2012 NU OCI Forum

[homestyle28]

I defined as follows:
Reach anything .2 or more above my GPA
Target anything within .1 +/-
saftey anything .2 or more below

A little caveat about "safety" firms: this is not law school admissions. Just because you are above a call back median or near the high end does not mean you will get a call back there and certainly does not mean that you will get an offer there. The only "numbers game" law firms play is targeting a certain size summer class and offering people that impressed them (via interview and academic performance) accounting for a certain amount of people to decline the offer. While I think OCI is a little more numbers driven, it is certainly not so much that you can use the term "safety" with respect to any firm.

So I should take my LSAT score out of the header of my resume?

[UncleFilz]

I defined as follows:
Reach anything .2 or more above my GPA
Target anything within .1 +/-
saftey anything .2 or more below

A little caveat about "safety" firms: this is not law school admissions. Just because you are above a call back median or near the high end does not mean you will get a call back there and certainly does not mean that you will get an offer there. The only "numbers game" law firms play is targeting a certain size summer class and offering people that impressed them (via interview and academic performance) accounting for a certain amount of people to decline the offer. While I think OCI is a little more numbers driven, it is certainly not so much that you can use the term "safety" with respect to any firm.

So how accurate is the GPA callback info? Does it actually mean anything? Obviously for firms like S&C it indicates they don't want people with low GPAs, but for a firm that has a large GPA range does it actually mean people in the range have a chance? Or are they just going to fill from the top as much as possible as long as the people aren't complete dbags?

[Anonymous User]

I defined as follows:
Reach anything .2 or more above my GPA
Target anything within .1 +/-
saftey anything .2 or more below

A little caveat about "safety" firms: this is not law school admissions. Just because you are above a call back median or near the high end does not mean you will get a call back there and certainly does not mean that you will get an offer there. The only "numbers game" law firms play is targeting a certain size summer class and offering people that impressed them (via interview and academic performance) accounting for a certain amount of people to decline the offer. While I think OCI is a little more numbers driven, it is certainly not so much that you can use the term "safety" with respect to any firm.

So how accurate is the GPA callback info? Does it actually mean anything? Obviously for firms like S&C it indicates they don't want people with low GPAs, but for a firm that has a large GPA range does it actually mean people in the range have a chance? Or are they just going to fill from the top as much as possible as long as the people aren't complete dbags?

I'm not sure what the OP meant either, because I think it's common knowledge that having a high gpa isn't sufficient for a CB/offer at any firm (except for perhaps S&C), and that certain baseline interviewing skills are required for almost any firm.

Of course OCI isn't like math and there are no guarantees but if you are in the high GPA range of a firm and you are a decent interviewer, you should feel good about your chances going in.

[homestyle28]

I defined as follows:
Reach anything .2 or more above my GPA
Target anything within .1 +/-
saftey anything .2 or more below

A little caveat about "safety" firms: this is not law school admissions. Just because you are above a call back median or near the high end does not mean you will get a call back there and certainly does not mean that you will get an offer there. The only "numbers game" law firms play is targeting a certain size summer class and offering people that impressed them (via interview and academic performance) accounting for a certain amount of people to decline the offer. While I think OCI is a little more numbers driven, it is certainly not so much that you can use the term "safety" with respect to any firm.

So how accurate is the GPA callback info? Does it actually mean anything? Obviously for firms like S&C it indicates they don't want people with low GPAs, but for a firm that has a large GPA range does it actually mean people in the range have a chance? Or are they just going to fill from the top as much as possible as long as the people aren't complete dbags?

I'm not sure what the OP meant either, because I think it's common knowledge that having a high gpa isn't sufficient for a CB/offer at any firm (except for perhaps S&C), and that certain baseline interviewing skills are required for almost any firm.

Of course OCI isn't like math and there are no guarantees but if you are in the high GPA range of a firm and you are a decent interviewer, you should feel good about your chances going in.

There are a limited number of sources of objective info for us for bidding: GPA callback #'s, NALP class sizes, etc. I think you call firms "targets, reaches, safeties" based on that...but obviously it's not an analogous process to law school admissions. Interviewing skills/prep also figure in to things. I've been told that, as a general rule, the average offer GPA is a tick lower than average call back GPA, b/c the top firms scoop up so many of the high GPAs. To paraphrase rayiner, a person with a high GPA might get a shit-ton of callbacks (affecting the callback numbers) but can still only accept 1 offer.

I think what the GPA callback data tells you is that (presuming you're in the range of GPAs previously called back) Firm X has called back people with similar numbers in the past, so you should be in the running going into the interview.

[D-hops]

There are a limited number of sources of objective info for us for bidding: GPA callback #'s, NALP class sizes, etc. I think you call firms "targets, reaches, safeties" based on that...but obviously it's not an analogous process to law school admissions. Interviewing skills/prep also figure in to things. I've been told that, as a general rule, the average offer GPA is a tick lower than average call back GPA, b/c the top firms scoop up so many of the high GPAs. To paraphrase rayiner, a person with a high GPA might get a shit-ton of callbacks (affecting the callback numbers) but can still only accept 1 offer.

I think what the GPA callback data tells you is that (presuming you're in the range of GPAs previously called back) Firm X has called back people with similar numbers in the past, so you should be in the running going into the interview.

Not to mention the fact that people with high GPAs often decline or cancel callbacks after they have a solid offer in pocket.

[homestyle28]

There are a limited number of sources of objective info for us for bidding: GPA callback #'s, NALP class sizes, etc. I think you call firms "targets, reaches, safeties" based on that...but obviously it's not an analogous process to law school admissions. Interviewing skills/prep also figure in to things. I've been told that, as a general rule, the average offer GPA is a tick lower than average call back GPA, b/c the top firms scoop up so many of the high GPAs. To paraphrase rayiner, a person with a high GPA might get a shit-ton of callbacks (affecting the callback numbers) but can still only accept 1 offer.

I think what the GPA callback data tells you is that (presuming you're in the range of GPAs previously called back) Firm X has called back people with similar numbers in the past, so you should be in the running going into the interview.

Not to mention the fact that people with high GPAs often decline or cancel callbacks after they have a solid offer in pocket.

They really ought to incentivize friendship with the eggheads by allowing them to hand off their CBs and offers to specific people.

[splitmuch]

Friday

Maaaaaaaaaan, i'm gonna be at lollapalooza. that shit better be up in the morning.

Well, symplicity is saying this

"We are currently running scheduled maintenance. Student OCI access is currently disabled. We expect access to be restored by Monday, August 6 at 2:05 pm."

So on the bright side you won't be at lolla. On the negative side, its 3 days after they said the schedule would be up.

[rayiner]

I use the reach/target/safety terminology myself, but it's wanting. The thing is, if you've got a 172/3.7, WUSTL is almost guaranteed to throw money at you. There is no equivalent in OCI. There are firms who care more about GPA's and ones that care less, but very few that will give you a callback despite a crappy interview just because of a high GPA.

I got callbacks at K&E, DPW, etc, but no love from Dewey, Fried Frank, Willkie, etc. I didn't bring my A-game to those interviews. I didn't thoroughly research those firms and convincingly explain why I wanted to work there. The firms who care less about GPA's just care less about GPA's--they're not going to just give callbacks to high GPA people over lower GPA people who seem to really want to work there.

[Anonymous User]

I use the reach/target/safety terminology myself, but it's wanting. The thing is, if you've got a 172/3.7, WUSTL is almost guaranteed to throw money at you. There is no equivalent in OCI. There are firms who care more about GPA's and ones that care less, but very few that will give you a callback despite a crappy interview just because of a high GPA.

I got callbacks at K&E, DPW, etc, but no love from Dewey, Fried Frank, Willkie, etc. I didn't bring my A-game to those interviews. I didn't thoroughly research those firms and convincingly explain why I wanted to work there. The firms who care less about GPA's just care less about GPA's--they're not going to just give callbacks to high GPA people over lower GPA people who seem to really want to work there.

Any chance you got YPed at those firms? Also just curious but did you bomb those interviews or just do (in your assessment) below average?

[D-hops]

I use the reach/target/safety terminology myself, but it's wanting. The thing is, if you've got a 172/3.7, WUSTL is almost guaranteed to throw money at you. There is no equivalent in OCI. There are firms who care more about GPA's and ones that care less, but very few that will give you a callback despite a crappy interview just because of a high GPA.

I got callbacks at K&E, DPW, etc, but no love from Dewey, Fried Frank, Willkie, etc. I didn't bring my A-game to those interviews. I didn't thoroughly research those firms and convincingly explain why I wanted to work there. The firms who care less about GPA's just care less about GPA's--they're not going to just give callbacks to high GPA people over lower GPA people who seem to really want to work there.

Any chance you got YPed at those firms? Also just curious but did you bomb those interviews or just do (in your assessment) below average?

There is very little incentive to YP high GPA students from getting a callback (costs of offering a callback are pretty limited). Offers are, I think, a different story because you hold that spot for 30 days while deciding and they need to fill a summer class. Maybe the SNR's or DLA's of the world they might not waste a callback on someone, but FF and Willkie don't YP at the callback stage.

[rayiner]

I use the reach/target/safety terminology myself, but it's wanting. The thing is, if you've got a 172/3.7, WUSTL is almost guaranteed to throw money at you. There is no equivalent in OCI. There are firms who care more about GPA's and ones that care less, but very few that will give you a callback despite a crappy interview just because of a high GPA.

I got callbacks at K&E, DPW, etc, but no love from Dewey, Fried Frank, Willkie, etc. I didn't bring my A-game to those interviews. I didn't thoroughly research those firms and convincingly explain why I wanted to work there. The firms who care less about GPA's just care less about GPA's--they're not going to just give callbacks to high GPA people over lower GPA people who seem to really want to work there.

Any chance you got YPed at those firms? Also just curious but did you bomb those interviews or just do (in your assessment) below average?

I'd have to be pretty self-involved to think I got YP-ed at V50 firms. I didn't bomb the interviews, but I wasn't super well-researched about their marquee practice areas and didn't spend a lot of time trying to connect my background to what they might be looking for.

[Flips88]

Friday

Maaaaaaaaaan, i'm gonna be at lollapalooza. that shit better be up in the morning.

Well, symplicity is saying this

"We are currently running scheduled maintenance. Student OCI access is currently disabled. We expect access to be restored by Monday, August 6 at 2:05 pm."

So on the bright side you won't be at lolla. On the negative side, its 3 days after they said the schedule would be up.

Symplicity says Friday @ 2:05 PM now. Damn

[section 5]

I use the reach/target/safety terminology myself, but it's wanting

The thing is, if you've got a 172/3.7, WUSTL is almost guaranteed to throw money at you. There is no equivalent in OCI. There are firms who care more about GPA's and ones that care less, but very few that will give you a callback despite a crappy interview just because of a high GPA.

I got callbacks at K&E, DPW, etc, but no love from Dewey, Fried Frank, Willkie, etc. I didn't bring my A-game to those interviews. I didn't thoroughly research those firms and convincingly explain why I wanted to work there. The firms who care less about GPA's just care less about GPA's--they're not going to just give callbacks to high GPA people over lower GPA people who seem to really want to work there.

Any chance you got YPed at those firms? Also just curious but did you bomb those interviews or just do (in your assessment) below average?

I'd have to be pretty self-involved to think I got YP-ed at V50 firms. I didn't bomb the interviews, but I wasn't super well-researched about their marquee practice areas and didn't spend a lot of time trying to connect my background to what they might be looking for.

Sorry about Dewey

[Icculus]

You'd think they could have chosen a better time to fuck with Symplicity.

[Flips88]

You'd think they could have chosen a better time to fuck with Symplicity.

"Scheduled maintenance" = "sorting out OCI bids"

[Icculus]

You'd think they could have chosen a better time to fuck with Symplicity.

"Scheduled maintenance" = "sorting out OCI bids"

Yes, but career services should never have said noon. Aren't you at lolla?

[D-hops]

Schedules are posted. Good luck everyone.

[09042014]

Number to beat is 35.

[Flips88]

Got 14. #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 22, and 29.

8 Chicago/6 D.C.

[09042014]

God damit I'm locked out.

[Georgia Avenue]

11.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 17, 18. 10 Chi/1 NYC.

Had NYC late teens/early 20s. Surprised it went so soon.

[Flips88]

11.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 17, 18. 10 Chi/1 NYC.

Had NYC late teens/early 20s. Surprised it went so soon.

Yeah I had Arnold Porter at 15 and didn't get it. Surprised D.C. was bid that high also.

[09042014]

Is there only one career adviser? Puja and Bill are gone. Is there a temp?

[Flips88]

Is there only one career adviser? Puja and Bill are gone. Is there a temp?

Prof Hill is filling in for Bill*, IIRC. Don't know who is covering Puja's people. Most people I know in those parts of the alphabet are dissatisfied with career services

[UncleFilz]

Puja's people are split between two. If you're in the first half of Puja's range, you are with Mary Maher. Not sure who the second person is. I only spoke to Mary over the phone, but I was fairly satisfied

Edit: not Mary Maher the 3L