Top Law Schools

.

There's always some jackass prof who dings smart guys like you with a low grade. IDGI.

So basically, your second question is: "Formulate my bidding strategy for me in its entirety. Thanks!"?

To be clear: I'm in the process of doing all my research right now (bid:screener ratios, historical GPA hiring, etc.) I'm not asking anyone to put together my bid list -- we have until the end of July. I'm just trying to figure out some of the basic strategic questions that OCS hasn't been very helpful with ("Bid wherever you want"). Maybe I didn't formulate that second question very well... I'll work on it.

I just posted a very similar post before seeing yours -- we're also probably in the same section. Hopefully we can get some answers by combining.

.

.

.

Congratulations on doing well. I would venture to say that you should be fine bidding on most firms (even with the B) out of GULC with those grades. Maybe avoid Cravath, but people in the class of 2012 did fine at the top NY firms with those numbers on the whole. Just be smart with your bidding strategy to maximize chances and contact the firms you didn't get an interview with once results come out from the lottery. But as long as you can interview you would be competitive for getting callbacks from at least DPW, Weil, PW, the V11-20s, maybe even SullCrom though that may be more of a stretch.

chipchip wrote:Congratulations on doing well. I would venture to say that you should be fine bidding on most firms (even with the B) out of GULC with those grades. Maybe avoid Cravath, but people in the class of 2012 did fine at the top NY firms with those numbers on the whole. Just be smart with your bidding strategy to maximize chances and contact the firms you didn't get an interview with once results come out from the lottery. But as long as you can interview you would be competitive for getting callbacks from at least DPW, Weil, PW, the V11-20s, maybe even SullCrom though that may be more of a stretch.

Agreed, and I think that you should go ahead and bid both Cravath and S&C if they interest you. Anecdotally, Cravath seemed less grade-sensitive at my T14, but their CB process is more involved. I don't think either firm is out of reach with those grades, though.

Anonymous User wrote:

chipchip wrote:Congratulations on doing well. I would venture to say that you should be fine bidding on most firms (even with the B) out of GULC with those grades. Maybe avoid Cravath, but people in the class of 2012 did fine at the top NY firms with those numbers on the whole. Just be smart with your bidding strategy to maximize chances and contact the firms you didn't get an interview with once results come out from the lottery. But as long as you can interview you would be competitive for getting callbacks from at least DPW, Weil, PW, the V11-20s, maybe even SullCrom though that may be more of a stretch.

Agreed, and I think that you should go ahead and bid both Cravath and S&C if they interest you. Anecdotally, Cravath seemed less grade-sensitive at my T14, but their CB process is more involved. I don't think either firm is out of reach with those grades, though.

Thank you both, the info is very helpful. Previous anonymous poster: do you have a sense of what it took grades-wise for a callback at Cravath?

Also, to anyone else: at the most selective firms (let's just say V10 for simplicity), how much bearing does it seem, from your experience, GPA has on offer chances once you get to the callback stage? That is to say, is GPA more a filter from screener --> callback and then fit/personality takes over after that, or would those firms prefer a jackass with a 3.82 to a normal person with a 3.72?

Just my opinion, but I think that the CB stage is all about fit. It doesn't make a ton of sense to spend the money on getting you the to CB and wasting the partners' time just to ding you on grades. It may make a slight marginal difference, but the focus is definitely on personality at CBs.

I don't know if someone mentioned this above, but for bidding strategy make sure that you look at the list how many interview slots each firm has available. DPW for example has like 6 schedules and it is really easy to get an interview with them. So don't waste a top bid. Other firms may only have one schedule so you have to put them at the top.

Also I would put some of your safety firms higher on your bid list. Most people aren't bidding on Cravath, S&C or Quinn because CSO does a fairly good job of telling people not to waste their time or their bids. But the mid range firms are the ones that people with lower GPAs will be targeting. Just be careful not to have your safety firms too far down the bid list and end up without an interview at any of them.

Good luck. W/ a 3.7 you'll have lots of good options.

Does anyone else have thoughts on the questions above?

Once you've gone through the screener stage, the GPA matters almost zilch, most likely. The firms weed out those who don't meet their cutoffs during the screener stage. The rest of it is about fit and such. (Gibson Dunn, for instance, typically hosts a dinner the night after their last screeners for GULC students, and they've generally picked those out before they even interview you in some cases).

Also, I agree with what XM said. Really look at the number of screeners available and don't waste high bids on firms with many interviews. Moreover, remember that the Top 20 you bid on will get your resume, and you can always reach out to ones that you don't get from the lottery.

ETA: Cravath generally picked people for CBs with a 3.7+. There may have been an exception or two, but I never personally asked any classmates what their GPA was and such. The historical data from OCS should be helpful, ask them for more detail if you want.

You will probably be right on the edge of Cravath CB numbers.

Also meant to say above that unlike most of what the CSO does, the mock interview program is very useful. You interview with a GULC alum in DC (or whereever you are) and I think they do a good job of giving you honest feedback. CSO had approved of my resume and the attorney I met with had a bunch ideas for improvement. It can also be a good networking opportunity b/c usually the attorney will contact friends at the firms you are planning to interview with.

Exact same 1L GPA as you last year at GULC. Didn't do so hot in NY, but I think that's cause they could sense I wanted to be in DC. I knew a couple of people with slightly higher and lower GPAs who absolutely killed it in NY.

I'd go ahead and bid on whoever you want. But don't put the most selective firms at the very top of your bidlist. Most people won't bid on them so you'll be able to snag them when you place them in lower slots. I put DPW at 24 and got a lottery interview.

Also, you will pick up a shit ton of interviews just by emailing your resume to whoever you didn't get in the lottery. I got 10 extra and I didn't spam anywhere near as much as I could have.

.