Top Law Schools

I'm a 2L at Pepperdine, and while is not as highly ranked as a lot of the posters on here, considering my stats, I would think I should have found something by now.

My stats: top 20%, Law Review (incoming Literary Citation Editor), Worked as an RA for summer and both 2L semesters, Moot Court (ABA comp and international arbitration comp), also doing a Masters in Dispute Resolution and did a clinic program working as a mediator in LA superior courts all last semester.

I've had multiple interviews, and multiple callbacks, but seem to fall just short each time - once it was to other top students from my school with similar stats, other times it was because the firm apparently hired back its 1L summers from last year and gave them preference (but still asked me to keep in touch for a fall position). If it wasn't for how well my interviews have gone and the good feedback I've gotten, I would have thought it was my interviewing skills or just my personality, but after all this I'm really just at a loss.

What are other people in this situation doing at this point?

were all of your interviews through OCI? Also, how picky are you being about what firms to apply to?

I'd say about 50/50 for OCI and other firms.

I was pickier when I was first looking because I thought I could be, at this point I'm trying to focus on firms where my academics stand out (for instance i did RA work for a torts professor, did especially well in all tort related classes) but am pretty much open to anything at this point (aside from public interest because I don't have anything to show I'd be very committed).

Also I'm running into the problem that I would love to be able to spend my entire day cold calling small firms, but have final papers to work on, work to catch up on, and only one more week of classes before finals study period....It's a win/lose situation - do I spend time i should be working on finals looking for a small firm job or do I spend my time making sure my grades stay where they are/improve.

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sorry to hear this, good luck. after reading this if i were looking to go to pepperdine i'd be thinking twice about now... scary reality out there.

klounsbe wrote:.It's a win/lose situation - do I spend time i should be working on finals looking for a small firm job or do I spend my time making sure my grades stay where they are/improve.

NO. FUCK ur grades. study the bare minimum u think u need to get Bs, then spend every waking minute on a job. why do u think any improvement in ur grades will help?

idfatq wrote:sorry to hear this, good luck. after reading this if i were looking to go to pepperdine i'd be thinking twice about now... scary reality out there.

it's not just a problem at pepperdine, bro

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

idfatq wrote:sorry to hear this, good luck. after reading this if i were looking to go to pepperdine i'd be thinking twice about now... scary reality out there.

it's not just a problem at pepperdine, bro

Getting A summer job should not be a problem if you are willing to do unpaid. If it is, the problem is you. . . not your grades, not the school.

dood wrote:

klounsbe wrote:.It's a win/lose situation - do I spend time i should be working on finals looking for a small firm job or do I spend my time making sure my grades stay where they are/improve.

NO. FUCK ur grades. study the bare minimum u think u need to get Bs, then spend every waking minute on a job. why do u think any improvement in ur grades will help?

i think this is definitely TCR this late in the game. if your 1L grades get you nowhere at 2L OCI, just abandon the GPA ship and try to find other avenues

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mistergoft wrote:

dood wrote:

klounsbe wrote:.It's a win/lose situation - do I spend time i should be working on finals looking for a small firm job or do I spend my time making sure my grades stay where they are/improve.

NO. FUCK ur grades. study the bare minimum u think u need to get Bs, then spend every waking minute on a job. why do u think any improvement in ur grades will help?

Clerkships/doj honors/random other gov honors programs/SAOs/etc that hire 3Ls might be worth trying, which all require good grades...

conceded

Veyron wrote:

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

idfatq wrote:sorry to hear this, good luck. after reading this if i were looking to go to pepperdine i'd be thinking twice about now... scary reality out there.

it's not just a problem at pepperdine, bro

Getting A summer job should not be a problem if you are willing to do unpaid. If it is, the problem is you. . . not your grades, not the school.

but during ITE, there have been people like OP at all schools except Yale. most of them just need to lower their expectations and volunteer for Legal Aid or something, but that doesn't mean they're not unemployed.

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

Veyron wrote:

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

idfatq wrote:sorry to hear this, good luck. after reading this if i were looking to go to pepperdine i'd be thinking twice about now... scary reality out there.

it's not just a problem at pepperdine, bro

Getting A summer job should not be a problem if you are willing to do unpaid. If it is, the problem is you. . . not your grades, not the school.

but during ITE, there have been people like OP at all schools except Yale. most of them just need to lower their expectations and volunteer for Legal Aid or something, but that doesn't mean they're not unemployed.

Sure there have but there is something WRONG with those people. Now, a full time - or paid - job a different story there be.

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mistergoft wrote:

dood wrote:

klounsbe wrote:.It's a win/lose situation - do I spend time i should be working on finals looking for a small firm job or do I spend my time making sure my grades stay where they are/improve.

NO. FUCK ur grades. study the bare minimum u think u need to get Bs, then spend every waking minute on a job. why do u think any improvement in ur grades will help?

Clerkships/doj honors/random other gov honors programs/SAOs/etc that hire 3Ls might be worth trying, which all require good grades...

lol... for the OP, i don't think clerkships, SAOs or doj honors are really worth gunning for anymore. state gov jobs/local firms/PI work are more in reach

mistergoft wrote:

Veyron wrote:

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

idfatq wrote:sorry to hear this, good luck. after reading this if i were looking to go to pepperdine i'd be thinking twice about now... scary reality out there.

it's not just a problem at pepperdine, bro

Getting A summer job should not be a problem if you are willing to do unpaid. If it is, the problem is you. . . not your grades, not the school.

Yeah, but why the hell would you want an unpaid 2L gig. I thought about jumping on the unpaid train a good amount of times, probably would have landed some internship with a prestigious federal judge or maybe even on a COA. However, I decided against it and ended up landing a pretty good SA gig. I don't think jumping on the "well, fuck it, I'll just take an unpaid gig" train is TCR in a lot of situations.

Didn't say that it was in a lot of situations, but at this point, you're pretty much out of options. Also, PI funding.

h

mistergoft wrote:

Veyron wrote:Didn't say that it was in a lot of situations, but at this point, you're pretty much out of options. Also, PI funding.

Aren't you a 1L?

I know 3-4 people who got job offers THIS WEEK at my school, which is a regional T1. I know the biglaw hiring cycle is probably over for her, but there are definitely still firms hiring. A midlaw firm (about 100 attorneys) came to my school last week recruiting for 2 summer associates. There are definitely still firms hiring.

Yes. Are you telling me its harder for a 2L to get a job?

Also, school is over in a week broham. Time to look at all options.

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j

mistergoft wrote: A wise TLSer once told me that law school is all about the hustle. It's true. From networking, working hard to get good grades, to perfecting your resume/cover letter/interviewing, you've just got to keep reinventing yourself, keep moving, and eventually you'll make something to yourself.

wait, was that me who told u this??

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u know who the best TLS person is ever? SOCKPUPPET.