) -Pillsbury Winthrop – San Francisco = 20 slots
11) -Fenwick – San Francisco = 20 slots -- is this the right office you wana bid on? Pretty sure Fenwick's flagship is Mountain View. But if you factored that in, then that's fine.
12) -Sidley Austin – Palo Alto = 20 slots -- Sidley is generally pretty GPA selective, so my gut instinct is that this shouldn't be a target, but again you have the chart.
13) -Proskauer – New York = 20 slots -- put this higher
14) -Kirkland & Ellis – San Francisco = 40 slots
15) -Wilson Sonsini – Palo Alto = 40 slots -- put this higher; I'm pretty sure this is the most frequently bid CA firm on your list
16) -Paul Hastings – New York = 20 slots -- put this higher
17) -Proskauer – Los Angeles = 20 slots
18) -Goodwin Procter – Los Angeles = 20 slots
19) -Foley and Lardner – LA = 40 slots
20) -Cahill Gordon & Reindel – New York = 20 slots -- You won't get Cahill at 20.
21) -Vinson & Elkins – New York = 20 slots
22) -Gunderson Dettmer – Redwood City = 20 slots
23) -White & Case – New York = 20 slots -- You won't get W&C at 23, for sure.
24) -Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft – New York = 40 slots
25) -Mayer Brown – New York = 80 slots -- Pretty sure their 80 slots includes Chicago, so I'm confident you won't get it at 25.
26) -O’Melveny & Meyers = 60 slots
27) -Pircher Nichols & Meeks = 20 slots
28) -Sidley Austin = 20 slots -- Which office? In any case, this is likely a wasted bid.
29) -Alston & Bird – New York = 20 slots
30) -Allen & Overy – New York = 20 slots -- Probably a wasted bid at 30.
31) -Weil – New York = 60 slots -- Wasted bid. You won't get it at 31.
32) -Simpson Thatcher – New York = 40 slots -- Also a wasted bid.
33) -Weil – Redwood Shores = 17 slots
34) -Shearman Sterling – New York = 20 slots -- I think this one's too far down as well.
35) -Seward Kissel – New York = 20 slots
36) -Latham & Watkins – San Diego = 9 slots
37) -Sidley Austin – New York = 20 slots
38) -Wilmerhale– New York = 20 slots

See above. Messed up that anon, hopefully no one saw

A lot of your 20 slot firms are in the 20+ range. Especially if their medians are ~3.3 or 3.4, I'd be skeptical about getting them. If you've taken this into account, that's fine. But I think you might have a reasonable shot at some of the NY firms, and in those situations, they really are wasted bids. Cross check the GPA data and adjust.

Thanks for your help!

How is this update?

1) -Linklaters – New York - 20 slots
2) -Kaye Scholer – New York – 40 slots
3) -Dechert – New York – 20 slots
4) -dla piper – Palo Alto – 20 slots
5) -Cooley – San Francisco and San Diego – 36 slots
6) -Paul Hastings – San Francisco – 20 slots
7) -Proskauer – New York – 20 slots
8 ) -Wilson Sonsini – Palo Alto – 40 slots
9) -Paul Hastings – New York – 20 slots
10) -Fried Frank – New York – 40 slots
11) -Goodwin Procter – Los Angeles – 20 slots
12) -Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft – New York – 40 slots
13) -White & Case – New York – 20 slots
14) -Shearman Sterling – New York – 20 slots
15) -Weil – New York – 60 slots
16) -Vinson & Elkins – New York – 20 slots
17) -Cahill Gordon & Reindel – New York – 20 slots
18) -Simpson Thatcher – New York – 40 slots
19) -Freshfields – New York – 20 slots
20) -Mayer Brown – New York – 80 slots
21) -Alston & Bird – New York – 20 slots
22) -Allen & Overy – New York – 20 slots
23) -Pillsbury Winthrop – San Francisco – 20 slots
24) -Schiff Hardin – New York - 80 slots
25) -Locke Lord – Chicago – 20 slots
26) -Kirkland & Ellis – San Francisco – 40 slots
27) -Bryan Cave – San Francisco – 40 slots
28) -Latham & Watkins – San Diego – 9 slots
29) -Proskauer – Los Angeles – 20 slots
30) -Gunderson Dettmer – Redwood City – 20 slots
31) -O’Melveny & Meyers – LA - 60 slots
32) -Pircher Nichols & Meeks – LA – 20 slots
33) -Weil – Redwood Shores – 17 slots
34) -Seward Kissel – New York – 20 slots
35) -Willkie Farr & Gallagher – New York – 40 slots
36) -Wilmerhale – New York – 20 slots
37) -Jones Day – New York - 20 slots
38) -Ropes Gray – New York - 60 slots
39) -Winston Strawn – New York - 20 slots
40) -Schulte Roth – New York - 20 slots

[Roll Fizzlebeef]

Critiques on how many interviews I'll be getting out of this?

3.6/secondary journal/going hard Chicago

Anything in my top 15/20 that I absolutely won't get? The Boston firms are there in an attempt to pick off some interviews since I think that no Chicago/NYC firms will be available there, let me know if that's off.

1. Foley (Chi) 40
2. Proskauer (NYC) 20
3. Kirkland (Chi) 80
4. Sidley (Chi) 80
5. Jenner (Chi) 60
6. Katten (Chi) 40
7. Schiff (Chi) 80
8. DLA Piper (Chi) 20
9. Baker (Chi) 20
10. Skadden (Chi) 60
11. Winston (Chi) 60
12. K&L Gates (Chi) 20
13. Latham (Chi) 76
14. Jones Day (Chi) 40
15. Weil (NYC) 60
16. Fried Frank (NYC) 40
17. STB (NYC) 40
18. Davis Polk (NYC) 40
19. Debevoise (NYC) 20
20. Bryan Cave (Chi) 40
21. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
22. Chapman (Chi) 20
23. Dechert (Chi) 20
24. Dentons (Chi) 20
25. Drinker (Chi) 23
26. Dykema (Chi) 11
27. Edelson (Chi) 20
28. Holland & Knight (Bos) 20
29. Goodwin Procter (Bos) 20
30. Wilmerhale (Bos) 20
31. Cooley (Bos) 36
32. Mayer (Chi) 80
33. Paul Hastings (Chi) 20
34. Ropes and Gray (Chi) 60
35. Vedder Price (Chi) 20
36. McDermott (Chi) 80
37. McGuirewoods (Chi) 20
38. Reed Smith (Chi) 20
39. Faegre (Chi) 11
40. Locke Lorde (Chi) 20

Not much experience (read: any) with Chicago market, but why so many firms with 60/80 slots for CHI in your top 7, and then more 20s later on?And if you're going hard for Chi, the Proskauer just seems somewhat random. The firms themselves seem fine, but I would be tempted to slightly rearrange based on interview slots/median GPA. More slots = a little bit lower, lower gpa=little bit higher. Caveat: I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Kirkland/Sidley went early, so perhaps those are in good spots (though *maybe* you could afford them in 7-10).

Again, listen to someone who's done Chicago as opposed to me.

[Anonymous User]

bumping this -- sorry guys/gals. Would normally review all those bidlists, but bar exam time is now. Hopefully someone else can help.

[genericblandacct]

Critiques on how many interviews I'll be getting out of this?

3.6/secondary journal/going hard Chicago

Anything in my top 15/20 that I absolutely won't get? The Boston firms are there in an attempt to pick off some interviews since I think that no Chicago/NYC firms will be available there, let me know if that's off.

1. Foley (Chi) 40
2. Proskauer (NYC) 20
3. Kirkland (Chi) 80
4. Sidley (Chi) 80
5. Jenner (Chi) 60
6. Katten (Chi) 40
7. Schiff (Chi) 80
8. DLA Piper (Chi) 20
9. Baker (Chi) 20
10. Skadden (Chi) 60
11. Winston (Chi) 60
12. K&L Gates (Chi) 20
13. Latham (Chi) 76
14. Jones Day (Chi) 40
15. Weil (NYC) 60
16. Fried Frank (NYC) 40
17. STB (NYC) 40
18. Davis Polk (NYC) 40
19. Debevoise (NYC) 20
20. Bryan Cave (Chi) 40
21. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
22. Chapman (Chi) 20
23. Dechert (Chi) 20
24. Dentons (Chi) 20
25. Drinker (Chi) 23
26. Dykema (Chi) 11
27. Edelson (Chi) 20
28. Holland & Knight (Bos) 20
29. Goodwin Procter (Bos) 20
30. Wilmerhale (Bos) 20
31. Cooley (Bos) 36
32. Mayer (Chi) 80
33. Paul Hastings (Chi) 20
34. Ropes and Gray (Chi) 60
35. Vedder Price (Chi) 20
36. McDermott (Chi) 80
37. McGuirewoods (Chi) 20
38. Reed Smith (Chi) 20
39. Faegre (Chi) 11
40. Locke Lorde (Chi) 20

Overall looks pretty good, but here are a few things that jump out to me a little. If going hard for Chi, why are you wasting that valuable 2 spot on Proskauer NY? Your #s are competitive for other NY firms, so Proskauer jumps out a lot unless you are going HAM on sports law. Also, I see you are trying to grab the large class size NY firms in the late teens, but you may be better served keeping a few of those but getting rid of some as well. Debevoise is probably a stretch where you currently have it, same with Fried Frank, DP and STB - maybe think about leaving one of those last 3 where you have it and bumping up a few chicago firms you have a bit lower instead. As another poster said, you have a few Chicago firms with large interview slot #s very high, so if you are interested in these big class NY firms, perhaps think about shifting the order a bit to bid them higher. One last thing about your teens - Jones Day, which I think is a very good target for you based on your #s, seems a bit low. I think that might be one you should put a bit higher to secure that interview.

[genericblandacct]

Thanks for your help!

How is this update?

1) -Linklaters – New York - 20 slots
2) -Kaye Scholer – New York – 40 slots
3) -Dechert – New York – 20 slots
4) -DLA Piper – Palo Alto – 20 slots
5) -Cooley – San Francisco and San Diego – 36 slots
6) -Paul Hastings – San Francisco – 20 slots
7) -Proskauer – New York – 20 slots
8 ) -Wilson Sonsini – Palo Alto – 40 slots
9) -Paul Hastings – New York – 20 slots
10) -Fried Frank – New York – 40 slots
11) -Goodwin Procter – Los Angeles – 20 slots
12) -Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft – New York – 40 slots
13) -White & Case – New York – 20 slots
14) -Shearman Sterling – New York – 20 slots
15) -Weil – New York – 60 slots
16) -Vinson & Elkins – New York – 20 slots
17) -Cahill Gordon & Reindel – New York – 20 slots
18) -Simpson Thatcher – New York – 40 slots
19) -Freshfields – New York – 20 slots
20) -Mayer Brown – New York – 80 slots
21) -Alston & Bird – New York – 20 slots
22) -Allen & Overy – New York – 20 slots
23) -Pillsbury Winthrop – San Francisco – 20 slots
24) -Schiff Hardin – New York - 80 slots
25) -Locke Lord – Chicago – 20 slots
26) -Kirkland & Ellis – San Francisco – 40 slots
27) -Bryan Cave – San Francisco – 40 slots
28) -Latham & Watkins – San Diego – 9 slots
29) -Proskauer – Los Angeles – 20 slots
30) -Gunderson Dettmer – Redwood City – 20 slots
31) -O’Melveny & Meyers – LA - 60 slots
32) -Pircher Nichols & Meeks – LA – 20 slots
33) -Weil – Redwood Shores – 17 slots
34) -Seward Kissel – New York – 20 slots
35) -Willkie Farr & Gallagher – New York – 40 slots
36) -Wilmerhale – New York – 20 slots
37) -Jones Day – New York - 20 slots
38) -Ropes Gray – New York - 60 slots
39) -Winston Strawn – New York - 20 slots
40) -Schulte Roth – New York - 20 slots

I think this bid list is just a tad aggressive for a 3.3 GPA and should be a little more market-concentrated. I would consider putting NY firms with lower median callback GPAs per the list provided by career services a little higher up, and maybe removing firms like Weil, White & Case or Simpson, at least until the 30s when you can kind of hope the interview is just not filled out and see what happens. Getting a callback with those firms with a 3.3 is going to be tough, unfortunately. It isn't worth the valuable real estate between 10-20 for a firm like that. I think you should also get rid of Mayer, which you will not get at 20. Since you want NY mostly, firms I would put higher on this list are: Alston, Allen, Shearman, Cahill Gordon, and put Dechert on here too. I would also consider really honing in on your market of choice with your top 10 on the bidlist, so if that is NY I would concentrate on NY up there and then sprinkle in Cali firms a little lower and see if anything hits.

[Anonymous User]

Hey, any help would be appreciated. Only trying to bid chicago, and trying to maximize my changes at getting those holy grail interviews. Tried to mix competitive firms with safety firms. Don't really care about K&E or Mayer

Top 20sih are:

1) Sidley, 3.79, 80
2) Baker, 3.46, 20
3) Jenner, 3.74, 60
4) Schiff, 3.63, 80
5) Skadden, 3.8, 60
6) Drinker Biddle, 3.41, 23
7) Latham, 3.82, 76
8) Jones Day, 3.74, 40
9) Paul Hastings, 3.71, 20
10) Reed Smith, 3.71, 20
11) Winston Strawn, 3.78, 60
12) Dentons, 3.6, 20
13) Vedder Price, 3.4, 20
14) Bryan Cave, 3.46, 40
15) Dykema Gossett, 3.33, 11
16) Quarles Brady, 3.51, 20
17) Locke Lord, 3.57, 20
18) McGuire Wood, 3.52, 20
19) Edelson, 3.37, 20

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for your help!

How is this update?

1) -Linklaters – New York - 20 slots
2) -Kaye Scholer – New York – 40 slots
3) -Dechert – New York – 20 slots
4) -DLA Piper – Palo Alto – 20 slots
5) -Cooley – San Francisco and San Diego – 36 slots
6) -Paul Hastings – San Francisco – 20 slots
7) -Proskauer – New York – 20 slots
8 ) -Wilson Sonsini – Palo Alto – 40 slots
9) -Paul Hastings – New York – 20 slots
10) -Fried Frank – New York – 40 slots
11) -Goodwin Procter – Los Angeles – 20 slots
12) -Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft – New York – 40 slots
13) -White & Case – New York – 20 slots
14) -Shearman Sterling – New York – 20 slots
15) -Weil – New York – 60 slots
16) -Vinson & Elkins – New York – 20 slots
17) -Cahill Gordon & Reindel – New York – 20 slots
18) -Simpson Thatcher – New York – 40 slots
19) -Freshfields – New York – 20 slots
20) -Mayer Brown – New York – 80 slots
21) -Alston & Bird – New York – 20 slots
22) -Allen & Overy – New York – 20 slots
23) -Pillsbury Winthrop – San Francisco – 20 slots
24) -Schiff Hardin – New York - 80 slots
25) -Locke Lord – Chicago – 20 slots
26) -Kirkland & Ellis – San Francisco – 40 slots
27) -Bryan Cave – San Francisco – 40 slots
28) -Latham & Watkins – San Diego – 9 slots
29) -Proskauer – Los Angeles – 20 slots
30) -Gunderson Dettmer – Redwood City – 20 slots
31) -O’Melveny & Meyers – LA - 60 slots
32) -Pircher Nichols & Meeks – LA – 20 slots
33) -Weil – Redwood Shores – 17 slots
34) -Seward Kissel – New York – 20 slots
35) -Willkie Farr & Gallagher – New York – 40 slots
36) -Wilmerhale – New York – 20 slots
37) -Jones Day – New York - 20 slots
38) -Ropes Gray – New York - 60 slots
39) -Winston Strawn – New York - 20 slots
40) -Schulte Roth – New York - 20 slots

I think this bid list is just a tad aggressive for a 3.3 GPA and should be a little more market-concentrated. I would consider putting NY firms with lower median callback GPAs per the list provided by career services a little higher up, and maybe removing firms like Weil, White & Case or Simpson, at least until the 30s when you can kind of hope the interview is just not filled out and see what happens. Getting a callback with those firms with a 3.3 is going to be tough, unfortunately. It isn't worth the valuable real estate between 10-20 for a firm like that. I think you should also get rid of Mayer, which you will not get at 20. Since you want NY mostly, firms I would put higher on this list are: Alston, Allen, Shearman, Cahill Gordon, and put Dechert on here too. I would also consider really honing in on your market of choice with your top 10 on the bidlist, so if that is NY I would concentrate on NY up there and then sprinkle in Cali firms a little lower and see if anything hits.

Modified based on your suggestions - how does this look? I'll figure out one other firm to add. And if you have suggestions about other NY firms that should be higher on my list, that would be helpful as well.

1) -Linklaters – New York – 20 slots
2) -Kaye Scholer – New York – 40 slots
3) -Dechert – New York – 20 slots
4) -Shearman Sterling – New York – 20 slots
5) -Proskauer – New York – 20 slots
6) -Wilson Sonsini – Palo Alto – 40 slots
7) -Allen & Overy – New York – 20 slots
8 ) -Fried Frank – New York – 40 slots
9) -Alston & Bird – New York – 20 slots
10) -Cahill Gordon & Reindel – New York – 20 slots
11) -Paul Hastings – New York – 20 slots
12) -Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft – New York – 40 slots
13) -Paul Hastings – San Francisco – 20 slots
14) -Cooley – San Francisco and San Diego – 36 slots
15) -dla piper Overall – Palo Alto – 20 slots
16) -Vinson & Elkins – New York – 20 slots
17) -Freshfields – New York – 20 slots
18) -Goodwin Procter – Los Angeles – 20 slots
19) -Pillsbury Winthrop – San Francisco – 20 slots
20) -Schiff Hardin – New York - 80 slots
21) -Locke Lord – Chicago – 20 slots
22) -Kirkland & Ellis – San Francisco – 40 slots
23) -Bryan Cave – San Francisco – 40 slots
24) -Latham & Watkins – San Diego – 9 slots
25) -Proskauer – Los Angeles – 20 slots
26) -Gunderson Dettmer – Redwood City – 20 slots
27) -White & Case – New York – 20 slots
28) -O’Melveny & Meyers – Los Angeles – 60 slots
29) -Pircher Nichols & Meeks – Los Angeles – 20 slots
30) -Simpson Thatcher – New York – 40 slots
31) -Weil – New York – 60 slots
32) -Weil – Redwood Shores – 17 slots
33) -Seward Kissel – New York – 20 slots
34) -Willkie Farr & Gallagher – New York – 40 slots
35) -Wilmerhale – New York – 20 slots
36) -Jones Day – New York - 20 slots
37) -Ropes Gray – New York - 60 slots
38) -Winston Strawn – New York - 20 slots
39) -Schulte Roth – New York - 20 slots

[Roll Fizzlebeef]

Hey, any help would be appreciated. Only trying to bid chicago, and trying to maximize my changes at getting those holy grail interviews. Tried to mix competitive firms with safety firms. Don't really care about K&E or Mayer

Top 20sih are:

1) Sidley
2) Baker
3) Jenner
4) Schiff
5) Skadden
6) Drinker Biddle
7) Latham
Jones Day
9) Paul Hastings
10) Reed Smith
11) Winston Strawn
12) Dentons
13) Vedder Price
14) Bryan Cave
15) Dykema Gossett
16) Quarles Brady
17) Locke Lord
18) McGuire Wood
19) Edelson

Stats? A key thing to remember is that even if you get the interviews, you're also going to want a healthy mix of firms with medians around/below your GPA, and some reaches. All the screeners in the world won't matter if you don't play to your numbers; of course there's always a possibility that you could snag one of your reaches, but your goal is to maximize opportunity for callbacks.

Having said that, this doesn't look like too bad of a list. I feel like a few in 1-5 probably have more interview slots and higher median GPAs than others (but I can't be sure as I don't actually have the info), and could be shuffled down into slots 6-9/10.

[Anonymous User]

Hey, any help would be appreciated. Only trying to bid chicago, and trying to maximize my changes at getting those holy grail interviews. Tried to mix competitive firms with safety firms. Don't really care about K&E or Mayer

Top 20sih are:

1) Sidley
2) Baker
3) Jenner
4) Schiff
5) Skadden
6) Drinker Biddle
7) Latham
Jones Day
9) Paul Hastings
10) Reed Smith
11) Winston Strawn
12) Dentons
13) Vedder Price
14) Bryan Cave
15) Dykema Gossett
16) Quarles Brady
17) Locke Lord
18) McGuire Wood
19) Edelson

Stats? A key thing to remember is that even if you get the interviews, you're also going to want a healthy mix of firms with medians around/below your GPA, and some reaches. All the screeners in the world won't matter if you don't play to your numbers; of course there's always a possibility that you could snag one of your reaches, but your goal is to maximize opportunity for callbacks.

Having said that, this doesn't look like too bad of a list. I feel like a few in 1-5 probably have more interview slots and higher median GPAs than others (but I can't be sure as I don't actually have the info), and could be shuffled down into slots 6-9/10.

Thanks! New to this, just edited it to provide stats about firms. Sorry

[Roll Fizzlebeef]

Thanks! New to this, just edited it to provide stats about firms. Sorry

Looking at the slots/GPAs, I would be surprised if you got very many of your 12-19, based on slot #/GPA. If this year is anything like most years, there will be a lot of people doing Chicago (though maybe you've heard otherwise), and those will most likely go sooner than what you have them at.

What was recommended to me, and which worked very well, was filling 1-5 with firms with low slot #s/lower median GPAs and larger summer classes (the expected number of summers can be found on firms' NALP forms). 6-8/10 were more reaches for me, the next few were those with larger number of interview slots (60-80). After that came firms with the higher median GPAs. After that (around 25+), I just filled it in relatively haphazardly, as most people won't get much, if anything, from these slots.

Having said that - I know places like Sidley and Jenner are popular (or were), so you may want to tweak around to ensure you get those. So perhaps keep your top 3 as they are, and then you can fudge around with others (Skadden, Latham, Jones Day, all could probably afford to go a few spots lower - like in 6-13). Again, this is just going off my experience in other markets. People who actually won or lost bids on these places in Chicago would have more insight.

[Anonymous User]

Critiques on how many interviews I'll be getting out of this?

3.6/secondary journal/going hard Chicago

Anything in my top 15/20 that I absolutely won't get? The Boston firms are there in an attempt to pick off some interviews since I think that no Chicago/NYC firms will be available there, let me know if that's off.

1. Foley (Chi) 40
2. Proskauer (NYC) 20
3. Kirkland (Chi) 80
4. Sidley (Chi) 80
5. Jenner (Chi) 60
6. Katten (Chi) 40
7. Schiff (Chi) 80
8. DLA Piper (Chi) 20
9. Baker (Chi) 20
10. Skadden (Chi) 60
11. Winston (Chi) 60
12. K&L Gates (Chi) 20
13. Latham (Chi) 76
14. Jones Day (Chi) 40
15. Weil (NYC) 60
16. Fried Frank (NYC) 40
17. STB (NYC) 40
18. Davis Polk (NYC) 40
19. Debevoise (NYC) 20
20. Bryan Cave (Chi) 40
21. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
22. Chapman (Chi) 20
23. Dechert (Chi) 20
24. Dentons (Chi) 20
25. Drinker (Chi) 23
26. Dykema (Chi) 11
27. Edelson (Chi) 20
28. Holland & Knight (Bos) 20
29. Goodwin Procter (Bos) 20
30. Wilmerhale (Bos) 20
31. Cooley (Bos) 36
32. Mayer (Chi) 80
33. Paul Hastings (Chi) 20
34. Ropes and Gray (Chi) 60
35. Vedder Price (Chi) 20
36. McDermott (Chi) 80
37. McGuirewoods (Chi) 20
38. Reed Smith (Chi) 20
39. Faegre (Chi) 11
40. Locke Lorde (Chi) 20

Overall looks pretty good, but here are a few things that jump out to me a little. If going hard for Chi, why are you wasting that valuable 2 spot on Proskauer NY? Your #s are competitive for other NY firms, so Proskauer jumps out a lot unless you are going HAM on sports law. Also, I see you are trying to grab the large class size NY firms in the late teens, but you may be better served keeping a few of those but getting rid of some as well. Debevoise is probably a stretch where you currently have it, same with Fried Frank, DP and STB - maybe think about leaving one of those last 3 where you have it and bumping up a few chicago firms you have a bit lower instead. As another poster said, you have a few Chicago firms with large interview slot #s very high, so if you are interested in these big class NY firms, perhaps think about shifting the order a bit to bid them higher. One last thing about your teens - Jones Day, which I think is a very good target for you based on your #s, seems a bit low. I think that might be one you should put a bit higher to secure that interview.

OP of that bid list here. I get what you guys are saying about Chicago firms with lots of slots being a bit high, but is it really safe to move them down? I feel like Katten/Schiff/Jenner won't be available outside of the top 10. Is that too conservative?

[Anonymous User]

Yes, I am curious about that too. Is Jenner at 9 likely wasted space? What about Schiff at 12?

[09042014]

Why is everyone crazy about schiff?

[genericblandacct]

Critiques on how many interviews I'll be getting out of this?

3.6/secondary journal/going hard Chicago

Anything in my top 15/20 that I absolutely won't get? The Boston firms are there in an attempt to pick off some interviews since I think that no Chicago/NYC firms will be available there, let me know if that's off.

1. Foley (Chi) 40
2. Proskauer (NYC) 20
3. Kirkland (Chi) 80
4. Sidley (Chi) 80
5. Jenner (Chi) 60
6. Katten (Chi) 40
7. Schiff (Chi) 80
8. DLA Piper (Chi) 20
9. Baker (Chi) 20
10. Skadden (Chi) 60
11. Winston (Chi) 60
12. K&L Gates (Chi) 20
13. Latham (Chi) 76
14. Jones Day (Chi) 40
15. Weil (NYC) 60
16. Fried Frank (NYC) 40
17. STB (NYC) 40
18. Davis Polk (NYC) 40
19. Debevoise (NYC) 20
20. Bryan Cave (Chi) 40
21. Cadwalader (NYC) 40
22. Chapman (Chi) 20
23. Dechert (Chi) 20
24. Dentons (Chi) 20
25. Drinker (Chi) 23
26. Dykema (Chi) 11
27. Edelson (Chi) 20
28. Holland & Knight (Bos) 20
29. Goodwin Procter (Bos) 20
30. Wilmerhale (Bos) 20
31. Cooley (Bos) 36
32. Mayer (Chi) 80
33. Paul Hastings (Chi) 20
34. Ropes and Gray (Chi) 60
35. Vedder Price (Chi) 20
36. McDermott (Chi) 80
37. McGuirewoods (Chi) 20
38. Reed Smith (Chi) 20
39. Faegre (Chi) 11
40. Locke Lorde (Chi) 20

Overall looks pretty good, but here are a few things that jump out to me a little. If going hard for Chi, why are you wasting that valuable 2 spot on Proskauer NY? Your #s are competitive for other NY firms, so Proskauer jumps out a lot unless you are going HAM on sports law. Also, I see you are trying to grab the large class size NY firms in the late teens, but you may be better served keeping a few of those but getting rid of some as well. Debevoise is probably a stretch where you currently have it, same with Fried Frank, DP and STB - maybe think about leaving one of those last 3 where you have it and bumping up a few chicago firms you have a bit lower instead. As another poster said, you have a few Chicago firms with large interview slot #s very high, so if you are interested in these big class NY firms, perhaps think about shifting the order a bit to bid them higher. One last thing about your teens - Jones Day, which I think is a very good target for you based on your #s, seems a bit low. I think that might be one you should put a bit higher to secure that interview.

OP of that bid list here. I get what you guys are saying about Chicago firms with lots of slots being a bit high, but is it really safe to move them down? I feel like Katten/Schiff/Jenner won't be available outside of the top 10. Is that too conservative?

So, i mean, that's the risk. If you want Chicago and NY is just a secondary market, then that is your answer. Everything has risk/reward tradeoffs. I know that isn't the answer you're looking for, but this is your bid list, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with bidding a firm higher than necessary in order to be risk adverse and guarantee that interview if you love that firm. For example, if you really want to interview with Skadden, not only leave them at 10 but maybe even put them a bit higher.

My general thoughts on this year is that for Chicago bidding, the # of slots has not really reacted to the number of people in our class. There might be a chance that because of class size cutting, Chicago firms typically thought to be gone by 10 may be around slightly later. This does not apply to firms with 20 interview spots, however, and applies more to the 60s and 80s of the world. However, I have absolutely no basis for this and you should not trust what I am saying as it is complete speculation.

[bananasplit19]

Are we allowed to just s/ the Interview Tracker Pledge? Too lazy to print/sign/scan

[Cobretti]

Why is everyone crazy about schiff?

they take median in chicago

Are we allowed to just s/ the Interview Tracker Pledge? Too lazy to print/sign/scan

+do we just email it directly to our CSO?

[GoCats56]

Why is everyone crazy about schiff?

They're fairly lenient grades-wise, if you want to litigate they are ahead of the pack in giving associates early standup/dep experience, and they generally seem to treat their associates very well. People really like working there.

[Anonymous User]

How do you weigh interview slots versus CB gpa?

Struggling with what to do for firms that have 20 slots & 3.5x CB median (dipping to 3.3x) relative to firms with 40 slots & 3.4x CB median (dipping to 3.1x)? All firms' SA classes are about equal.

Trying to follow the bid list strategy of 1-5 fits, 6-8 reach, 9-13 fits. Spots in question are #s 3-5 versus #9-11. What’s best practice here?

3.4x w/ LR if that matters

[kennethellenparcell]

Yeah why is everyone crazy about Schiff? I did not like my interview experience there in the least bit.

[homestyle28]

Yeah why is everyone crazy about Schiff? I did not like my interview experience there in the least bit.

They have a fairly intense interview process, yeah?

[Roll Fizzlebeef]

How do you weigh interview slots versus CB gpa?

Struggling with what to do for firms that have 20 slots & 3.5x CB median (dipping to 3.3x) relative to firms with 40 slots & 3.4x CB median (dipping to 3.1x)? All firms' SA classes are about equal.

Trying to follow the bid list strategy of 1-5 fits, 6-8 reach, 9-13 fits. Spots in question are #s 3-5 versus #9-11. What’s best practice here?

3.4x w/ LR if that matters

For those, it's kind of tough. I would probably still bid the 20 slot ones first, but it depends on what market are they in. If they're in a very popular market (Chi.), you might have a hard time getting the later ones, regardless. If it's NYC, then I think I would still go with the 20 slots ahead of the others.

That being said, I agree with what genericbland said: if there is one or two firms you really want, and would regret not having, go ahead and move them up. Sure you may be able to get them lower, but you also may not. I had that happen last year. While everything turned out great, if it hadn't, I'd probably still be a little PO'd with myself.

[kennethellenparcell]

Yeah why is everyone crazy about Schiff? I did not like my interview experience there in the least bit.

They have a fairly intense interview process, yeah?

I only did a screener with them, but it was like an interrogation. This was during CCBA so in the hotel the associate interviewer sat in a high chair, while I saw in a low chair, and he threw rapid fire behavioral questions at me. The other interviewer, who looked like a partner just frowned at me the whole time and took notes at the table next to us. I just thought it was a weird experience. I didn't really feel like they were my type of peeps.

My friend got a callback with them but declined it because she thought it was intense. I think they tend to do panel interviews with attorneys and include a writing exercise. These aspects of the interview are not that terrible, but Schiff lawyers just seem really intense to me - even though I admit I have only a small sample to base my impression on. But Horwich does practice there as well...