OCI callbacks thread Forum

[BradyToMoss]

Top 14
3.5ish GPA
secondary journal
0 callbacks
17 rejections from OCI
0 waiting to hear from OCI
20+ rejections from non-OCI resume submissions
100+ waiting to hear from non-OCI resume submissions

flame?

[Anonymous User]

Top 14
3.5ish GPA
secondary journal
0 callbacks
17 rejections from OCI
0 waiting to hear from OCI
20+ rejections from non-OCI resume submissions
100+ waiting to hear from non-OCI resume submissions

flame?

nope.

[Georgiana]

Top 14
3.5ish GPA
secondary journal
0 callbacks
17 rejections from OCI
0 waiting to hear from OCI
20+ rejections from non-OCI resume submissions
100+ waiting to hear from non-OCI resume submissions

flame?

no. there's another thread of mine on the subject too. pm me for details if you doubt authenticity.

The annoying thing about the anonymous thing is that PM's don't work... I don't think... someone correct me if I'm wrong?

[tetrahydrocannabinol]

Top 14
3.5ish GPA
secondary journal
0 callbacks
17 rejections from OCI
0 waiting to hear from OCI
20+ rejections from non-OCI resume submissions
100+ waiting to hear from non-OCI resume submissions

flame?

no. there's another thread of mine on the subject too. pm me for details if you doubt authenticity.

The annoying thing about the anonymous thing is that PM's don't work... I don't think... someone correct me if I'm wrong?

Your right... The anonymous feature wouldn't be a very good one if you could simply hit PM and PM a specific person. Also, it would be annoying if someone could literally log in under "anonymous" and just use that account anywhere (it does appear to be an actual account that is used based on the post counter for it).

[Anonymous User]

0 CBs

...

I also didn't work last summer (did summer school).

Fatality!

Seriously. People often ask 'do I have to work in a legal field after my 1L year?' I would suggest this is STRONGLY suggests the answer is a big-fucking-capital-Y YES. Firms probably didn't want somebody who hadn't already had legal research/writing experience (be it for a prof, non-profit, firm, or judge) when they had so many others with that training to choose from.

I know, that w/ the combination of not being on journal quite yet are my predictions of what killed me. There are 2 people here at my t10 from my old school and they both destroyed OCI, but one worked at a large firm 1L summer and the other got onto a journal that did early acceptances (and possibly did an externship, I don't know). For me it was pretty much a lose-lose situation though because if I did work last summer I wouldn't have had enough credits to transfer over this year (I had to do summer school), meaning I wouldn't have even had a shot at OCI this year (I had 24 credits at the end of last year and needed 28-32).

[Anonymous User]

I don't think work experience prior to going to law school is necessarily an advantage. However, I can see why the girl who finished college by 19 and is doing OCI at the age of 20 would be harmful. One thing firms look for in candidates is maturity, and not even being old enough to legally drink would probably a negative in employers eyes. Granted, if she could show maturity the age thing would not be that big of a deal, but I think at 20 that is hard to do. Hell, I even have a hard time trying to fake maturity and I'm 5 years older then that girl.

I disagree... I think relevant WE or substantial WE is really helpful... In almost every one of my interviews so far, people have commented on my WE... and I think that has helped me get cbs at some.

Also w/ the GW transfer, she bid on them but she didn't get a screening interview? So it's not by lottery? That really sucks.

[Anonymous User]

Top 14
3.5ish GPA
secondary journal
0 callbacks
17 rejections from OCI
0 waiting to hear from OCI
20+ rejections from non-OCI resume submissions
100+ waiting to hear from non-OCI resume submissions

flame?

Absolutely not a flame. I am in nearly the same situation, with similar numbers.

12 OCI interviews, 8 rejections, 0 CBs.
Waiting on an offer from a non-OCI CB, and countless non-OCI resume submissions.

ITE, nothing is too extreme to be a flame. Class of 2011 = f*cked.

[Anonymous User]

MVP
Below median
Good interviewer
16 OCI
4 Dings
1 CB (DC)
waiting on the rest

2 Phone interviews (Primary markets)
5-6 CB (Secondary markets) (done 5 - decisions won't be made for a while)
Got some from mass mailers and some from random connections.

Curious how many CBs we need to get an offer...

[TTT-LS]

.

[Anonymous User]

I have some thoughts that I hope will be useful to T14 people above median who are striking out at OCI that I'll try to post later on. The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

I'd like to think that we're not that screwed, and that there will be multiple tiers/rounds of callbacks/offers, but seeing people with pretty good grades striking out and being rejected by every firm they've interviewed with, I'm not feeling so great. I'm approximately top-25% at a T14, and unless I get some callbacks next week (which I'm not counting on) I'm thinking about dropping out or taking a year off.

I had hoped that pretty conservative bidding would help me get callbacks, but it seems like even firms who have traditionally hired right around median are now willing to pass over everyone outside top 10%.

[tetrahydrocannabinol]

The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

Not really true. There's is just so much riding on that week of interviewing you do (i.e. OCI)-- pretty much everything. Because of the way biglaw hires you really have no chance of being hired if you don't get a 2L SA, and then subsequently an offer. 3L OCI (or even hiring for that matter) is almost nonexistent, and when it does happen it will almost always be someone who had a 2L SA. Doing a clerkship keeps you in the game because biglaw firms hire clerks. But the thing is everyone wants to clerk this year since no one can find a job, making them extremely competitive. Clerkships outside of CCN really were always very limited and went to the top of the class, but this year it's going to be even more cutthroat. Put another way, basically if you struck out at OCI this year, your fucked and now have a lifetime of debt to look forward to never paying off (unless you are on significant scholarship) and then going bankrupt 25 years down the road (i.e. when your IBR payments are done and your loan is "forgiven" but you get hit with the $200K tax bill). When you actually sit down and think about it, there's is so much risk with law school, which all rides on a total of a week of interviewing. Taking the money and going to Vegas for a week doesn't sound like it would have been too bad of an alternative for the class of 2011.

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to think that we're not that screwed, and that there will be multiple tiers/rounds of callbacks/offers, but seeing people with pretty good grades striking out and being rejected by every firm they've interviewed with, I'm not feeling so great. I'm approximately top-25% at a T14, and unless I get some callbacks next week (which I'm not counting on) I'm thinking about dropping out or taking a year off.

I had hoped that pretty conservative bidding would help me get callbacks, but it seems like even firms who have traditionally hired right around median are now willing to pass over everyone outside top 10%.

Don't drop out, you must have done a lot just to get into the T14 in the first place. You are going to get callbacks. I have 4 from a T2 with a class rank very close to yours. You will be fine. Triple check your resume to make sure there are no typos.

[papercranes]

The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

Not really true. There's is just so much riding on that week of interviewing you do (i.e. OCI)-- pretty much everything. Because of the way biglaw hires you really have no chance of being hired if you don't get a 2L SA, and then subsequently an offer. 3L OCI (or even hiring for that matter) is almost nonexistent, and when it does happen it will almost always be someone who had a 2L SA. Doing a clerkship keeps you in the game because biglaw firms hire clerks. But the thing is everyone wants to clerk this year since no one can find a job, making them extremely competitive. Clerkships outside of CCN really were always very limited and went to the top of the class, but this year it's going to be even more cutthroat. Put another way, basically if you struck out at OCI this year, your fucked and now have a lifetime of debt to look forward to never paying off (unless you are on significant scholarship) and then going bankrupt 25 years down the road (i.e. when your IBR payments are done and your loan is "forgiven" but you get hit with the $200K tax bill). When you actually sit down and think about it, there's is so much risk with law school, which all rides on a total of a week of interviewing. Taking the money and going to Vegas for a week doesn't sound like it would have been too bad of an alternative for the class of 2011.

this seems a bit unnecessarily obnoxious.

[tetrahydrocannabinol]

The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

Not really true. There's is just so much riding on that week of interviewing you do (i.e. OCI)-- pretty much everything. Because of the way biglaw hires you really have no chance of being hired if you don't get a 2L SA, and then subsequently an offer. 3L OCI (or even hiring for that matter) is almost nonexistent, and when it does happen it will almost always be someone who had a 2L SA. Doing a clerkship keeps you in the game because biglaw firms hire clerks. But the thing is everyone wants to clerk this year since no one can find a job, making them extremely competitive. Clerkships outside of CCN really were always very limited and went to the top of the class, but this year it's going to be even more cutthroat. Put another way, basically if you struck out at OCI this year, your fucked and now have a lifetime of debt to look forward to never paying off (unless you are on significant scholarship) and then going bankrupt 25 years down the road (i.e. when your IBR payments are done and your loan is "forgiven" but you get hit with the $200K tax bill). When you actually sit down and think about it, there's is so much risk with law school, which all rides on a total of a week of interviewing. Taking the money and going to Vegas for a week doesn't sound like it would have been too bad of an alternative for the class of 2011.

this seems a bit unnecessarily obnoxious.

Is it not true? I think it is. There's no way in hell your paying off $200K+ in debt making $50-60K a year (so $33-40k a year post taxes).

[TTT-LS]

.

[tetrahydrocannabinol]

The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

Not really true. There's is just so much riding on that week of interviewing you do (i.e. OCI)-- pretty much everything. Because of the way biglaw hires you really have no chance of being hired if you don't get a 2L SA, and then subsequently an offer. 3L OCI (or even hiring for that matter) is almost nonexistent, and when it does happen it will almost always be someone who had a 2L SA. Doing a clerkship keeps you in the game because biglaw firms hire clerks. But the thing is everyone wants to clerk this year since no one can find a job, making them extremely competitive. Clerkships outside of CCN really were always very limited and went to the top of the class, but this year it's going to be even more cutthroat. Put another way, basically if you struck out at OCI this year, your fucked and now have a lifetime of debt to look forward to never paying off (unless you are on significant scholarship) and then going bankrupt 25 years down the road (i.e. when your IBR payments are done and your loan is "forgiven" but you get hit with the $200K tax bill). When you actually sit down and think about it, there's is so much risk with law school, which all rides on a total of a week of interviewing. Taking the money and going to Vegas for a week doesn't sound like it would have been too bad of an alternative for the class of 2011.

http://dhalsim.ytmnd.com/

You didn't really address anything I said at all with that link. For the record, I am part of the c/o 2011, so I'm not particularly happy with my selection of options here either.

[M_Cool]

yeah nothing is too high to be a flame ite. i'm a transfer to a t14 school and didn't get any cb's with 20+ interviews. i did have an sa position last year that i'm hoping i can return to.. but still, quite a few transfers i know don't have a single callback and the one's that do only have like 1 or 2. in years past we'd all have multiple offers to choose from.

[BradyToMoss]

yeah nothing is too high to be a flame ite. i'm a transfer to a t14 school and didn't get any cb's with 20+ interviews. i did have an sa position last year that i'm hoping i can return to.. but still, quite a few transfers i know don't have a single callback and the one's that do only have like 1 or 2. in years past we'd all have multiple offers to choose from.

Transfers seem to really be getting the shaft this year (not that anybody has it good). About a month ago I was kicking myself for staying put, but it seems to me like firms are treating transfers pretty poorly.

Any word on how transfers at HY are doing?

[Anonymous User]

yeah nothing is too high to be a flame ite. i'm a transfer to a t14 school and didn't get any cb's with 20+ interviews. i did have an sa position last year that i'm hoping i can return to.. but still, quite a few transfers i know don't have a single callback and the one's that do only have like 1 or 2. in years past we'd all have multiple offers to choose from.

Transfers seem to really be getting the shaft this year (not that anybody has it good). About a month ago I was kicking myself for staying put, but it seems to me like firms are treating transfers pretty poorly.

Any word on how transfers at HY are doing?

I know a DCNG -> HY transfer that had 1 callback one week after HY OCI. Maybe it's because (s)he was targeting DC, but I don't know.

[anon so I don't totally out him/her]

[papercranes]

yeah nothing is too high to be a flame ite. i'm a transfer to a t14 school and didn't get any cb's with 20+ interviews. i did have an sa position last year that i'm hoping i can return to.. but still, quite a few transfers i know don't have a single callback and the one's that do only have like 1 or 2. in years past we'd all have multiple offers to choose from.

Transfers seem to really be getting the shaft this year (not that anybody has it good). About a month ago I was kicking myself for staying put, but it seems to me like firms are treating transfers pretty poorly.

Any word on how transfers at HY are doing?

Why did you decide against transferring? (just curious)

[Anonymous User]

h tranfers seem to be doing okay.

there are some with many callbacks 6+, some with less. personally, i've gotten 4, but most of the firms are west coast and taking forever. haven't gotten any dings yet.

definitely not regretting the transfer, as my old school is getting nothing. plus, in the end, i'm still getting an h degree.



and fellow transfers, remember that there is more to transferring than simply biglaw. for example, if you can't get biglaw, chances are your new school has a MUCH better loan repayment program. so, you aren't totally shafted. there are other things besides biglaw.

[ScaredWorkedBored]

The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

Not really true. There's is just so much riding on that week of interviewing you do (i.e. OCI)-- pretty much everything. Because of the way biglaw hires you really have no chance of being hired if you don't get a 2L SA, and then subsequently an offer. 3L OCI (or even hiring for that matter) is almost nonexistent, and when it does happen it will almost always be someone who had a 2L SA. Doing a clerkship keeps you in the game because biglaw firms hire clerks. But the thing is everyone wants to clerk this year since no one can find a job, making them extremely competitive. Clerkships outside of CCN really were always very limited and went to the top of the class, but this year it's going to be even more cutthroat. Put another way, basically if you struck out at OCI this year, your fucked and now have a lifetime of debt to look forward to never paying off (unless you are on significant scholarship) and then going bankrupt 25 years down the road (i.e. when your IBR payments are done and your loan is "forgiven" but you get hit with the $200K tax bill). When you actually sit down and think about it, there's is so much risk with law school, which all rides on a total of a week of interviewing. Taking the money and going to Vegas for a week doesn't sound like it would have been too bad of an alternative for the class of 2011.

Actually, once you take bankruptcy, you'll learn you are significantly more f*cked than the bold text. IRS debt = student loan debt = never, ever escape it.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone heard from Dechert, Philly, or Drinker Biddle, Philly?

[Anonymous User]

I have some thoughts that I hope will be useful to T14 people above median who are striking out at OCI that I'll try to post later on. The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

I'd like to think that we're not that screwed, and that there will be multiple tiers/rounds of callbacks/offers, but seeing people with pretty good grades striking out and being rejected by every firm they've interviewed with, I'm not feeling so great. I'm approximately top-25% at a T14, and unless I get some callbacks next week (which I'm not counting on) I'm thinking about dropping out or taking a year off.

I had hoped that pretty conservative bidding would help me get callbacks, but it seems like even firms who have traditionally hired right around median are now willing to pass over everyone outside top 10%.

you might just be a bad interviewer. my grades put my exactly where you are, at DCNG, and i absolutely cleaned up. where did you bid? mine were all NYC.

[tetrahydrocannabinol]

The short version is that even if things look really, really bleak right now, if you look out 4, 12, 24, 36 months there are a lot of ways you can stay in the biglaw game IF you move your GPA up to top third territory over your 2L and 3L years. I know that must sound a little hollow right now, but I honestly believe you're still going to be just fine.

Not really true. There's is just so much riding on that week of interviewing you do (i.e. OCI)-- pretty much everything. Because of the way biglaw hires you really have no chance of being hired if you don't get a 2L SA, and then subsequently an offer. 3L OCI (or even hiring for that matter) is almost nonexistent, and when it does happen it will almost always be someone who had a 2L SA. Doing a clerkship keeps you in the game because biglaw firms hire clerks. But the thing is everyone wants to clerk this year since no one can find a job, making them extremely competitive. Clerkships outside of CCN really were always very limited and went to the top of the class, but this year it's going to be even more cutthroat. Put another way, basically if you struck out at OCI this year, your fucked and now have a lifetime of debt to look forward to never paying off (unless you are on significant scholarship) and then going bankrupt 25 years down the road (i.e. when your IBR payments are done and your loan is "forgiven" but you get hit with the $200K tax bill). When you actually sit down and think about it, there's is so much risk with law school, which all rides on a total of a week of interviewing. Taking the money and going to Vegas for a week doesn't sound like it would have been too bad of an alternative for the class of 2011.

Actually, once you take bankruptcy, you'll learn you are significantly more f*cked than the bold text. IRS debt = student loan debt = never, ever escape it.

Wow. I actually thought I was being cynical, but I guess it's worse then I thought. I didn't know you couldn't bankrupt to clear out taxes. So how do you pay the lump sum $200K tax bill then when the IBR loan is forgiven in 25 years? Another loan from good o'le uncle sam, which just runs for the rest of your life?