Top Law Schools

I am currently in the process of transferring to a top 10 school from a low Loyola University Chicago school (top 5%, 3.86). Not only do I really have no idea about any of these big firms or the OCI process (my old school basically doesn't even have one), I am keep reading about how you should have an area of law/specialty to talk about during your interview.

What if I have no idea? I really dont know what areas biglaw firms practice in the first place really (but I've started to look on websites). Either way, I'm not going to be able to actually figure that out before OCI, especially not in time to talk in any substantive manner during an interview. Any advice on this?

transactional v. litigation

That's all you need to be able to articulate.

Other kids may have defined plans/goals... you don't need that int he interview. Hell, you can change your mind when you arrive at the firm this summer and again before you show up to work full time.

They know that. In fact, part of the purpose of the summer program is to educate the SAs about the various departments.

Just have an understanding of transactional v. litigation, pick one and be able to talk about it.

VERY broadly speaking, these are the areas of law you'll see big firms practice:

Litigation (trial and apellate, but almost exclusively trial for summers / fresh associates)
Transactional (deals, mergers, finance, etc.)
Tax (touches regulation, lobbying, litigation, and transactional practices)
Regulatory/government affairs (interfacing with DC agencies for the most part, also touches on lobbying)

Most gigantic law firms do all of the above to one extent or another. Probably the biggest distinction is litigation or not-litigation, since that contextualizes the practice (is it adversarial and court/judge driven, or is it not?).

It's smart to THINK about these things, and to articulate interests and preferences, but flexibility is also important. You don't want to sit down with Double Mega Firm and express your interest for transactional law only to find out they were really only looking to make litigation hires their first year, you know? But it's smart to know exactly what the firm your interviewing with does, and how many partners they have doing it (check out the nalpdirectory for inside info on that front).