Firms Requested GPA Percentage Versus Actual Forum

[kalvano]

Just what the title says. I've often read that what firms ask for in OCI on Symplicity is not accurate in what they actually take. Is it usually lower or higher? Also, some firms say "required" in front of their percentages and others just "prefer" or have no qualifier. Obviously firms that say "required top 5%" are out, but should any weight be given to what they ask for generally, or should bids just be placed on any firm that looks appealing?

Sadly, my school doesn't break down what firms actually hire for us.

[thesealocust]

A wise and insightful person once wrote:

PSA - when a firm lists its GPA preference and requirements, you should do the following: Ignore them entirely and mother fucking ask career services.

Firms lie through their god damned teeth on those things, and I want to keep harping on it, because it is VERY IMPORTANT TO YOUR CAREER PROSPECTS. The firms are lying or naive or outsourcing their symplicity profiles to India or who knows what, but if you ask a 3 year old with a box of crayons to draw you the cut off for a firm you'll get a better answer than the firm's published cutoff on your OCI software.

Firms aren't consistently high, or consistently low - they're just consistently full of shit. A firm that says "top third required" might hire to median, it might hire from the top 3% without exception, and there's even a remote chance it will hire from the top third. But those pieces of data simply cannot be relied upon at all. Not even in a cursory way. Not for comparison's sake, not when nothing else will do. You need to completely disregard them, and beg/borrow/steal data from career services. Your (and that's the royal 'your' for everyone out there reading in paranoid law student land) career depends on it.

[kalvano]

Our career services sucks and has no data. So, therefore, I should just bid on firms I would bid on no matter what?

[thesealocust]

I don't know how much more clear I can be. "We do not have that data" is not an acceptable answer from your career services office. You are their boss - you pay their salary. Get the data.

[dood]

Our career services sucks and has no data. So, therefore, I should just bid on firms I would bid on no matter what?

yea.

otherwise, bro, just poast ur school, approx rank, and bid list and we can all opine on it from our experiences.

[IrwinM.Fletcher]

Just what the title says. I've often read that what firms ask for in OCI on Symplicity is not accurate in what they actually take. Is it usually lower or higher? Also, some firms say "required" in front of their percentages and others just "prefer" or have no qualifier. Obviously firms that say "required top 5%" are out, but should any weight be given to what they ask for generally, or should bids just be placed on any firm that looks appealing?

Sadly, my school doesn't break down what firms actually hire for us.

Just curious, is SMU bid or pre-select?

[kalvano]

I don't know how much more clear I can be. "We do not have that data" is not an acceptable answer from your career services office. You are their boss - you pay their salary. Get the data.

Shall I firebomb the office? They can't give me what they don't have.

They do not keep track of the GPA ranges firms actually pull from as opposed to what they say they prefer.

[kalvano]

Just what the title says. I've often read that what firms ask for in OCI on Symplicity is not accurate in what they actually take. Is it usually lower or higher? Also, some firms say "required" in front of their percentages and others just "prefer" or have no qualifier. Obviously firms that say "required top 5%" are out, but should any weight be given to what they ask for generally, or should bids just be placed on any firm that looks appealing?

Sadly, my school doesn't break down what firms actually hire for us.

Just curious, is SMU bid or pre-select?

It says "bids" on Symplicity.

[kalvano]

Our career services sucks and has no data. So, therefore, I should just bid on firms I would bid on no matter what?

yea.

otherwise, bro, just poast ur school, approx rank, and bid list and we can all opine on it from our experiences.

I will once I have all the necessary info. Still waiting on LR / journal selection.

[dood]

Our career services sucks and has no data. So, therefore, I should just bid on firms I would bid on no matter what?

yea.

otherwise, bro, just poast ur school, approx rank, and bid list and we can all opine on it from our experiences.

I will once I have all the necessary info. Still waiting on LR / journal selection.

LR / journal will not compensate for not meeting a GPA requirement. im not trying to "get you" to poast ur stats, just saying...it matters, but not enough to make a significant difference.

[thesealocust]

+1 to dood. Journal will help at the places you apply, but it shouldn't change anybody's bidlist. Getting LR or being on any journal will help you land offers but not meaningfully change the firms at which you're in the running.