in the city for 1 week: how many firms should I mass mail? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I have bottom third grades at a T10 on the east coast, and from what I've gleaned this means I should mass mail before OCI to try to get some screeners/faux-CBs from firms not coming to my school's OCI.

I have strong ties to LA but because of my grades I bid pretty much exclusively NYC. I will be back home in LA for a week before OCI, so I am planning on mass mailing the LA firms that don't come to our OCI and LA firms that I didn't bid on.

Here's my question: As I will only be in LA for 5 business days, should I send out mass mails in waves of 5 or 10 firms instead of contacting 50 firms? I'm afraid that if I do the latter, I may hear back from more than 5 firms, and will be forced to embarassingly say "oops, thanks for responding and agreeing to interview me, but I don't have enough time in LA to squeeze you in" to a few firms.

Related question: Am I correct in assuming that if I will be in LA for 5 business days, I can only schedule screeners/faux-CBs with 5 firms (one a day)?

[Anonymous User]

So, I could be wrong (I'm a rising 2L and I'm not from CA), but I don't think bidding all-NY when you have bottom third grades and ties to CA is the way to go. I don't think CA is vastly more selective grades-wise than NY (it's not DC) and there's probably not as much competition for CA at your school as there is for NY.

[bazinga!]

So, I could be wrong (I'm a rising 2L and I'm not from CA), but I don't think bidding all-NY when you have bottom third grades and ties to CA is the way to go. I don't think CA is vastly more selective grades-wise than NY (it's not DC) and there's probably not as much competition for CA at your school as there is for NY.

No, NYC is the way to go. The sheer number of spots they have open SA wise makes the odds much better. CA is a hard market to break in to. as far as mass mails, no idea but interested in this as well

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I have bottom third grades at a T10 on the east coast, and from what I've gleaned this means I should mass mail before OCI to try to get some screeners/faux-CBs from firms not coming to my school's OCI.

I have strong ties to LA but because of my grades I bid pretty much exclusively NYC. I will be back home in LA for a week before OCI, so I am planning on mass mailing the LA firms that don't come to our OCI and LA firms that I didn't bid on.

Here's my question: As I will only be in LA for 5 business days, should I send out mass mails in waves of 5 or 10 firms instead of contacting 50 firms? I'm afraid that if I do the latter, I may hear back from more than 5 firms, and will be forced to embarassingly say "oops, thanks for responding and agreeing to interview me, but I don't have enough time in LA to squeeze you in" to a few firms.

Related question: Am I correct in assuming that if I will be in LA for 5 business days, I can only schedule screeners/faux-CBs with 5 firms (one a day)?

Dude, you can't be picky! The last thing you need to worry about is having too many interviews for a 5 day period. The positive is that you're at a T10 and have ties to LA, the huge downside is that you have bottom third grades. You need to be aggressively hustling for a SA position. Aggressive hustling means: (1) mass mail every possible firm that you would conceivably work for in LA, OC, SD, etc. RIGHT NOW (not just the firms you want to work for, I mean every single firm you would work for) and (2) Contact every alumni from your school at those firms for "informational interviews" (ask them about the LA market and all that BS).

Look, if you were top 5% at a T10, then you could play this apply by waves game, but that's not the case.

[Ozymandias]

Hi all,

I have bottom third grades at a T10 on the east coast, and from what I've gleaned this means I should mass mail before OCI to try to get some screeners/faux-CBs from firms not coming to my school's OCI.

I have strong ties to LA but because of my grades I bid pretty much exclusively NYC. I will be back home in LA for a week before OCI, so I am planning on mass mailing the LA firms that don't come to our OCI and LA firms that I didn't bid on.

Here's my question: As I will only be in LA for 5 business days, should I send out mass mails in waves of 5 or 10 firms instead of contacting 50 firms? I'm afraid that if I do the latter, I may hear back from more than 5 firms, and will be forced to embarassingly say "oops, thanks for responding and agreeing to interview me, but I don't have enough time in LA to squeeze you in" to a few firms.

Related question: Am I correct in assuming that if I will be in LA for 5 business days, I can only schedule screeners/faux-CBs with 5 firms (one a day)?

Dude, you can't be picky! The last thing you need to worry about is having too many interviews for a 5 day period. The positive is that you're at a T10 and have ties to LA, the huge downside is that you have bottom third grades. You need to be aggressively hustling for a SA position. Aggressive hustling means: (1) mass mail every possible firm that you would conceivably work for in LA, OC, SD, etc. RIGHT NOW (not just the firms you want to work for, I mean every single firm you would work for) and (2) Contact every alumni from your school at those firms for "informational interviews" (ask them about the LA market and all that BS).

Look, if you were top 5% at a T10, then you could play this apply by waves game, but that's not the case.

Agreed. You have bottom third grades - You need to mass mail those 50 firms and then keep on hustling.

[Anonymous User]

OP here:
Thanks for the responses. Its not necessarily me being picky about which firms I want (I'm with you guys, with my grades, I'll take any market job in LA or NYC very happily), but fear of having to reject interviews from firms that were kind enough to respond with interest. Although I suppose if I'm not going to be interviewing with them there's no harm done in rubbing them the wrong way by rejecting their offer to interview...

[Anonymous User]

OP here:
Thanks for the responses. Its not necessarily me being picky about which firms I want (I'm with you guys, with my grades, I'll take any market job in LA or NYC very happily), but fear of having to reject interviews from firms that were kind enough to respond with interest. Although I suppose if I'm not going to be interviewing with them there's no harm done in rubbing them the wrong way by rejecting their offer to interview...

You're counting your chickens before they hatch. If you apply to 50 firms - I wouldn't anticipate more than a 1%-10% interview rate at most.

[ggocat]

Although I suppose if I'm not going to be interviewing with them there's no harm done in rubbing them the wrong way by rejecting their offer to interview...

This. Also, you could check the price of rescheduling your plane ticket, etc., and determine whether that cost is worth the extra interview(s). And the interviews may be in-office screeners lasting only a few hours rather than all-day callbacks, so you might be able to schedule two interviews per day. Worst case scenario (other than not getting an interview/offer): you tell them you are booked up and ask for a phone or video conference interview.