Basically this. Also, keep in mind that you may think you only have to lie or fake ties for a 20 minute interview, but there are a ton of other ways firms get information about you: firm receptions, callback interviews, callback lunches, even setting up your travel.Anonymous User wrote:I think the idea on the limiting the cities thing is based on the following rationale:
1. Firms, especially outside NYC and DC, care about a relationship to the city.
2. Most students can show a solid connection to at most three cities, and frequently fewer (for me it's one).
3. Firms can ask why the student is interested in their city and what other firms they're interviewing with.
4. If a student is asked, they should be able to demonstrate that they have a real connection to the city and are pursuing employment options there as someone who wanted to be there would.
5. Lying is a bad idea in employment interviews.
So, if the average student gets 14 interviews, and they split those between 4 cities, that means they're only interviewing at 3.5 firms for a city. If a student says they're really interested in a city but they're only looking into two other firms there during OCI, that might send up a red flag.
An exception might be made for those at or near the top of the class. For example, a student interested in doing corporate work, who has relevant experience, excellent references, and comes into OCI with an offer can bid only a few firms in a city and explain that away easily (I was only interested in the small number of firms I would select over the existing offer that I had; your firm is one of those).
Of course, at this point, its pointless to argue, but I've nothing else to do.
I don't know, it all comes down to my earlier point: this game is not all about your GPA. If your GPA is good, the firms who are interested in you will likely care less about other things. But if you don't have the GPA, you need to focus on your positive attributes besides grades because you should be looking at firms that care way more about that kind of stuff. The 3.1 median firm is not 3.1 median because they couldn't get 3.2s. The median is that low because they'll likely go after the candidate they want, whether that person has a 3.9 or a 2.8. They want to see a reflection of themselves: someone who is really excited to live the life that they're living. That means someone who wants to live in the area they live in, have the job they have, get to do similar work that they do. Carpetbombing firms in 4 markets because they have the lowest GPA requirements, which you equate to being the least selective (a false equivalence, to be sure) could work to seriously undermine your efforts at the firms where you did have a chance.
