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top 40% at uchicago

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 7:34 pm
by fruitjuice
I'm only looking at Chicago. Where should I bid? I know almost nothing about firms or their selectivity.

I think that Kirkland and Sidley are reaches just by looking through the associate profiles (most graduated with honors). What about jenner/winston/mcdermott?

(I'm assuming 177.65-177.80 is about top 40%.)

Re: top 40% at uchicago

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:03 pm
by Anonymous User
Kirkland and Sidley definitely prefer 178+, although I wouldn't count myself out if I were you. Since both firms take a lot of UChicago students, I'm certain that some people under 178 are considered. You're close, so they may be worth a bid, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I'm not an expert by any means though, so I can't say much about the others. I do know from talking to people that a lot of the Kirkland SAs (like actually 50% I think) this year were transfers. I bet that this is just how this year shook out and that it isn't any kind of preference or trend, but who knows.

Re: top 40% at uchicago

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:38 pm
by Anonymous User
(I'm assuming 177.65-177.80 is about top 40%.)

I've always been curious about this. Approximately where would a 178.5 rank? (Assume that's at graduation, and not after 1L.)

Re: top 40% at uchicago

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:09 pm
by California Babe
Anonymous User wrote:(I'm assuming 177.65-177.80 is about top 40%.)

I've always been curious about this. Approximately where would a 178.5 rank? (Assume that's at graduation, and not after 1L.)
Using graduation numbers and the spreadsheet formula sticky: ~25%.

Re: top 40% at uchicago

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 4:14 pm
by fruitjuice
The median grade for seminars = 179. How often do upperclassman take seminars?

Re: top 40% at uchicago

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 5:17 pm
by anongoodnurse
The median grade for seminars = 179. How often do upperclassman take seminars?
I seem to recall that you couldn't take more than one per quarter when I was there. That may have changed. In any event, trying to figure out what counts as a "seminar" is not trivial. For example, I took a class with maybe 30 people that met twice a week, but graded based on a term paper. Seminar or no? I had another class with maybe 15 people that also met twice a week, but graded on a take home final. Same question.

Taking the broadest possible view of what a "seminar" is (i.e., a class with less than 20 people OR a class with a paper grade OR a class that meets only once a week OR an advocacy/clinic class), I took 15 of my 65 upperclass hours in that form. In addition to the two classes identified above, this included two additional paper classes and one advocacy-type class that graded based on briefs. My GPA in those classes was a 180.8 (compared to a 178.3 in the non-seminar upperclass courses), so there was a definite difference. (But I did very well in the small class with the take home final -- if you count that as a "non-seminar," the difference narrows from 2.5 points to 1.3 points.)

[EDITED TO CORRECT STUPID MATH MISTAKE.]