general OCI question, 1L summer, GPA Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
anonymcoffee

Bronze
Posts: 187
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:31 pm

general OCI question, 1L summer, GPA

Post by anonymcoffee » Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:10 pm

so I am just now starting to understand what OCI is ...I kept hearing about it and dismissing the idea that it would be too soon to deal with but after looking at the forum and career services site, I am realizing the importance of OCI. I do have some questions though -(some background, straight out of undergrad, not truly familiar with the law job market requirements, or what law I even want to pursue - all I know is I'm most happy/excited/interested when I attend cases/visit courtroom) (not getting into why I went to law school, that answer is separate from my law school job market/fields ignorance)

1. Is this the "big law" people are talking about? I saw that some smaller firms also attend and some government jobs. (Just wanted to make sure I got it)

2. Does it matter what I do my 1L summer? Right now, I am looking at judicial internships just because that sounds interesting to me.

3. The GPA question...I go to GWU and have a 3.28 right now (I do admit it was my fault, despite reading all the advice on TLS I did not do what I was supposed to). I was reading the OCI thread and people seem conflicted about this, but how important is the GPA? I am hoping to bring up the GPA, but I do not know if it will be a significant enough improvement.

So, this post is happening with me frantically searching for jobs, and seeing summer associate jobs paying 2000 or more and yearning haha. So, is this what OCI is?

whydididothis

New
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:05 pm

Re: general OCI question, 1L summer, GPA

Post by whydididothis » Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:24 pm

1. Mostly for biglaw, but you'll find a smattering of smaller firms and non-profits.
2. Eh, not really, as long as it's something legal and not overly controversial. A judicial internship is a good experience, and if you can get it, go for it.
3. GPA is extremely important for OCI. I don't know where 3.28 at GWU places you since I don't know the curve, but it can't be that bad since it's borderline B+ and I would hazard a guess that GWU's curve is slightly lower than a B+. At least you're not below median. Regardless, and this is still school-specific, you probably want to try and get into top 1/3 or top 1/4 if you can swing it.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428547
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: general OCI question, 1L summer, GPA

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:14 pm

GW's curve is a ~3.15, so you are slightly above median. That said, I know a lot of people who were shut out of OCI even with 3.3 and 3.4 GPAs. Try to bring it up, and make sure to bid on NY. DC/California/Chicago were brutal this year.

Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”