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So I got bored and crunched the numbers for some NYC firms with big classes. The criteria for inclusion were:

Summer classes bigger than 100 at least 2 years from [2002, 2010].
NYC office size of > 500.

This basically gives you the V10 - Wachtell + Debevoise.

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The numbers are the size of each summer class relative to that firm's summer class in 2002.

Firms that ballooned the least in '07/'08 definitely had to cut the least in '09/'10.

What does the "ratio" column measure?

Anonymous User wrote:What does the "ratio" column measure?

The ratio between the firm's largest class size during that period and its smallest.

This sure seems like a waste of perfectly good math. What is the inference I'm supposed to take from it?

Renzo wrote:This sure seems like a waste of perfectly good math. What is the inference I'm supposed to take from it?

Not really trying to draw inferences necessarily. It's just interesting to see how firms' class sizes have fluctuated over the last decade, to see the effects of the crashes in '03 and '10, to see which firms expanded the most during the recent boom, etc.

Actually I think this is great -- it provides insight into firm volatility and susceptibility to market trends. It is helpful for those with preferences about stability vs. explosive growth. Firms with low numbers in the "ratio" column appear to have been more stable throughout, without bulging class sizes and then dramatic reductions. These low-ratio firms would appear to me to be a slightly "safer" bet, if only because they will not have the culture problems associated with deferrals, tiny 2010 summer classes, etc.

verdandi wrote:Actually I think this is great -- it provides insight into firm volatility and susceptibility to market trends. It is helpful for those with preferences about stability vs. explosive growth. Firms with low numbers in the "ratio" column appear to have been more stable throughout, without bulging class sizes and then dramatic reductions. These low-ratio firms would appear to me to be a slightly "safer" bet, if only because they will not have the culture problems associated with deferrals, tiny 2010 summer classes, etc.

I think it gives some insight into how conservatively a firm is managed. Firms with low ratios on that list: DPW, Cleary, Debevoise are often accused of being market followers generally.