Vandy Law to ATL Biglaw Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyone have any idea what kind of GPA or approximate class rank (since Vandy doesn't publish class rank) would be necessary to get biglaw in Atlanta? I thought I'd ask for the collective wisdom of TLS. Not looking just at the Jones Days of the world but V100-NLJ250 firms in general.
Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Do you have ties to Atlanta?
The big law firms tend to have a more identifiable grade cut-off than smaller NLJ250 firms that you mention. The hiring at those types of places is kind of a black box. I would think top 1/3 at least gets you in the conversation. Disclaimer: I am not a Vandy student, but I SA'd in Atlanta biglaw.

[Anonymous User]

Vandy student: Top third ought to get you in the conversation.

[Grizz]

FYI ATL is extremely competitive nowadays. It's a slaughterhouse there. Ties and good grades are necessary. There are only about 125 SA positions in the whole city now.

[Anonymous User]

OP, here: I have some extended family in ATL and a ton of friends (went to UG in the Southeast), but thats all in the way of ties.

[Anonymous User]

Do your 1L summer in Atlanta. Work for a firm if possible (obviously) but even if not go for a judicial internship, DA, agency, etc. This will help you sell yourself as being committed to Atlanta.

[Anonymous User]

Vandy student: can confirm the top 1/3 stat - seems like most people who had that got at least a screener, if not a CB. I may be bucking conventional wisdom here, but traditional ties are not absolutely essential if you can give a good reason for why you want to be in ATL. For example, 3 of us going to biglaw firms in ATL have no prior ties except that we are from the south (not GA) or went to school in the south (not in GA). We all just had well-reasoned answers for why we were committed to ATL. So, if you want ATL and have no ties, you're not necessarily sunk.

[letsdoit]

What kind of GPA ~1/3 at Vandy?

[Anonymous User]

I would imagine somewhere between a 3.4 and a 3.5. Dean's List (top 20%) is always a few tenths north of a 3.5, and median is somewhere between a 3.2 and a 3.3.

[Anonymous User]

I would imagine somewhere between a 3.4 and a 3.5. Dean's List (top 20%) is always a few tenths north of a 3.5, and median is somewhere between a 3.2 and a 3.3.

You're too high. Median is about a 3.16. Top third is about a 3.3.

[Anonymous User]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

[ColtsFan88]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Sounds like just within top quarter. Maybe top 20%.

[Anonymous User]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Top quarterish, but not top 20%. But just FYI, had ATL ties, struck out of ATL with a similar GPA.

[Grizz]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Sounds like just within top quarter. Maybe top 20%.

Def not top 20%. That's not quite Dean's list.

[Anonymous User]

Atlanta is a grade whore market more than a ties whore one. Honestly, there's a certain GPA at which you won't need ties to work in Atlanta. Atlanta isn't like the rest of the South in regards to that.

Frankly, like Grizz said, Atlanta is a disaster zone. Vandy is a feeder into Atlanta, but the big Atlanta firms are going to have very high cutoffs (at least top 1/3--and that isn't safe at all). To put things into perspective most Alston hires from UVA in the past few years have been above the mean. K&S has been in the top 10 percent region. Even the smaller firms like Arnall, Parker Hudson, and Smith Gambrell are very grades selective.

The only people who have a good shot at Atlanta going into law school are those with Atlanta ties who are headed to HYS.

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Top quarterish, but not top 20%. But just FYI, had ATL ties, struck out of ATL with a similar GPA.[/quote]

[Anonymous User]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Top quarterish, but not top 20%. But just FYI, had ATL ties, struck out of ATL with a similar GPA.

OP, here. What market did you end up in/what markets is this GPA solid for (assuming I'm an average to above-average interviewer)?

[Anonymous User]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Top quarterish, but not top 20%. But just FYI, had ATL ties, struck out of ATL with a similar GPA.

OP, here. What market did you end up in/what markets is this GPA solid for (assuming I'm an average to above-average interviewer)?

Not the person you quoted but with top 20 percent grades from Vandy you're much better off targeting Birmingham than Atlanta.

[Anonymous User]

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Top quarterish, but not top 20%. But just FYI, had ATL ties, struck out of ATL with a similar GPA.

OP, here. What market did you end up in/what markets is this GPA solid for (assuming I'm an average to above-average interviewer)?

I'm the quoted anon. Depends on too much to just say based on your GPA, but I agree, try Birmingham at 1L OCI.

[Anonymous User]

Atlanta is a grade whore market more than a ties whore one. Honestly, there's a certain GPA at which you won't need ties to work in Atlanta. Atlanta isn't like the rest of the South in regards to that.

Frankly, like Grizz said, Atlanta is a disaster zone. Vandy is a feeder into Atlanta, but the big Atlanta firms are going to have very high cutoffs (at least top 1/3--and that isn't safe at all). To put things into perspective most Alston hires from UVA in the past few years have been above the mean. K&S has been in the top 10 percent region. Even the smaller firms like Arnall, Parker Hudson, and Smith Gambrell are very grades selective.

The only people who have a good shot at Atlanta going into law school are those with Atlanta ties who are headed to HYS.

OP, here. So a ~3.45ish puts me around what class rank? Thanks for all the advice, btw.

Top quarterish, but not top 20%. But just FYI, had ATL ties, struck out of ATL with a similar GPA.

You struck out at 2L OCI with Top 20% from Vandy and ATL ties? With intelligent bidding? That is probably more the exception than the norm. If we're talking about 1L OCI, then no one is getting jobs here with the exception of stellar URM/diversity candidates. Period.

[Anonymous User]

You struck out at 2L OCI with Top 20% from Vandy and ATL ties? With intelligent bidding? That is probably more the exception than the norm. If we're talking about 1L OCI, then no one is getting jobs here with the exception of stellar URM/diversity candidates. Period.

I highly doubt he's the "exception". The average UVA GPA at the Atlanta biglaw firms is basically in the top 1/3 range. At K&S it's top 10 percent. Atlanta is brutal.

[Anonymous User]

You struck out at 2L OCI with Top 20% from Vandy and ATL ties? With intelligent bidding? That is probably more the exception than the norm. If we're talking about 1L OCI, then no one is getting jobs here with the exception of stellar URM/diversity candidates. Period.

Sorry about that, no, didn't strike out, got 4 offers, just none in ATL. Let's just say splitting between 2 other Southern markets. And I was more like top 30%.

I didn't get any offers out of OCI itself actually. Mass mail and go to job fairs, y'all.

[Anonymous User]

You struck out at 2L OCI with Top 20% from Vandy and ATL ties? With intelligent bidding? That is probably more the exception than the norm. If we're talking about 1L OCI, then no one is getting jobs here with the exception of stellar URM/diversity candidates. Period.

I highly doubt he's the "exception". The average UVA GPA at the Atlanta biglaw firms is basically in the top 1/3 range. At K&S it's top 10 percent. Atlanta is brutal.

i wonder how long ATL can keep this high GPA standard. It seems like nowadays, it's requiring almost the same GPA from T14(and near T14s) and other southern T1s.

[Anonymous User]

i wonder how long ATL can keep this high GPA standard. It seems like nowadays, it's requiring almost the same GPA from T14(and near T14s) and other southern T1s.

I've been wondering the same thing. Honestly, it's gotten to a point where a T14 isn't noticeably stronger for Atlanta firm jobs unless you're at HYS. For the non HYS non UVA/Duke I don't think it's stronger at all.