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no offers yet--top 30% at lower tier 1. I applied to DOJ, biglaw firms, USAO, etc., no luck. How worried should I be if I don't land anything this summer?

ya ok...

#1 - You aren't gonna get biglaw 1L without connections or special program (e.g. diversity)
#2 - USAO is a really really really popular gig, good luck but dont count on it
#3 - DoJ, same deal, big umbrella but there are going to be a lot of people gunning for these jobs

My advice:
Prepare backups. Find jobs that you would be willing to take when you are looking at getting nothing, try to find if any RA positions are available at your school (at least they pay). Remember, any job where you actually do legal work (research and writing) is pretty much the same, either you can try to get your foot in the door at places like DOJ/USAO/DA or you can try to make some money. If you don't think you are going to get anything, look at the legal foundations and all those other volunteer jobs, its better than doing nothing.

FYI I am a 1L at similarly ranked school (similar class rank) sitting on interviews that won't send offers till march at the earliest (these are the good jobs). I am pretty much going through the exact same thing.

So you should be worried, but I would make some contacts now so at least you are working SOMEWHERE this summer. Don't forget that 1L jobs don't matter that much.

Apply to something normal like everyone else does. There aren't enough positions at USAO & DoJ & similar to assume you'll get it.

Forget biglaw 1L SA's entirely. Unless you are already "in" or fit diversity criteria, you are applying for positions that do not exist.

You are 1L at a 'lower tier 1'. You had an approximately 0% chance of getting a paying firm job. There are only so many internship opportunities around for DOJ/USAO.

You need to either get a research assistant position or do a judicial internship or both. Most importantly, you need to get your ass in gear if you haven't already mailed out to all state level and federal judges in your area.

Just for perspective on the DOJ jobs. I know for the Environmental Natural Resources Division (ENRD), they had over 6000 applicants for 13 post-graduate attorney positions. While this isn't 1L volunteers or honors, .00217 odds demonstrate the overall competition for these spots. My info comes from someone who got one of the 13 spots. The person attributed it to connections, how else could they sort through 6k applications.

Anonymous User wrote:no offers yet--top 30% at lower tier 1. I applied to DOJ, biglaw firms, USAO, etc., no luck. How worried should I be if I don't land anything this summer?

I'm a 2L, top 30% at an upper tier 1, and got rejected from everything you said and more. Stop whining.

Anonymous User wrote:no offers yet--top 30% at lower tier 1. I applied to DOJ, biglaw firms, USAO, etc., no luck. How worried should I be if I don't land anything this summer?

That's way overshooting. Try applying to small local firms. If you can't find anything, then at the end of the semester, there might be some RA jobs available.

I would say that your situation is common for people in your stats range.

Also a lower tier 1 1L, right around top 10%. I didn't get any of that stuff. Most of my classmates are doing nonprofit work this summer. I recommend that, or else applying to be an RA for one of your professors. It's probably too late to get a judicial internship, especially in a major market. I'll be at a PI organization, more likely than not.

DOJ? USAO? Really?

I'm above top 15% at a T25 and I didn't apply to any of that stuff. I'm not even getting interviews from legal aid type places. Yeah, I'd say I'm getting worried.

..

Corsair wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:no offers yet--top 30% at lower tier 1. I applied to DOJ, biglaw firms, USAO, etc., no luck. How worried should I be if I don't land anything this summer?

I'm a 2L, top 30% at an upper tier 1, and got rejected from everything you said and more. Stop whining.

I'm a 3L, unranked at a T14, and... well you all know the rest.

?? Good or bad?

I'm at a T2 in a large secondary market and know of people that will be working both for federal judges and and USAO this summer as 1Ls. While the OP should expand his net, don't act like some of the jobs he applied to were impossible to land. His mistake of course was not applying to other positions as backups. Personally, I'm top 5% and sitting in a similar position as the OP. My problem was that I didn't want to end up committing to a lesser job only to have one of the more prestigious ones come knocking later on. While I'm a bit nervous, I still believe I will find something before everything is said and done

Anonymous User wrote:DOJ? USAO? Really?

I'm above top 15% at a T25 and I didn't apply to any of that stuff. I'm not even getting interviews from legal aid type places. Yeah, I'd say I'm getting worried.

That's your fault for self-selecting out. At least OP is trying.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:DOJ? USAO? Really?

I'm above top 15% at a T25 and I didn't apply to any of that stuff. I'm not even getting interviews from legal aid type places. Yeah, I'd say I'm getting worried.

That's your fault for self-selecting out. At least OP is trying.

Top 30% at a "lower tier one," so assuming something like GMU or American, would have been very unlikely to get DOJ, USAO, or biglaw in the boom years, absent URM or connections (which OP didn't mention). There's trying and then there's delusional for not having any backups, especially in an environment where 2Ls ranked much better than him at far better schools are struggling to find summer work at the same places.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:DOJ? USAO? Really?

I'm above top 15% at a T25 and I didn't apply to any of that stuff. I'm not even getting interviews from legal aid type places. Yeah, I'd say I'm getting worried.

That's your fault for self-selecting out. At least OP is trying.

Top 30% at a "lower tier one," so assuming something like GMU or American, would have been very unlikely to get DOJ, USAO, or biglaw in the boom years, absent URM or connections (which OP didn't mention). There's trying and then there's delusional for not having any backups, especially in an environment where 2Ls ranked much better than him at far better schools are struggling to find summer work at the same places.

I concur with this. No harm in trying, but you've gotta be putting out more realistic apps too (judges, etc.). The OP better get on that pretty quick.