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Hi Everyone,

Is anyone personally successful, or know of success stories of those who are median/slightly above median at a T20, who managed to get great paying legal jobs?

Big-law, great mid-size gigs, etc.

Assuming that median is 3.3.

Anonymous User wrote:Hi Everyone,

Is anyone personally successful, or know of success stories of those who are median/slightly above median at a T20, who managed to get great paying legal jobs?

Big-law, great mid-size gigs, etc.

Assuming that median is 3.3.

Sure... just look at an engineer

Just a hair above median at T20 here. I just heard back from all the firms. I had one offer (V50 in a secondary market) out of four CBs and 10 screeners. I cut it very, very close. I know that I wouldn't have gotten the offer if I didn't have all these other factors on my side: 1) URM, 2) speak a highly valued foreign language as a native speaker, 3) had a very international upbringing, 4) fit/needs of the firm, 5) HYS undergrad (albeit with below median undergrad GPA), 6) networked/schmoozed the hell of the firm, 7) fairly outgoing interviewee, 8 ) strong family ties to secondary city.

If I didn't have these other factors going for me, I wouldn't have stood a chance. There were many firms at screeners who barely gave me a glance because of my GPA. One interviewing partner literally walked out (to be replaced by a first-year associate) before I came in the door because my GPA automatically disqualified me. It just so happened that the V50 that offered me had a reputation for caring more about fit/background than grades.

Anonymous User wrote:
Hi Everyone,

Is anyone personally successful, or know of success stories of those who are median/slightly above median at a T20, who managed to get great paying legal jobs?

Big-law, great mid-size gigs, etc.

Assuming that median is 3.3.

T20 - 3.4 - Engineer - Biglaw in SV

Anonymous User wrote:Hi Everyone,

Is anyone personally successful, or know of success stories of those who are median/slightly above median at a T20, who managed to get great paying legal jobs?

Big-law, great mid-size gigs, etc.

Assuming that median is 3.3.

Upper T14, right at median, URM. Interesting resume (only know this because so many interviewers specifically commented on it) but nothing I had personally considered spectacular (unique legal WE; not K-JD) & great interviewer (again, from what I've been told). Offers throughout V10-V50.

I also personally know of others. Based on my and other's experiences, I think that if you are near median at a T20, (a) crafting a resume that really highlights your unique skills/experiences will initially get you into doors that may have otherwise been closed, and (b) becoming a GREAT interviewer will get you offers that may not have otherwise come your way. I don't think OCS emphasized this enough, but in my experience these two things have been absolutely critical to my success.

The hardest part is to get around the arbitrary cut-offs firms make.

For example, lets say a firm sets the cutoff at a 3.5. So, someone with a 3.4, who has all other great credentials, gets cut out.

I was a SA this past summer, and the biggest compliment I got was that I was a clear and concise writer, that explained things in a methodical manner.

No one said, "Oh, you got an A+ in civ. pro., you obviously are leagues above the crowd."

First off, writing a law school exam does not correlate well with memo-writing, or even brief-writing.

If I sat on the recruiting committee, grades would be a factor yes, but so would the writing sample. I may even say that the writing sample would mean more to me than just grades.

Some of the people in my year with the highest GPAs are horrendous writers.

Anonymous User wrote:The hardest part is to get around the arbitrary cut-offs firms make.

For example, lets say a firm sets the cutoff at a 3.5. So, someone with a 3.4, who has all other great credentials, gets cut out.

I was a SA this past summer, and the biggest compliment I got was that I was a clear and concise writer, that explained things in a methodical manner.

No one said, "Oh, you got an A+ in civ. pro., you obviously are leagues above the crowd."

First off, writing a law school exam does not correlate well with memo-writing, or even brief-writing.

If I sat on the recruiting committee, grades would be a factor yes, but so would the writing sample. I may even say that the writing sample would mean more to me than just grades.

Some of the people in my year with the highest GPAs are horrendous writers.

So because you got compliments on your writing this summer, but not on your legal analysis, you think a writing sample should be the most important factor? That doesn't strike you as incredibly self-serving and shallow reasoning?

Slightly below median at T14. Ended up with a V50 offer in a major legal market.

Sold myself in the interview- hard. Did plenty of background work on the firms, bid fairly conservatively, and hit up every singly connection I had to milk all the info and advice out of them I could.

It was a few weeks of total hell- but was absolutely worth it.

To those who have median/slightly below or above, are you also on law review?

I personally know a couple people at or barely above median who landed V70s at my T20, and I know at least 3 people around a 3.0 (median's at 3.3 here) who landed with firms that are national with 300+ lawyers, but not market paying for this region.

All were through OCI, but all 5 hustled HARD in the sense of preparing for CBs, contacting attorneys at the firms, etc. Also all of them only received their one offer.

Edit: one of the guys with a 3.3 is on LR, none of the other people are though.

Anonymous User wrote:I personally know a couple people at or barely above median who landed V70s at my T20, and I know at least 3 people around a 3.0 (median's at 3.3 here) who landed with firms that are national with 300+ lawyers, but not market paying for this region.

All were through OCI, but all 5 hustled HARD in the sense of preparing for CBs, contacting attorneys at the firms, etc. Also all of them only received their one offer.

Edit: one of the guys with a 3.3 is on LR, none of the other people are though.

How did they go about getting the callback? That so far has been the largest hurdle for me.

Struck out at OCI through screeners, and my mass mail has turned up nothing.

KidStuddi wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:The hardest part is to get around the arbitrary cut-offs firms make.

For example, lets say a firm sets the cutoff at a 3.5. So, someone with a 3.4, who has all other great credentials, gets cut out.

I was a SA this past summer, and the biggest compliment I got was that I was a clear and concise writer, that explained things in a methodical manner.

No one said, "Oh, you got an A+ in civ. pro., you obviously are leagues above the crowd."

First off, writing a law school exam does not correlate well with memo-writing, or even brief-writing.

If I sat on the recruiting committee, grades would be a factor yes, but so would the writing sample. I may even say that the writing sample would mean more to me than just grades.

Some of the people in my year with the highest GPAs are horrendous writers.

So because you got compliments on your writing this summer, but not on your legal analysis, you think a writing sample should be the most important factor? That doesn't strike you as incredibly self-serving and shallow reasoning?

+ 1.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I personally know a couple people at or barely above median who landed V70s at my T20, and I know at least 3 people around a 3.0 (median's at 3.3 here) who landed with firms that are national with 300+ lawyers, but not market paying for this region.

All were through OCI, but all 5 hustled HARD in the sense of preparing for CBs, contacting attorneys at the firms, etc. Also all of them only received their one offer.

Edit: one of the guys with a 3.3 is on LR, none of the other people are though.

How did they go about getting the callback? That so far has been the largest hurdle for me.

Struck out at OCI through screeners, and my mass mail has turned up nothing.

I think three of them got their CBs from OCI- all are extremely sociable and it didn't surprise anyone that they ended up with a 2-3 CBs each despite their sub-median (or in one case median) GPAs. One of them got his by approaching the recruiter and expressing interest in a particular area of practice that the firm is well known for and got an on-the-spot screener without the recruiter having seen his GPA, and he must have been able to charm/impress the recruiter in that time...

The other girl got a professor who favored her to call his old firm and put in an endorsement of sorts.

One other struck out at OCI but began contacting alumni from firms he hadn't bid on- built up a rapport and got an interview that way.

FWIW none are URM or any sort of minority for that matter.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I personally know a couple people at or barely above median who landed V70s at my T20, and I know at least 3 people around a 3.0 (median's at 3.3 here) who landed with firms that are national with 300+ lawyers, but not market paying for this region.

All were through OCI, but all 5 hustled HARD in the sense of preparing for CBs, contacting attorneys at the firms, etc. Also all of them only received their one offer.

Edit: one of the guys with a 3.3 is on LR, none of the other people are though.

How did they go about getting the callback? That so far has been the largest hurdle for me.

Struck out at OCI through screeners, and my mass mail has turned up nothing.

I think three of them got their CBs from OCI- all are extremely sociable and it didn't surprise anyone that they ended up with a 2-3 CBs each despite their sub-median (or in one case median) GPAs. One of them got his by approaching the recruiter and expressing interest in a particular area of practice that the firm is well known for and got an on-the-spot screener without the recruiter having seen his GPA, and he must have been able to charm/impress the recruiter in that time...

The other girl got a professor who favored her to call his old firm and put in an endorsement of sorts.

One other struck out at OCI but began contacting alumni from firms he hadn't bid on- built up a rapport and got an interview that way.

FWIW none are URM or any sort of minority for that matter.

What's the general perception on URMs?

How much does it help?

Our median is below a 3.3, but I'm at a 3.3. V50 offer. NY.

I don't know if I'm close enough to median to be a good data point though. I just went straight through OCI, no special ties or connections.

Anonymous User wrote:Our median is below a 3.3, but I'm at a 3.3. V50 offer. NY.

I don't know if I'm close enough to median to be a good data point though. I just went straight through OCI, no special ties or connections.

Congratulations!

I'm really hoping I can hit a good stride with the mid-size firms I am going for.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Our median is below a 3.3, but I'm at a 3.3. V50 offer. NY.

I don't know if I'm close enough to median to be a good data point though. I just went straight through OCI, no special ties or connections.

Congratulations!

I'm really hoping I can hit a good stride with the mid-size firms I am going for.

Thanks! Good luck

There are some in my section who are top 25% and on LR who have completely struck out.

Don't know what I will do if my current search turns up nothing.