Duke OCI - Class of 2016 - Oooh Kill Em Forum

[Anonymous User]

DC must really be the "big leagues."

[Anonymous User]

Is a 3.75ish with DLJ a place upperclassmen would feel comfortable budding straight DC at?

If you would not want to work anywhere other than DC, then I would feel comfortable bidding straight DC in your situation. However, if you are risk adverse like most of us, I would at least bid some NYC. That would probable be the more intelligent thing because DC is highly unpredictable as some earlier posters have pointed out. Just bid the majority of the V10. With this strategy, you are almost certainly guaranteed to get at least one offer in the unlikely event you strike out in DC.

[Anonymous User]

OTIP pre-selects are up. Went a little better than I expected so decent start to OCI. good luck everyone

[Anonymous User]

How does a 3.65ish/DLJ set me up for bidding Dallas/Houston and Charlotte where I have zero ties to Texas and my only ties to Charlotte are Duke/being from the south?

[Anonymous User]

Slightly below median, did terrible at OTIP

[Anonymous User]

How does a 3.65ish/DLJ set me up for bidding Dallas/Houston and Charlotte where I have zero ties to Texas and my only ties to Charlotte are Duke/being from the south?

Both markets are very tie heavy. What are you doing this summer? are you in any of your target markets?

[Anonymous User]

What do you consider doing terrible at OTIP? I'm above median and I got barely any preselects either.

[Anonymous User]

Terrible is two pre selects in my home market with very strong ties.

[Anonymous User]

Sounds like the LA OTIP was pretty brutal for people who don't have insane grades

[Anonymous User]

I agree, LA from all accounts was brutal. I know people who were above median who only got 2 or 3 pre selects

[Anonymous User]

How does a 3.65ish/DLJ set me up for bidding Dallas/Houston and Charlotte where I have zero ties to Texas and my only ties to Charlotte are Duke/being from the south?

I think Texas is more open than people give it credit for, especially as a 2L. But you have to demonstrate why you want to live and work there. Also, Houston is a larger market that is likely more open than Dallas.

[Anonymous User]

How does a 3.65ish/DLJ set me up for bidding Dallas/Houston and Charlotte where I have zero ties to Texas and my only ties to Charlotte are Duke/being from the south?

I think Texas is more open than people give it credit for, especially as a 2L. But you have to demonstrate why you want to live and work there. Also, Houston is a larger market that is likely more open than Dallas.

I would be pretty surprised if you got anything from Charlotte. I would be less surprised if you got Texas but that would only be if you could reasonably and articulately explain why you wanted to be there.

Note: I know people with about those credentials who only got like 3 CBs and 1-2 offers when bidding on big markets that were less sensitive to grades and/or ties (i.e. NYC). Thus, I would definitely bid some NYC at OCI, especially considering there just are not that many Texas and Charlotte firms interviewing to begin with.

[lawyerwannabe]

From my experience, journals didn't seem to matter much to employers. After all, journals are mostly just a proxy for grades. So if you have the grades and can carry yourself in an interview, a journal (or lack thereof) probably isn't going to move the needle much in one direction or the other.

Also, journals (especially DLJ) can be a lot of work. If you manage to walk into 2L with a job and no journal, then bully for you.

(And good luck, everyone. OCI sucks, but you'll make it. Eye of the tiger and all that.)

I will second all of this.

1) Even employers who say journal preferred (or even required) have hired people without journal. However, it is hard to say how much not having journal was held against them. I would say the takeaway is that if the employer likes you from interviews and you have sufficient grades, not having a journal is not going to sink the ship in most instances.

2) DLJ seemed like a ton of work. Most other journals seemed very reasonable.

[Anonymous User]

I agree, LA from all accounts was brutal. I know people who were above median who only got 2 or 3 pre selects

I'd keep an eye on the OTIP page. When I checked this morning, I had 4 preselects and no alternates. Since then, 2 of the "not invited" have become preselects.

[Anonymous User]

How does a 3.65ish/DLJ set me up for bidding Dallas/Houston and Charlotte where I have zero ties to Texas and my only ties to Charlotte are Duke/being from the south?

I think Texas is more open than people give it credit for, especially as a 2L. But you have to demonstrate why you want to live and work there. Also, Houston is a larger market that is likely more open than Dallas.

I would be pretty surprised if you got anything from Charlotte. I would be less surprised if you got Texas but that would only be if you could reasonably and articulately explain why you wanted to be there.

Note: I know people with about those credentials who only got like 3 CBs and 1-2 offers when bidding on big markets that were less sensitive to grades and/or ties (i.e. NYC). Thus, I would definitely bid some NYC at OCI, especially considering there just are not that many Texas and Charlotte firms interviewing to begin with.

What if my in-laws are from NC and my SO is from there and wants to return? I have zero desire to be in NYC.

[Anonymous User]

Since you said in-laws I will assume you are married and the significant other is more than a girlfriend/boyfriend.

If that is the case you have a better chance at Charlotte but there are like 10 positions in the city. I would not feel comfortable just bidding Charlotte and Texas in your position but you are not me.

[Anonymous User]

anyone know good sites that have salary and profit-per-partner numbers (other than lawfirmstats, nalp, and vault)? I can't find much data about one of the firms I got a pre-select with.

[Anonymous User]

Do people think the chances of getting a CB from OTIP are higher since the interviews are pre select?

[Anonymous User]

Do people think the chances of getting a CB from OTIP are higher since the interviews are pre select?

I sure hope so as it went better than expected. Would be a pretty sweet deal to have a call back or two lined up before OCI

[Anonymous User]

Do people think the chances of getting a CB from OTIP are higher since the interviews are pre select?

I sure hope so as it went better than expected. Would be a pretty sweet deal to have a call back or two lined up before OCI

True, that would be an ideal scenario

[Anonymous User]

well below median here w/no journal as of yet (I'm definitely nervous about OCI) anyone who didn't get a journal from the first waive hear any news yet?? or do you know when the other kids have to decide?

[Anonymous User]

well below median here w/no journal as of yet (I'm definitely nervous about OCI) anyone who didn't get a journal from the first waive hear any news yet?? or do you know when the other kids have to decide?

I am right there with you, well define "well below median"... Anyways, I hope there are a few more exclusive journal invites out there since no email has gone out saying they are done inviting!

[Anonymous User]

probably not as low as me (cum 3.15) HORRIBLE first semester just below median second. w/o a journal I feel dead in the water. looking at NY and a secondary market known to be grade snobby (don't want to out myself)

Have you heard back about your bid list. I don't want to waste my time interviewing with firms that absolutely won't dip that low. I told my counselor this but he hasn't given me the floor for the firms yet.

[Anonymous User]

I am not much higher, struggled to recover from a miserable first semester where I actually felt good walking out of finals.

My career counselor gave me a little advice but not much. They said to work any connections and try to pull interviews that way. I have no idea what to expect for OCI as a below median student with no journal. Going to be interesting.

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else getting a little bit worried by the median gpas on the offer sheet on toolkit? Some of them are much higher than I thought they would be. I just started working on my bid list and I figured I would be in much better shape being slightly above median. I think most of us will be fine, but its going to be a grind. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was originally planning on only applying to NYC and home market, but now am probably going to use resume Launchpad and just mass mail every single market that pays well.