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Everybody tells me there's not going to be any big shot 1L SAs, and if there were, my school's rank would DQ me from them.
I've just sent out packets to every federal court in town.
I had thought, coming in, that being at the top of my class would get me access to something really great, but what everyone around me is saying is that there's nothing great to be had and that I just need to do something, anything, my first summer and to gun for something great my 2L summer.
Thoughts?
If I don't hear back from the federal courts, I am still pretty much guaranteed a state trial court or small firm job for the summer through personal connections.

What should I be doing now to maximize my 2L summer opportunities?

Anonymous User wrote:Everybody tells me there's not going to be any big shot 1L SAs, and if there were, my school's rank would DQ me from them.
I've just sent out packets to every federal court in town.
I had thought, coming in, that being at the top of my class would get me access to something really great, but what everyone around me is saying is that there's nothing great to be had and that I just need to do something, anything, my first summer and to gun for something great my 2L summer.
Thoughts?
If I don't hear back from the federal courts, I am still pretty much guaranteed a state trial court or small firm job for the summer through personal connections.

What should I be doing now to maximize my 2L summer opportunities?

First, congratulations on killing it!

1L SAs are more about who you know than how well you did. Law firms don't have incentive to pay a 1L when they could get 2L-quality work, unless your Dad is a partner, no matter how well you did your first semester. This doesn't mean there aren't going to be any, and it couldn't hurt to mail cover letters and résumés anyway, but just understand that "1L SA" is a privilege for the privileged.

What they're saying about 1L summer is correct. Do something legal. That said, maybe your grades get your foot in the door at opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have. I would focus hard on CoA internships, since they're more selective than the district level.

Also, I don't know how married you are to the school and market you're in, but top 5% are transferable grades. What do you want to do with your career? Work BigLaw? Maybe aim to transfer to the T6. That's how you can really maximize your 2L summer opportunities. Else, yes, do anything legal where you can live for free or cheap.

I'm a little hesitant to transfer and throw away my gpa. Honestly, I'd rather stay 5% where I am than roll the dice (a much more competitve set of dice at that) at a top-tier school. My current plan is to apply to transfer to a few top programs and, if accepted, try to leverage that into money from my current school. My undergrad gpa was total shit, so I'm paying full tuition here. It'd be awfully nice to get them to put some bucks up for me to keep me here.

EDIT:
Oh, and thanks for the nice reply. I haven't posted in here since I took the LSAT, so I was fully expecting to be shark bait. This place can be brutal.

Further, am I correct in assuming that federal district court internships > state trial court internships?
Fed and state appellate-level gigs are going to be a no-go for complicated reasons that I can't really give w/o compromising the anonymity that I so irrationally need.

There are 1l SA available. So apply.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm a little hesitant to transfer and throw away my gpa. Honestly, I'd rather stay 5% where I am than roll the dice (a much more competitve set of dice at that) at a top-tier school. My current plan is to apply to transfer to a few top programs and, if accepted, try to leverage that into money from my current school. My undergrad gpa was total shit, so I'm paying full tuition here. It'd be awfully nice to get them to put some bucks up for me to keep me here.

EDIT:
Oh, and thanks for the nice reply. I haven't posted in here since I took the LSAT, so I was fully expecting to be shark bait. This place can be brutal.

You won't be throwing away your GPA by transferring because you will only have your 1L grades and rank at 2L OCI of the school you transfer to. You will just have access to a lot more employers. 2L/3L grades matters less/little at T14s (unlike at lower ranked schools where you have to hustle in 2L/3L years). And since you have paying full tuition anyway, might as well go to a better school to open more doors since the cost is similar.

Anonymous User wrote:There are 1l SA available. So apply.

There are, but maybe OP's school would still hold him/her back regardless of grades. But apply anyway. Bad UG grades don't help, obviously.

[quote="Anonymous User"]I'm a little hesitant to transfer and throw away my gpa. Honestly, I'd rather stay 5% where I am than roll the dice (a much more competitve set of dice at that) at a top-tier school. My current plan is to apply to transfer to a few top programs and, if accepted, try to leverage that into money from my current school. My undergrad gpa was total shit, so I'm paying full tuition here. It'd be awfully nice to get them to put some bucks up for me to keep me here.[quote]

You don't even need to get accepted to these programs, I don't think, just tell them you're in the process of applying to transfer and it would be great if they could make your decision easier, etc.

tennisking88 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I'm a little hesitant to transfer and throw away my gpa. Honestly, I'd rather stay 5% where I am than roll the dice (a much more competitve set of dice at that) at a top-tier school. My current plan is to apply to transfer to a few top programs and, if accepted, try to leverage that into money from my current school. My undergrad gpa was total shit, so I'm paying full tuition here. It'd be awfully nice to get them to put some bucks up for me to keep me here.

You don't even need to get accepted to these programs, I don't think, just tell them you're in the process of applying to transfer and it would be great if they could make your decision easier, etc.

Does anyone have any experience doing this? It's just kind of a scatterbrained idea that I came up with that I think makes sense. Does it work? When should I make my move and with whom? The dean? If transfer students don't get accepted until after spring grades come out...when do schools make scholarship decisions? Seems like there may be a limited window of opportunity there.
Anyone have expertise on the subject?

OP. I am a 3L transfer who was in a similar position to you a couple years ago. I have a lot a close friends who decided to transfer and other that decided not to. Overall, those who transferred did great- most all have v-25 firms lined up. Those who stayed back at my original school (ranked 50-60) have very few prospects. In fact, I can only think of about 5 kids max that have NLJ250 firms lined up.

Feel free to PM me, I would be happy to talk to you about this further.

Transfer. I made the mistake of not transferring and didn't land 2L SA. Shit law bound. Don't make the same mistake.

thelawguy wrote:OP. I am a 3L transfer who was in a similar position to you a couple years ago. I have a lot a close friends who decided to transfer and other that decided not to. Overall, those who transferred did great- most all have v-25 firms lined up. Those who stayed back at my original school (ranked 50-60) have very few prospects. In fact, I can only think of about 5 kids max that have NLJ250 firms lined up.

I think it really depends on the school that OP is at. SMU and Houston are both ranked 50-60. Assuming OP interviews well, OP will do just fine at OCI with those grades. If OP is at American, I think transferring would be the right decision....

I had similar grades, missed a 1L firm gig, chose not to transfer and ended up with a handful of 2L offers through OCI (including a firm that dinged me after a cb for a 1L position).

Top 5% at a T2 school paying sticker = barring extremely compelling personal reasons, you need to transfer, stat.

Greetings,
I was in a similar situation as you, but slightly higher ranked school and higher class rank. I contemplated transferring but did not. I got a job. Others (both above and below me) transferred. They have jobs as well. It would be helpful to know which school you go to. You are anonymous, after all. If you don't want to say your school, these are the questions you need to answer:
-Do you want to work in the geographical area your school feeds?
-Is your school the best school in that geographical area? Compare UConn (yes) to American (no).
-How well do top 5% people do at OCI from your school in your target market (whether it is the market where your school is, NYC, or whatever else)?
-Do you have personal reasons for wanting to stay at your school or in your geographical area?
-Do you have interest in clerking?
-Do you have long-term interest in academia?

Transfer, not that you'll be guaranteed a job if you do.