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Hey everyone! So I finished my 1L year, and my GPA turned out a 3.24. I did a lot better my second semester than my first (first semester: B-, B, B+, B+; second semester: B, B+, A-, A-) but the GPA is still not great. I'd rather not say what law school I'm at, but it's not T14 and, in US News & World Report, it's ranked above #30.
Just now I got my class rank, which is top 56%. Again, not great.

Realistically, what kind of effort should I be putting into OCI's? Not even being in the top 50% of my class, it seems like a total waste of time and I feel like I should, instead, focus on sending out mass emails/networking. On the other hand, I'm at one of the top law schools in the nation and this class is the most competitive my school has seen in a while.

The OCS at my school is not great with giving me realistic things to do and instead just kind of says "Do everything!" which I will, of course, attempt. So I'm really just looking for feedback on what I should focus most on. Do I have a chance in hell at OCI's or should I focus my efforts more on trying to find a job elsewhere?

Thanks!

Realistically - biglaw is out for you. Even desirable regional firms are a reach at this point.

I wouldn't skip OCI entirely because most schools have more than simply "biglaw" at OCI; and hey, these are firms looking to hire from your school, so it's worth trying - but be as realistic as possible in your bidding. When I went through OCI there were the usual biglaw firms, but there were also about a dozen decidedly smaller places (think 1 office with ~20-40 attorneys); this is the kind of firm you should be bidding on at OCI; one MAJOR caveat - if the firm is a "boutique" or otherwise marketed as competitive with biglaw shops (usually communicated to applicants through info on salary, perks, etc.), then you probably want to avoid that as well. Think of yourself as in competition with others at your school - if everyone in the top 20% of the class is applying to a place, you probably don't want to apply there; if you have reason to believe they are avoiding it, then go for it. Without knowing your region, I can't offer specific examples, but I can say from experience with OCI at a "regional" school that these places exist, come to oci, and do make offers further down the grade scale than the biglaw shops do.

Note: the above also makes the assumption that OCI bids are somehow "capped" as they were at my school (again, a regional non-t14) - you were only allowed something like 30 bids total, so most kids in the top 20% spent all 30 bids on various shades of biglaw/market-paying-boutique firms and students further down the curve could then become competitive at the smaller non-market places that attended OCI.

Also - if you have anything that might make you stand out in a particular field, maybe highlight that (it better be spectacular though - think a former accountant saying he wants to go into tax, or a former patent agent applying for an IP law job).

As you stated, begin mass mailing as soon as its reasonable (I think TCR for that is something like late July, but ask around), that's a good instinct on your part.

Your grades did improve, and if you get to an interview, you can should point that out, but honestly, 1L grades are such a narrow snapshot that your rank is all most firms will look at.

This is a tough spot to be in, but I know people who have gotten out of it. Good luck!