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For those of you fortunate enough to be swimming in callbacks, how many do you think you'll go on? Are you worried about turning down the wrong ones, and ending up with no offers? Do you schedule every callback over the next few weeks, then start canceling once offers start coming in? Thanks

Until you have an offer, there is no limit.

Do a lot of firms allow callbacks to be scheduled for Saturday? I don't have any Friday classes, so my goal is try to load up the weekends so I miss the least the amount of class as possible. So with schedule for one on Friday, one on Saturday, and then Monday (if I'm able to get that many in the desired city) or one Thursday, one on Friday, and one on Saturday. Good idea or just unlikely to happen that way?

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Do a lot of firms allow callbacks to be scheduled for Saturday? I don't have any Friday classes, so my goal is try to load up the weekends so I miss the least the amount of class as possible. So with schedule for one on Friday, one on Saturday, and then Monday (if I'm able to get that many in the desired city) or one Thursday, one on Friday, and one on Saturday. Good idea or just unlikely to happen that way?

Some firms bring in a large number of candidates on specific saturdays throughout the fall (Cravath is one, Skadden is another), but these "Super Saturdays" aside, a firm probably will not schedule you for a weekend callback.

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Do a lot of firms allow callbacks to be scheduled for Saturday? I don't have any Friday classes, so my goal is try to load up the weekends so I miss the least the amount of class as possible. So with schedule for one on Friday, one on Saturday, and then Monday (if I'm able to get that many in the desired city) or one Thursday, one on Friday, and one on Saturday. Good idea or just unlikely to happen that way?

Only a few firms have Saturday callbacks, and last year those were large callback sessions with lots of interviewees. It was clearly structured to get all of the interviewing done one day a week. Most firms will not give you the option to interview on Saturday.

somethingdemure wrote:For those of you fortunate enough to be swimming in callbacks, how many do you think you'll go on? Are you worried about turning down the wrong ones, and ending up with no offers? Do you schedule every callback over the next few weeks, then start canceling once offers start coming in? Thanks

Accept them all, but try to schedule the ones you care less about further out and the ones you want offers from sooner. Then, once you start getting offers you can start canceling the callbacks you no longer want.

spondee wrote:

somethingdemure wrote:For those of you fortunate enough to be swimming in callbacks, how many do you think you'll go on? Are you worried about turning down the wrong ones, and ending up with no offers? Do you schedule every callback over the next few weeks, then start canceling once offers start coming in? Thanks

Accept them all, but try to schedule the ones you care less about further out and the ones you want offers from sooner. Then, once you start getting offers you can start canceling the callbacks you no longer want.

Great advice. I really, really hope to be able to implement it.

TheFriendlyBarber wrote:

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Do a lot of firms allow callbacks to be scheduled for Saturday? I don't have any Friday classes, so my goal is try to load up the weekends so I miss the least the amount of class as possible. So with schedule for one on Friday, one on Saturday, and then Monday (if I'm able to get that many in the desired city) or one Thursday, one on Friday, and one on Saturday. Good idea or just unlikely to happen that way?

Some firms bring in a large number of candidates on specific saturdays throughout the fall (Cravath is one, Skadden is another), but these "Super Saturdays" aside, a firm probably will not schedule you for a weekend callback.

Also, Fridays fill up quick when they are available at all (and they often are not). I know you don't have class on Friday, but neither does anyone else. You really just need to embrace the fact that you are going to miss class.

Anonymous User wrote:Until you have an offer, there is no limit.

CR. /thread

Accept every callback until you have an offer, and schedule the firms you'd prefer most first so that you can decline callbacks at your backup firms if you get an early offer. It's extremely unlikely that you'll strike out with 10ish callbacks, but it does happen, so you don't want to limit yourself before you have an offer. You should schedule your callbacks as early as possible, without regard to classes missed. Getting a summer associate position is infinitely more important than your grades, and furthermore, you'll have plenty of time to catch up on all the class you've missed in October and November.

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Until you have an offer, there is no limit.

CR. /thread

I dont know about that. If you have over 10 callbacks I would feel OK not taking ones you arent that interested in. Especially if you went on like 15 screening interviews and have 12 callbacks or something like that. Clearly you are a good interviewer and at the CB stage the firm has decided that you are qualified so its mainly interviewing skills. If you go on over 10 callbacks and strike out on all of them do you really think just one more would have done it? There is something wrong with you at that point and the solution is to fix whatever that is not add on another callback in which you will likely fail. This is just my 2 cents, it really depends on how risk averse you are.

Doritos wrote:

Julio_El_Chavo wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Until you have an offer, there is no limit.

CR. /thread

I dont know about that. If you have over 10 callbacks I would feel OK not taking ones you arent that interested in. Especially if you went on like 15 screening interviews and have 12 callbacks or something like that. Clearly you are a good interviewer and at the CB stage the firm has decided that you are qualified so its mainly interviewing skills. If you go on over 10 callbacks and strike out on all of them do you really think just one more would have done it? There is something wrong with you at that point and the solution is to fix whatever that is not add on another callback in which you will likely fail. This is just my 2 cents, it really depends on how risk averse you are.

Just do what Cavalier said: accept the ones you are most interested in first and then cancel ones you're not as interested in later on. It's unlikely that you won't get an offer, but who knows when the economy might collapse (again?) or maybe you'll get really sick and have horrible CB interviews. You can't take anything for granted. The only downside to accepting too many CBs is that you miss too much class, but at my school all of my professors recorded class during the first few weeks of 2L so this wasn't an issue for me. Just go on all of your CBs until you get an offer. There's really no logical reason not to.

Of the few stories I know about people striking out after going on tons of callbacks, two were terribly awkward, but one seemed normal enough, and s/he later managed to get a federal clerkship--those interviews are generally tougher to succeed on than callback interviews (although it's entirely dependent on the judge). There's quite a bit of randomness to this process--great interviews (combined with strong credentials) can lead to rejections, terrible interviews can lead to callbacks and offers, and so on--and so it's not too surprising that of the thousands of law students interviewing, a small handful will strike out despite having a large number of callbacks. Given how important getting a summer associate position is, not doing everything possible to maximize your chances is foolish, in my opinion.

Cavalier wrote:Of the few stories I know about people striking out after going on tons of callbacks, two were terribly awkward, but one seemed normal enough, and s/he later managed to get a federal clerkship--those interviews are generally tougher to succeed on than callback interviews (although it's entirely dependent on the judge). There's quite a bit of randomness to this process--great interviews (combined with strong credentials) can lead to rejections, terrible interviews can lead to callbacks and offers, and so on--and so it's not too surprising that of the thousands of law students interviewing, a small handful will strike out despite having a large number of callbacks. Given how important getting a summer associate position is, not doing everything possible to maximize your chances is foolish, in my opinion.

This. Even with ten callbacks, an offer is not a sure thing.

Now, if you get an offer you are happy with, by all means cancel/don't go on any callbacks with firms you wouldn't take over that offer. This isn't like law school applications, you are not going to be able to leverage one offer over another for a better deal.

G. T. L. Rev. wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Until you have an offer, there is no limit.

True. But once you have one, there is a limit. I went on ten CBs (pre ITE, admittedly) and that was probably too many. Six to eight sounds about right, just on a gut instinct level.

Why do you say 10 was too many? Interfered with schoolwork, too tiring? Waste of too many people's time, including your own?

How far out is too far out to schedule a callback for a firm that's not at the very top of our list without tipping them off that you're being strategic?

Anonymous User wrote:Until you have an offer, there is no limit.

+1. The key is that as soon as your mountain of callbacks turns into an offer, it's time to start canceling others. I went on a fraction of the CBs I was invited to, but I accepted and scheduled until the day my first offer came, and I am quite thankful that I did.

G. T. L. Rev. wrote:

somethingdemure wrote: Why do you say 10 was too many? Interfered with schoolwork, too tiring? Waste of too many people's time, including your own?

All of those.

Agreed. I had a similar experience. It was brutal. But of course, until you get an offer/the offer you want, clear that schedule and press that suit.