How well prepared for OCI are students at your school? Forum

[Anonymous User]

T14. I had a conversation with a student who was bidding 5 markets (including CA and TX without ties), paying strict attention to the grade information firms give on Symplicity, and only starting to massmail over the next few weeks. How are things in your neck of the woods?

[Anonymous User]

T14.

Cornell?

[Z3RO]

T14. I had a conversation with a student who was bidding 5 markets (including CA and TX without ties), paying strict attention to the grade information firms give on Symplicity, and only starting to massmail over the next few weeks. How are things in your neck of the woods?

Just to check, these are BAD decision, right?

[GeePee]

Mass mailing now doesn't necessarily indicate misinformation, but those other things do.

[HETPE3B]

Thank you for this thread. It makes me feel a lot better going into OCI.

[Anonymous User]

T14 kids mass mail? I thought that was only for people who don't have a good OCI at their schools. What is the point for someone who is going to get like 20 interviews with big firms on campus?

[quakeroats]

T14 kids mass mail? I thought that was only for people who don't have a good OCI at their schools. What is the point for someone who is going to get like 20 interviews with big firms on campus?

Lawyers (and lawyers-to-be) are a cautious bunch.

[theturkeyisfat]

this is probably a dumb question, but.. what's wrong with bidding on 5 markets (if you do have ties)?

[englawyer]

this is probably a dumb question, but.. what's wrong with bidding on 5 markets (if you do have ties)?

not a dumb question. but there are three good responses..

#1) firms might ask you "so where are you bidding". you will sound foolish if you list 5 places; it seems like you have no idea what you want.

#2) you will likely not get a good spectrum of selectivity. if you bid only NYC, you can include some reaches, targets, and safeties. if you bid 5 markets you will have less leeway for any given market (like maybe only safeties in LA, but reaches in NY which is just weird).

#3) callback scheduling. this is a big factor. if you are bidding on Market X, there is an expectation that you will be interviewing on plenty of firms there to schedule callbacks simultaneously. for example, you might go to school in NYC but bid on LA and schedule an LA "callback trip" where you do 4-5 callbacks in LA during the same week. if you are bidding on 5 different markets your callbacks will be spread out and it will be tough to do something like that. firms may also be irritated/not take you seriously if they fly you cross country and they are the only firm calling you back so its an expensive 1-2 day trip. i've even had a recruiter say "you should schedule a few extra days for callbacks, as i'm sure you will have some if you are taking a move to the area seriously" something like that.

[theturkeyisfat]

this is probably a dumb question, but.. what's wrong with bidding on 5 markets (if you do have ties)?

not a dumb question. but there are three good responses..

#1) firms might ask you "so where are you bidding". you will sound foolish if you list 5 places; it seems like you have no idea what you want.

#2) you will likely not get a good spectrum of selectivity. if you bid only NYC, you can include some reaches, targets, and safeties. if you bid 5 markets you will have less leeway for any given market (like maybe only safeties in LA, but reaches in NY which is just weird).

#3) callback scheduling. this is a big factor. if you are bidding on Market X, there is an expectation that you will be interviewing on plenty of firms there to schedule callbacks simultaneously. for example, you might go to school in NYC but bid on LA and schedule an LA "callback trip" where you do 4-5 callbacks in LA during the same week. if you are bidding on 5 different markets your callbacks will be spread out and it will be tough to do something like that. firms may also be irritated/not take you seriously if they fly you cross country and they are the only firm calling you back so its an expensive 1-2 day trip. i've even had a recruiter say "you should schedule a few extra days for callbacks, as i'm sure you will have some if you are taking a move to the area seriously" something like that.

i think i could work around the first two points, but the third one is huge.. interesting.

[Anonymous User]

I've definitely talked to some people who had made their bid lists purely on the published grade preferences. They were flabbergasted when I told them those weren't necessary indicative of selectivity.

Some others I talked to were lackadaisical about open sign ups. I've been working that angle hard. After getting 14 in the lottery, I pushed my total interviews to 26 through open sign ups and hustling.

Some others did shit for research on a firm and got burned. There were a couple stories about people expressing interest in a practice area that the particular office interviewed for didn't have. And then there was lack of research to inform questions or answer the simple "why XX firm."

On the other hand, I've seen people with typed cheat sheets like me. And i've seen people with business cards - unlike me.

Some people are on the ball, others aren't - very hit or miss.

[Shaggier1]

englawyer wrote:
theturkeyisfat wrote:
this is probably a dumb question, but.. what's wrong with bidding on 5 markets (if you do have ties)?


not a dumb question. but there are three good responses..

#1) firms might ask you "so where are you bidding". you will sound foolish if you list 5 places; it seems like you have no idea what you want.

#2) you will likely not get a good spectrum of selectivity. if you bid only NYC, you can include some reaches, targets, and safeties. if you bid 5 markets you will have less leeway for any given market (like maybe only safeties in LA, but reaches in NY which is just weird).

#3) callback scheduling. this is a big factor. if you are bidding on Market X, there is an expectation that you will be interviewing on plenty of firms there to schedule callbacks simultaneously. for example, you might go to school in NYC but bid on LA and schedule an LA "callback trip" where you do 4-5 callbacks in LA during the same week. if you are bidding on 5 different markets your callbacks will be spread out and it will be tough to do something like that. firms may also be irritated/not take you seriously if they fly you cross country and they are the only firm calling you back so its an expensive 1-2 day trip. i've even had a recruiter say "you should schedule a few extra days for callbacks, as i'm sure you will have some if you are taking a move to the area seriously" something like that.

i think i could work around the first two points, but the third one is huge.. interesting.

I dunno... After 3 days of OCI I had CB's scheduled in 4 different markets (SF, DC, NY, and LA). I think it really depends how you sell it.

Then again, I am genuinely interested in each market, so maybe I did not have to do all that much "selling."

[bjsesq]

T14 kids mass mail? I thought that was only for people who don't have a good OCI at their schools. What is the point for someone who is going to get like 20 interviews with big firms on campus?

When it's a school like NU which is based on lottery alone and no preselect, you have zero guarantee about an offer out of OCI. I hustled like a motherfucker before OCI even began. I'd be nuts not to with as much debt as I'm looking at.

[quakeroats]

I dunno... After 3 days of OCI I had CB's scheduled in 4 different markets (SF, DC, NY, and LA). I think it really depends how you sell it.

Then again, I am genuinely interested in each market, so maybe I did not have to do all that much "selling."

Has it been a hassle to schedule those? How are you going to find time for the 12-hour round-trip flights between coasts?

[Anonymous User]

this is probably a dumb question, but.. what's wrong with bidding on 5 markets (if you do have ties)?

not a dumb question. but there are three good responses..

#1) firms might ask you "so where are you bidding". you will sound foolish if you list 5 places; it seems like you have no idea what you want.

Non-factor, unless the interview comes with a polygraph.

In similar vein, the location for which the interview is taking place is obviously where I most desire to settle down after graduation and have 18 children.

[Anonymous User]

Has it been a hassle to schedule those? How are you going to find time for the 12-hour round-trip flights between coasts?

Not really - I am just being strategic. I fit as many CB's into one trip as I can.

I also make sure to fly Virgin America so I have WiFi on the plane and avoid having 6 hours of lost time each way. And Boalt doesn't start classes until the 24th, so I'm fine.

[Shaggier1]

sorry the above post was me. Did not mean to be anon.

[traehekat]

Some others I talked to were lackadaisical about open sign ups. I've been working that angle hard. After getting 14 in the lottery, I pushed my total interviews to 26 through open sign ups and hustling.

I feel like open signup can be a bit of a trap, however, if you just sign up for any firm that you see on the list without any real ties to the regions. I probably could have bumped my interview total from 16 to 22 or so had I of grabbed every single open signup, but I feel like it is just a waste of time (not necessarily just the 20 minute interview, but the preparation as well).

[Cupidity]

Most of my friends haven't done any interview prep, and won't be prepared for the "why are you interested in our firm" question.

[Holly Golightly]

Most of my friends haven't done any interview prep, and won't be prepared for the "why are you interested in our firm" question.

I have definitely used a generic answer for this one more than once.