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Looking into the SoCal market. How are my chances for big law? Good, average, below average? Should i expand into other markets like SF? Can I break into that?

Anonymous User wrote:Looking into the SoCal market. How are my chances for big law? Good, average, below average? Should i expand into other markets like SF? Can I break into that?

3.6 at UCLA/USC is not even close to enough information...

A 3.6 at some schools could be top 10% and at others could be barely 20%.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Looking into the SoCal market. How are my chances for big law? Good, average, below average? Should i expand into other markets like SF? Can I break into that?

3.6 at UCLA/USC is not even close to enough information...

A 3.6 at some schools could be top 10% and at others could be barely 20%.

Not entirely sure where 3.6 is at. I know median is 3.2 or 3.3 according to wiki. So lets say worse case scenario top 20%.

Just a GPA and school range is insufficient to give you OCI "chances" and chancing people beyond "you can probably get a job" is usually worthless anyway

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Looking into the SoCal market. How are my chances for big law? Good, average, below average? Should i expand into other markets like SF? Can I break into that?

3.6 at UCLA/USC is not even close to enough information...

A 3.6 at some schools could be top 10% and at others could be barely 20%.

Not entirely sure where 3.6 is at. I know median is 3.2 or 3.3 according to wiki. So lets say worse case scenario top 20%.

You have a good shot at a job

rad lulz wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Looking into the SoCal market. How are my chances for big law? Good, average, below average? Should i expand into other markets like SF? Can I break into that?

3.6 at UCLA/USC is not even close to enough information...

A 3.6 at some schools could be top 10% and at others could be barely 20%.

Not entirely sure where 3.6 is at. I know median is 3.2 or 3.3 according to wiki. So lets say worse case scenario top 20%.

You have a good shot at a job

what other info are needed?

As a fellow UCLAer who has gone through OCI, I'd think your chances are pretty good (granted that you bid wisely). Everyone I knew who had a 3.5+ got a big law job through OCI. Also, UCLA's top 10% is usually around the high 3.7s (e.g., 3.78ish). Median, from what I've seen is probably on the high end of 3.3s (e.g., 3.36ish).

Anonymous User wrote:As a fellow UCLAer who has gone through OCI, I'd think your chances are pretty good (granted that you bid wisely). Everyone I knew who had a 3.5+ got a big law job through OCI. Also, UCLA's top 10% is usually around the high 3.7s (e.g., 3.78ish). Median, from what I've seen is probably on the high end of 3.3s (e.g., 3.36ish).

Good to hear. So how does one bid wisely/what is a good way to approach bidding. I am thinking of staying away from high GPA firms like skadden and MTO. But what other criteria should i look at when deciding where to bid?

Bid the firms with the most spots/higher GPA cutoffs lower i.e. don't bid Gibson in the top 10 because they have two days of interviews, as does Jones Day as I recall. Big law firms with lower GPA cutoffs (relative to Gibson, Irell, MTO, Quinn, and Skadden), like Latham for example, will fill up faster. If you want MoFo, bid them super high because a lot of people who wanted to interview with them were shut out last year. If you don't get an interview with a firm you wanted, you have a few options:

1) Email their recruiter, express your disappointment that despite bidding them high, you didn't get an interview - could they squeeze you in? Attach your resume and if they like what they see (with your GPA they likely will), they'll fit you in.

2) Get to the hotel early the day the firm is interviewing and look to see if there are any last minute openings where you can pencil your name in.

3) Keep an eye on Symplicity in case people cancel their interviews.

4) The firm may contact you out of the blue if they aren't happy with the pool of people who selected them. Case in point - last year Skadden had an extra interview day and openly expressed more excitement for the candidates that they had personally decided to contact (those who bid on them but didn't get an interview, since Skadden still gets all their resumes) over those they were interviewing on their scheduled day.

Unless you really want to seek out a ton of different firms, don't kill yourself during OCI. It is exhausting and you have a good enough GPA that so long as you are personable, you will get a job. Try and target your firms based on practice area/anecdotes re: culture/firm size, etc. Pay attention to what the interviewers are like in the screeners - it will tell you loads about what it would be like to work at the firm. There were interviews where I had a very strong negative reaction, and I don't think it's a coincidence that my friends at those firms are not enjoying their summer.

Same anon as above - FYI, you don't need to stay away from "high GPA" firms based on your GPA. If you don't think you would like the culture, that is totally fair. But I don't think you are so far out of range that if you were really gunning for Quinn, your GPA should hold you back from at least trying. (I say this as someone who was in the 3.6 range and received callbacks from firms with a higher cutoff - then again, I was closer to 3.7 than 3.6).

Anonymous User wrote:Same anon as above - FYI, you don't need to stay away from "high GPA" firms based on your GPA. If you don't think you would like the culture, that is totally fair. But I don't think you are so far out of range that if you were really gunning for Quinn, your GPA should hold you back from at least trying. (I say this as someone who was in the 3.6 range and received callbacks from firms with a higher cutoff - then again, I was closer to 3.7 than 3.6).

This is OP. Thanks for the tips. I am actually really close to 3.6 instead of 3.7. I'm probably going to stay away from Skadden/Quinn anyways. But I will definitely bid the firms with more spots/higher GPA lower. This is probably a good strat. I actually don't have any specific firm in mind so I am probably going to do more research in the coming days before OCI bidding ends mid july.