The Elusive 1L SA Forum

[jdstl]

I know that 1L SA's have become extremely rare in this economy.

If,however, you are coming out of 1) YHS or 2) CCN what are your chances of landing a 1l summer paying firm gig in a small-secondary market (ie. St. Louis/Minneapolis/Baltimore/Pittsburg)?

Could you reasonably expect such a position (assuming local ties) coming out of YHS? Out of CCN?

[Veyron]

I know that 1L SA's have become extremely rare in this economy.

If,however, you are coming out of 1) YHS or 2) CCN what are your chances of landing a 1l summer paying firm gig in a small-secondary market (ie. St. Louis/Minneapolis/Baltimore/Pittsburg)?

Could you reasonably expect such a position (assuming local ties) coming out of YHS? Out of CCN?

No.

[Renzo]

As a CCN student, I personally know of 2 (out of 450) people last year who got 1L SA gigs. They were both URMs, one was on a scholarship that guaranteed the job before he even set foot in school. The other got the gig through a different firm's diversity scholarship program for 1Ls.

[jdstl]

Damn.

[Anonymous User]

i'm a urm at mvp and i got one of these through a diversity program (plus scholly). i know of two other people in my class who got 1L SA positions, one in pacific northwest and one in a secondary midwest market. neither was urm, but they were both in their home towns, so i'm not sure whether they had hook-ups through family/friends.

[Anonymous User]

Penn student. Know of 5 people who were 1L SAs (not minorities). 1 was V15 NYC, 1 was V50 NYC and the other 3 were in secondary markets.

[BruceWayne]

Penn student. Know of 5 people who were 1L SAs (not minorities). 1 was V15 NYC, 1 was V50 NYC and the other 3 were in secondary markets.

Damn, Penn's no joke.

[Anonymous User]

At UVA I knew of 5 people with 1L SAs. Three in V100s in NY/DC, one in ATL, one in another secondary market. Only 2/5 are URM.

[Anonymous User]

Would accounting experience with CPA help to get a 1L SA in a transactional practice?

[RVP11]

Would accounting experience with CPA help to get a 1L SA in a transactional practice?

In as much as stuff that is good helps get other stuff that is good, yeah.

[Anonymous User]

At UVA I knew of 5 people with 1L SAs. Three in V100s in NY/DC, one in ATL, one in another secondary market. Only 2/5 are URM.

More than that bro:

http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/career/1Lstats.htm

just saying

[Anonymous User]

OP, see G.T.L. Rev.'s answer from another recent 1L SA thread about grades being neither necessary or sufficient for a 1L SA. I'd imagine that its a similar deal for school prestige - obviously its not going to hurt you to go to HYS, but a lot of 1L SA positions are either earmarked for URMs, or go to people whose dad is a client or partner (or who have other subjective connections to the firm).

[Anonymous User]

At UVA I knew of 5 people with 1L SAs. Three in V100s in NY/DC, one in ATL, one in another secondary market. Only 2/5 are URM.

More than that bro:

http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/career/1Lstats.htm

just saying

Some of those are unquestionably not traditional SA jobs: they might be hourly clerks, unapd jobs, or jobs in small (i.e., non-biglaw) firms. This is not to say that it wasn't tough to get even those jobs last summer (I'm sure it was), but rather that any claim that UVA had 19% in 1L SA jobs last summer is ridiculous on its face.

Well, it must be more than five. It's probably around 10ish.

[Anonymous User]

At UVA I knew of 5 people with 1L SAs. Three in V100s in NY/DC, one in ATL, one in another secondary market. Only 2/5 are URM.

More than that bro:

http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/career/1Lstats.htm

just saying

NU had a similar number of people in firm jobs in 2009 (~18%). About half NALP, half non-NALP firms. As G.T.L. said above, who knows how they're counting that data. I'd imagine the NALP jobs are some sort of SA.

Getting these is not easy. They're not based on grades really, but rather on connections and work experience coming in. Out of the people I know with 1L SA offers, all were IP or had some sort of corporate finance/accounting background.

[nealric]

It used to happen more often. I got a callback in 2007 for a 1L SA from GULC, and I know a few people who snagged positions (not just URMs).

A lot of firms have concluded 1Ls aren't worth their time, so it requires a lot of luck these days.

[buster]

i agree it's mostly luck and exceedingly rare, but it really never hurts to apply to as many as you can, specifically targeting the ones that include diversity scholarships (if you are urm) and ones that offer PI fellowship. i personally know of actually a surprising number of people (more than 6 - and by surprising, i mean i didn't think it was even possible) who got firm jobs as 1Ls, some in secondary markets and some in primary.

[IAFG]

NU placed 21 NALP 1L SAs. Dunno how many were URMs; not all

[Doritos]

Related...if one wants to try and win the lotto and get a 1L SA @ a big firm, is applying ON Dec. 1 necessary? Would it hurt if one applied later in Dec?

[Anonymous User]

.

[Renzo]

Applying on 12/1 or very shortly thereafter helps, but waiting won't totally foreclose your options. Still, why reduce your already very slim odds by waiting? Get on it and have your stuff ready to go on 12/1.

I agree with this completely, but I would come to a different result. If you can get your apps out 12/1 without any bit of the slightest negative impact on your studying for finals do it. But, your 1L grades are with you forever, so if the cost of changing your odds of a SA job from 1/5000 to 1/3000 is to increase the odds you get a B instead of a B+ in a class even slightly, it's a bad trade.

[Dead Ringer]

I am at a CCN and most people with ties to Texas got a 1L SA gig, and I am pretty sure they led to offers in all cases.

[bigben]

Not impossible, but unlikely. So no, you cannot "reasonably expect" it.

[Anonymous User]

You could get JobSerf (http://www.jobserf.com/) to do your applications for you. They basically hire someone in India to fill out a cover letter and send it to the firms. It saves you the trouble of tedious mundane work (right in the middle of finals).

The emails are sent from your email address so the firms never know!

I've used them with amazing results.

[OGR3]

I know that 1L SA's have become extremely rare in this economy.

If,however, you are coming out of 1) YHS or 2) CCN what are your chances of landing a 1l summer paying firm gig in a small-secondary market (ie. St. Louis/Minneapolis/Baltimore/Pittsburg)?

Could you reasonably expect such a position (assuming local ties) coming out of YHS? Out of CCN?

If you want a gig with a Pittsburgh firm, I would suggest you spell the city's name properly.

[jdstl]

I know that 1L SA's have become extremely rare in this economy.

If,however, you are coming out of 1) YHS or 2) CCN what are your chances of landing a 1l summer paying firm gig in a small-secondary market (ie. St. Louis/Minneapolis/Baltimore/Pittsburg)?

Could you reasonably expect such a position (assuming local ties) coming out of YHS? Out of CCN?

If you want a gig with a Pittsburgh firm, I would suggest you spell the city's name properly.

Lol, no interest in "Pittsburg". I'm from St. Louis, and I'd like to end up there eventually. I was just listing the rough size of city.