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I am curious if firms have clear grade cutoffs at OCI? Is it a waste to bid for firms that seem to be above your reach because of your grades if you are hoping that other factors might help?

If you're close to the grade cutoff it's worth a bid, but be smart about it. Don't fill your bidlist up with firms slightly above your grade range. Talk to career services to see if those other factors of yours will actually make a difference.

Firms do have grade targets and cut-offs, but different firms put different amounts of weight on them. Some firms, like S&C, have a tight cut-off but call back and offer a large fraction of the people who meet the cut-off. Others, like DPW, have lower cut-offs and are more willing to look at fit within the range of people who meet the requirements. The cut-offs are generally lower than you assume, and there is space for someone who interviews very well to get a callback and offer. For example, while most people who get offers at certain selective firms might be say top 10% at a lower T14, the actual hard grade cut-off at those firms is probably no higher than top 20-25%.

Even for the most selective firms (i.e. Wachtell, S&C, Cravath, etc.), they consider a candidate's prior experience in addition to grades and would go for candidates with stellar prior experiences even if they have less than stellar grades.