Texas Ties, City v. City Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have used the search feature, didn't find a good answer to this question.

If I want to work in Texas long-term, am indifferent between Dallas and Houston, would taking a solid job in North Texas this summer help me demonstrate Texas ties/ a desire to go to Texas for OCI? I have an offer from an organization in North Texas for the summer. I still have two applications out for similar jobs in Houston and Dallas. I would give the Houston job 20% chance of success, the Dallas position 65% chance of success. I also think the North Texas job may actually be more interesting and helpful at developing legal skills than the other two.

I am a T6 student FYI.

[Jericwithers]

Where is 'North Texas'? Oklahoma? Panhandle? Just around Dallas? I have no experience to back this up but I would think doing anything in Texas over the summer would be a stronger tie than many have.

[Anonymous User]

Where is 'North Texas'? Oklahoma? Panhandle? Just around Dallas? I have no experience to back this up but I would think doing anything in Texas over the summer would be a stronger tie than many have.

Panhandle, mostly in the beautiful city of Amarillo.

[ggocat]

You are a 1L?

What other Texas ties do you have? There are pros and cons regardless of your answer. Plus, it probably doesn't matter.

[wiseowl]

[Anonymous User]

You are a 1L?

What other Texas ties do you have? There are pros and cons regardless of your answer. Plus, it probably doesn't matter.

Yes I am a 1L. I have zero. My wife really wants us to relocate there and I am all for it because of the tax structure, house prices, long-term growth trends, and conservative values. I am operating off of the assumption that having Texas on my resume will help me get into any part of Texas better than working in California or New York this summer.

I am also planning to take some time off to go visit both Houston and Dallas in a multi-day trip to meet with some of the firms and reinforce my interest in them.

Also, I am thinking that being at CCN may be worth something-- firms down there can't be so insularly that they only take Texas students from OCI.

[Anonymous User]

Also, I am thinking that being at CCN may be worth something-- firms down there can't be so insularly that they only take Texas students from OCI.

I wouldn't bank on that. Sure, Texas firms know that people outside of Texas will apply and may want to live in Texas. But remember that at OCI out-of-city/state firms are only looking to fly a few people back. The call-back to offer rate is pretty high. But it's often the same 4 people who get all these call-backs, and they're also usually TX people. If you're only going to fly back 4 people or so, you really care about whether they'll take the position. Point is, if you go to CCN and you don't have Texas ties, you need a damn good reason for wanting to go there and good grades.

FWIW, this is based on my and my friend's OCI experiences as 2012 CCN students applying in Texas.

[2LLLL]

I am also planning to take some time off to go visit both Houston and Dallas in a multi-day trip to meet with some of the firms and reinforce my interest in them.

This is a good idea.

[Anonymous User]

Also, I am thinking that being at CCN may be worth something-- firms down there can't be so insularly that they only take Texas students from OCI.

I wouldn't bank on that. Sure, Texas firms know that people outside of Texas will apply and may want to live in Texas. But remember that at OCI out-of-city/state firms are only looking to fly a few people back. The call-back to offer rate is pretty high. But it's often the same 4 people who get all these call-backs, and they're also usually TX people. If you're only going to fly back 4 people or so, you really care about whether they'll take the position. Point is, if you go to CCN and you don't have Texas ties, you need a damn good reason for wanting to go there and good grades.

FWIW, this is based on my and my friend's OCI experiences as 2012 CCN students applying in Texas.

Yeah, I would hope that having good work experience, good grades, working in Texas during the summer, and developing connections to the firms over the summer through constant networking, and educating yourself about the firm's core values and practice areas may be enough to get in.

Also, for the firms not attending my school's OCI, I might be able to schedule interviews with them on-site while I am still in the state.

[JordynAsh]

Where is 'North Texas'? Oklahoma? Panhandle? Just around Dallas? I have no experience to back this up but I would think doing anything in Texas over the summer would be a stronger tie than many have.

Panhandle, mostly in the beautiful city of Amarillo.

If you have any Qs re: Amarillo, feel free to PM me, I grew up there.

[vanwinkle]

Where is 'North Texas'? Oklahoma? Panhandle? Just around Dallas? I have no experience to back this up but I would think doing anything in Texas over the summer would be a stronger tie than many have.

Panhandle, mostly in the beautiful city of Amarillo.

Amarillo is NOT in 'North Texas'. Do not go to Amarillo thinking you're developing North Texas ties.

The Panhandle is not part of North Texas either, despite the fact that it's technically more northward. North Texas is a regional name in the state for the northern part of the state's main body east of the Panhandle, which everyone separately refers to as "The Panhandle". North Texas covers (roughly) everything east of Abilene and north of Waco. (Some people refer to things east of the D/FW metroplex, going toward Louisiana, as "East Texas".) Stuff south of the Panhandle and east of Abilene is generally thought of as "West Texas".

This map sucks, but it at least illustrates roughly where "North Texas" and "The Panhandle/West Texas" are:



Amarillo is almost 400 miles from Dallas by car. They're farther apart than Boston and New York. They're extremely culturally distinct cities in different geographic regions.

[Anonymous User]

Where is 'North Texas'? Oklahoma? Panhandle? Just around Dallas? I have no experience to back this up but I would think doing anything in Texas over the summer would be a stronger tie than many have.

Panhandle, mostly in the beautiful city of Amarillo.

Amarillo is NOT in 'North Texas'. Do not go to Amarillo thinking you're developing North Texas ties.

The Panhandle is not part of North Texas either, despite the fact that it's technically more northward. North Texas is a regional name in the state for the northern part of the state's main body east of the Panhandle, which everyone separately refers to as "The Panhandle". North Texas covers (roughly) everything east of Abilene and north of Waco. (Some people refer to things east of the D/FW metroplex, going toward Louisiana, as "East Texas".) Stuff south of the Panhandle and east of Abilene is generally thought of as "West Texas".

This map sucks, but it at least illustrates roughly where "North Texas" and "The Panhandle/West Texas" are:



Amarillo is almost 400 miles from Dallas by car. They're farther apart than Boston and New York. They're extremely culturally distinct cities in different geographic regions.

Thanks for the info. I have been corrected a lot in the last two days. I am going to West Texas, not North Texas.

[vanwinkle]

Thanks for the info. I have been corrected a lot in the last two days. I am going to West Texas, not North Texas.

I don't mean to just bash you, I consider it a legitimate difference. The Panhandle and North Texas are far enough apart that you really don't have much opportunity to network in one while working in the other. I doubt you'd be meeting many people in Amarillo who could help you find a job in Dallas. If you want to work in Dallas or Houston you should probably try to get a job in one of those cities.

I also think working in "Dallas or Houston" would help you more at getting a job in either than working in Amarillo would. Dallas and Houston are more similar to each other than they are to Amarillo, and they're closer. There's more direct interaction between the two, since they're basically the two biggest economic hubs in the state.

I wish you luck. I just don't want to see you going to Amarillo thinking it'll help you get a job in Dallas or Houston. It would certainly help you keep finding jobs in the Panhandle, but you should really research what life there is like before you start thinking that's a good idea.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah. I understand it is far away, I do think that the work I will be doing there is awesome though. I am going to give it a full faith effort and see if it is what I would want to do as a career. Even if not, it will give me something good to talk about at OCI.

I am willing to make overnight trips of 5-9 hours to Houston and Dallas to meet with firms for lunches/ job shadowing. I feel I have great work experience, am going to a good school, and should have good grades. If firms found out I was driving overnight to meet with them, I would think that this would be a net positive, not a net negative. I don't think they'd be like "this guy is driving overnight, what a loser." I would think it would just reaffirm that I actually want to work in Texas, and not that I am just randomly applying at OCI.