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I would be very grateful to anyone that would be willing to critique my bid list. Thanks in advance.

NYU 3.49, I'd ideally end up in Boston (from the area), but I have no problem committing to NYC for a couple of years. Trying to do corporate work. At a pretty unusual summer gig that I think will make for interesting interview discussion.

Am I likely to get most of the Boston bids near the bottom of my list? I figure that there won't be that many people bidding Boston. Is that a safe bet?

1 Cooley Boston
2 Holland & Knight Boston
3 Sidley Austin NY
4 Linklaters NY
5 Dechert Boston
6 Jones Day Boston
7 Freshfields NY
8 White & Case NY
9 Ropes & Gray Boston
10 Latham Boston
11 Willkie Farr NY
12 Goodwin Procter Boston
13 Skadden Arps Boston
14 Gunderson Dettmer Boston
15 Paul Hastings NY
16 Akin Gump NY
17 Goodwin Procter NY
18 Proskauer Rose NY
19 Clifford Chance NY
20 Weil NY
21 Brown Rudnick Boston
22 Gibson Dunn NY
23 Covington & Burling NY
24 Kirkland NY
25 Foley & Lardner Boston
26 Milbank Tweed NY
27 Venable NY
28 Skadden NY
29 Cadwalader NY
30 Wachtell NY
31 Sullivan Cromwell NY
32 Davis Polk NY
33 Arnold & Porter NY
34 hogan lovells NY
35 Hughes Hubbard NY
36 Simpson Thatcher NY
37 O’Melveny & Myers NY
38 Morrison & Foerster NY
39 Debevoise NY
40 Nutter Boston
41 Foley & Hoag Boston
42 Sullivan & Worchester Boston
43 Paul Weiss NY
44 Cravath NY
45 Schulte Roth NY
46 Cahill NY
47 Fried Frank NY
48 Strook & Strook NY
49 WilmerHale Boston
50 Reed Smith NY

Does Ropes have separate bids for Boston and NY? My year, it didn't, and you had to bid it something like 4th or 5th to get it. Otherwise, it looks good. There are certainly people who bid Boston, but not a ton of them, so I think you'll get most of the Boston firms you bid in your top 20 or so (but might miss out on Wilmer, Nutter, Foley, and some of the others you bid towards the end of your list-- move those up if you really want them).

There might also be some wasted NY bids towards the middle of your list-- I'm not sure you'll get Weil at 20 or Gibson Dunn at 22 or Kirkland at 24 or Skadden at 28 (though, again, my experience with this is a few years old and their popularity/number of interview slots might have changed since then), and I would either consider moving those up or dropping them entirely. Also be aware that you probably won't get OMM at 37, MoFo at 38, or Deb at 39-- if you really want any of those, consider moving them up (but recognize that you're not going to win all your bids, and it's just a question of which firms you want to prioritize over others).

Overall, though, great job!

aces wrote:Does Ropes have separate bids for Boston and NY? My year, it didn't, and you had to bid it something like 4th or 5th to get it. Otherwise, it looks good. There are certainly people who bid Boston, but not a ton of them, so I think you'll get most of the Boston firms you bid in your top 20 or so (but might miss out on Wilmer, Nutter, Foley, and some of the others you bid towards the end of your list-- move those up if you really want them).

There might also be some wasted NY bids towards the middle of your list-- I'm not sure you'll get Weil at 20 or Gibson Dunn at 22 or Kirkland at 24 or Skadden at 28 (though, again, my experience with this is a few years old and their popularity/number of interview slots might have changed since then), and I would either consider moving those up or dropping them entirely. Also be aware that you probably won't get OMM at 37, MoFo at 38, or Deb at 39-- if you really want any of those, consider moving them up (but recognize that you're not going to win all your bids, and it's just a question of which firms you want to prioritize over others).

Overall, though, great job!

Thanks for the help. You think those Boston offices at the end might fill up even though they have 22 designated spots each? I moved them up a little, and moved Ropes up higher.

I also bolded the firms that I really want to have interviews with. How much farther up would I have to move Skadden or Gibson in your opinion? Most of the NY firms in the 30s I figure are just taking up space though, should I just move them even farther down the list then?

Thanks!

1 Cooley Boston
2 Holland & Knight Boston
3 Ropes & Gray Boston
4 Linklaters NY
5 Dechert Boston
6 Jones Day Boston
7 Freshfields NY
8 White & Case NY
9 Sidley Austin NY
10 Latham Boston
11 Willkie Farr NY
12 Goodwin Procter Boston
13 Skadden Arps Boston
14 Gunderson Dettmer Boston
15 Paul Hastings NY
16 Akin Gump NY
17 Weil NY
18 Proskauer Rose NY
19 Clifford Chance NY
20 Goodwin Procter NY
21 Brown Rudnick Boston
22 Gibson Dunn NY
23 Covington & Burling NY
24 Kirkland NY
25 Foley & Lardner Boston
26 Milbank Tweed NY
27 Venable NY
28 Skadden NY
29 Cadwalader NY
30 Wachtell NY
31 Sullivan Cromwell NY
32 Davis Polk NY
33 Arnold & Porter NY
34 hogan lovells NY
35 Hughes Hubbard NY
36 Simpson Thatcher NY
37 Nutter Boston
38 Foley & Hoag Boston
39 Sullivan & Worchester Boston
40 O’Melveny & Myers NY
41 Morrison & Foerster NY
42 Debevoise NY
43 Paul Weiss NY
44 Cravath NY
45 Schulte Roth NY
46 Cahill NY
47 Fried Frank NY
48 Strook & Strook NY
49 WilmerHale Boston
50 Reed Smith NY

I actually think you'll probably be fine for the Boston firms. I bid them really early to ensure that I got them, but in retrospect, I probably didn't have to.

This is just one anecdote, but my year, I didn't get Sidley at 10, Skadden at 11, Weil at 12, White & Case at 14, or Gibson Dunn at 19 (all NYC). I think I just barely missed a few of those firms (like Sidley and White & Case), but all of them are very popular at NYU. My guess is that you need Skadden in your top 6-8 and Gibson Dunn in your top 15.

If you PM me, I can share my full bidlist and where I did and didn't get interviews (this goes for any other NYU student reading this, by the way; this is a tough process, and the more data you have, the better).

OP here. Promise this is my last post about this (list is due tomorrow).

Are there any really obvious problems that I have created/overlooked?

Thanks again.

Rank Firm Name Location Total # of Slots Are Slots Shared?

1 Cooley Boston 22 Yes
2 Holland & Knight Boston 22 Yes
3 Ropes & Gray Boston 132 YES
4 Linklaters NY 44 NO
5 Dechert Boston 22 YES
6 Jones Day Boston 22 YES
7 Freshfields NY 88 YES
8 White & Case NY 88 NO
9 Skadden NY 110 NO
10 Latham Boston 22 YES
11 Weil NY 88 NO
12 Gibson Dunn NY 110 NO
13 Kirkland NY 66 NO
14 Goodwin Procter Boston 22 NO
15 Skadden Arps Boston 10 NO
16 Gunderson Dettmer Boston 22 YES
17 Paul Hastings NY 66 NO
18 WilmerHale Boston 22 NO
19 Akin Gump NY 110 NO
20 Proskauer Rose NY 66 NO
21 Clifford Chance NY 88 NO
22 Brown Rudnick Boston 44 Yes
23 Goodwin Procter NY 44 NO
24 Covington & Burling NY 88 NO
25 Willkie Farr NY 154 NO
26 Foley & Lardner Boston 44 YES
27 Milbank Tweed NY 110 NO
28 Venable NY 22 NO
29 Sidley Austin NY 88 No
30 Cadwalader NY 176 NO
31 Wachtell NY 88 NO
32 Sullivan Cromwell NY 154 NO
33 Davis Polk NY 220 NO
34 Arnold & Porter NY 66 YES
35 hogan lovells NY 66 NO
36 Hughes Hubbard NY 66 NO
37 Simpson Thatcher NY 176 NO
38 Nutter Boston 22 NO
39 Foley & Hoag Boston 22 NO
40 Sullivan & Worchester Boston 22 NO
41 O’Melveny & Myers NY 88 No
42 Morrison & Foerster NY 66 No
43 Debevoise NY 176 NO
44 Paul Weiss NY 198 NO
45 Cravath NY 176 NO
46 Schulte Roth NY 132 NO
47 Cahill NY 110 NO
48 Fried Frank NY 132 NO
49 Strook & Strook NY 132 NO
50 Reed Smith NY 22 NO