UChicago OCI 2014 Forum

[Strahilevitz]

Please remember to think about your classmate's feelings when posting your CB results. While some of you have been fortunate to have many CBs, some of your classmates have had little to none. If you're really up for a challenge, go help your classmates who struck out find a job.

[Anonymous User]

Please remember to think about your classmate's feelings when posting your CB results. While some of you have been fortunate to have many CBs, some of your classmates have had little to none. If you're really up for a challenge, go help your classmates who struck out find a job.

I do get that. It wasn't intended as a brag. Sharing this kinda stuff seems legitimately useful for future classes - especially those thinking about bidding straight non-NYC - and I considered the balance of usefulness vs hurt feelings that might result. If people disagree, I'm more than happy to delete the post.

Also, if there is actually a way to help classmates find jobs I'd love to hear it.

[Anonymous User]

Please remember to think about your classmate's feelings when posting your CB results. While some of you have been fortunate to have many CBs, some of your classmates have had little to none. If you're really up for a challenge, go help your classmates who struck out find a job.

I do get that. It wasn't intended as a brag. Sharing this kinda stuff seems legitimately useful for future classes - especially those thinking about bidding straight non-NYC - and I considered the balance of usefulness vs hurt feelings that might result. If people disagree, I'm more than happy to delete the post.

Also, if there is actually a way to help classmates find jobs I'd love to hear it.

It will be just as useful in a month or so, I'd think. But definitely is a balancing act, you're right.

[Anonymous User]

Kirkland offer. Phone. Cb was the 15th

[Anonymous User]

178.3 GPA. No journal, but I also wanted transactional. 3 years ok(?) but unrelated work experience.

I would say that I'm a fairly strong interviewer based on my results but I also have pretty nice eyes. More seriously, I networked a lot with people at firms before OCI and while not necessary, it really helped me I think. Not only did talking to attorneys help me learn how to articulate my preferences and sell my background, but I actually made some connections at my desired firms which I would bet put me in a better position with the hiring committee. So I highly recommend people reach out to alumni and ask to speak over the phone or lunch during your summer. It was a really nice way to get my feet wet with being around attorneys and learning about their concerns.

Totals:
22 screeners -> 16 CBs -> 7/8 accepted callbacks to offers (still waiting on one though)

So. California (mostly mass mailed before OCI):
1 screener -> 1CB -> 1 offer

Chicago:
11 screeners -> 8 CBs -> 6 offers from 7 CBs accepted (still waiting on one)

NYC:
10 screeners -> 7CBs but all cancelled

[Anonymous User]

I made this post then removed it and came back to edit it long after no one in my class would be back to look at it for anonymity purposes.

180.4ish, no LR

at OCI, 26 screeners -> 6 (23%) CB's -> 1 Offer (4%)
NY: 10 screeners -> 3 (30%) CB's -> 1 (10%) offer - somehow managed to not get a CB with S&C????? (no ties)
Chicago: 5 screeners -> 0 CB's (0%) (no ties besides law school)
Palo Alto/SV: 3 screeners -> 1 CB (33%) -> withdrew before getting a response, but for various reasons I believe I would have received an offer had I wanted to work there (FWIW, almost no ties at all to the area)
DC: 2 screeners -> 1 (50%) CB -> 0 offers (0%) (no ties)

Have some more markets at OCI but won't post them because of the risk of being outed.


Also did a very small market separately from OCI: 7 Screeners -> 1 CB, and withdrew before getting a response (very strong ties)

Don't think I have a great personality (can go into more detail, if you reply and I notice I'll PM you), and I also, in retrospect, didn't do a great job of targeting firms that fit my lit interest. I think not doing LR made this even worse, because the thought is obviously, well, if he's interest in lit, why didn't he do LR? So if I could go back I would have done LR. Fortunately I got lucky and will be at what was tied for my top choice firm next summer... but as you can see from the above, even with a decent GPA it was pretty close.

[Anonymous User]

I also, in retrospect, didn't do a great job of targeting firms that fit my lit interest.

Am the DC/LA/NYC anon from last page - I'd really emphasize this for future 2Ls. Do the research before bidding, not after. I missed out on 3-4 firms that would've been great fits because I bid them too low and then didn't hustle to pick them up during OCI. Then when I got more serious about figuring out the lay of the land in particular areas it was kinda like, damn, it was totally idiotic not to do a screener with these places.

Also yea, listen to the 178.3 anon. You get so much better at interviewing the more conversations you have with attorneys. It's ridiculous how much stronger I was at the end of the callback process vs the beginning of OCI. Getting a leg up on that, either through early massmail screeners or just plain networking, would be extremely helpful.

[Anonymous User]

Offerless 2L here to weigh in and give my blessing. It's painful to read, sure, but I'm hardly blind to my classmates' success without it. It's definitely not worth keeping information from future students.

[Anonymous User]

Offerless 2L here to weigh in and give my blessing. It's painful to read, sure, but I'm hardly blind to my classmates' success without it. It's definitely not worth keeping information from future students.

Good luck anon. Hoping things work out.

[Anonymous User]

Offerless 2L here to weigh in and give my blessing. It's painful to read, sure, but I'm hardly blind to my classmates' success without it. It's definitely not worth keeping information from future students.

Good luck anon. Hoping things work out.

+1.

...also Munger offer. CB was Tuesday.

[Anonymous User]

Transfer from T20

Chicago:
10 screeners. 6 callbacks (cancelled 2). 3 offers

New York:
8 screeners, 3 callbacks, 1 offer

Boston:
3 screeners, 2 callbacks, 1 offer

DC:
2 screeners, 0 callbacks

Socal:
1 screener, 0 callbacks

[Anonymous User]

179.5, no journal

CHICAGO
3 Screeners -> 3 Callbacks -> 2 Offers

NYC
17 Screeners -> 6 Callbacks (cancelled one) -> 4 Offers

[Anonymous User]

My only contribution to posterity is this: Chicago is provincial, as much as everyone says. Stress your ties. Good grades won't suffice if your resume prominently features another market. You must sell your connections. DC is extremely tough, but I think it's less provincial than Chicago, and you can do well in DC with a great resume but no ties if you can explain why the work there is for you. NYC is the safety, but for god's sake, don't tell NYC firms that you're applying to Chicago and DC. They get what's up. Trust me on that one.

[Anonymous User]

My only contribution to posterity is this: Chicago is provincial, as much as everyone says. Stress your ties. Good grades won't suffice if your resume prominently features another market. You must sell your connections. DC is extremely tough, but I think it's less provincial than Chicago, and you can do well in DC with a great resume but no ties if you can explain why the work there is for you. NYC is the safety, but for god's sake, don't tell NYC firms that you're applying to Chicago and DC. They get what's up. Trust me on that one.

I'm from the west coast and did fine in Chicago. Almost every single screener or callback interview began with asking which city on my resume I was born in. I immediately launched in to admitting I was from the west coast but that's dad was originally from just over the Chicago border and that I still had family in the city. Then I would continue by saying how much I love Chicago and how much better of a legal market it is than my hometown. I think they'll believe you on this point with anything besides LA or San Fran. This story was a bit of a stretch since my dad hasn't really been back to Chicago or the Midwest in thirty years.

I guess the moral of the story is to exploit anything you have in your background to explain your interest. And recognize that the question is an opportunity to begin convincing someone of why you want to be here. Some people might really just have been asking me where I was from but even for those people my answer didn't feel like a bad one because it got the conversation rolling about me and Chicago in the same breath.

[Anonymous User]

My only contribution to posterity is this: Chicago is provincial, as much as everyone says. Stress your ties. Good grades won't suffice if your resume prominently features another market. You must sell your connections. DC is extremely tough, but I think it's less provincial than Chicago, and you can do well in DC with a great resume but no ties if you can explain why the work there is for you. NYC is the safety, but for god's sake, don't tell NYC firms that you're applying to Chicago and DC. They get what's up. Trust me on that one.

I'm from the west coast and did fine in Chicago. Almost every single screener or callback interview began with asking which city on my resume I was born in. I immediately launched in to admitting I was from the west coast but that's dad was originally from just over the Chicago border and that I still had family in the city. Then I would continue by saying how much I love Chicago and how much better of a legal market it is than my hometown. I think they'll believe you on this point with anything besides LA or San Fran. This story was a bit of a stretch since my dad hasn't really been back to Chicago or the Midwest in thirty years.

I guess the moral of the story is to exploit anything you have in your background to explain your interest. And recognize that the question is an opportunity to begin convincing someone of why you want to be here. Some people might really just have been asking me where I was from but even for those people my answer didn't feel like a bad one because it got the conversation rolling about me and Chicago in the same breath.

I also did the best in Chicago out of my markets...Only got 1 offer in NYC. No ties here. But as a transfer i made it very clear that i transferred to Chicago (among other options) specifically because I wanted to settle here. I also have an SO who is from the area that i mentioned. But it helped to reinforce that with reasons why i wanted to work at that firm specifically beyond the fact that it was located in Chicago. It was easier with some firms than with others (E.g. K&E, Sidley, Mayer Brown) since they had more distinguishing brands. For example i made it very clear to K&E/Sidley that i would be heading to NYC if I didn't have the chance to join them because I also had to consider the training/work opportunities for corporate work and that I didn't want to sacrifice high quality corporate work just to stay in Chicago. K&E in particular seemed to like that. If you can communicate your geographic preferences in an honest way that also shows that you've been thoughtful about practice area and firm culture, then i think it makes your pitch stronger instead of just saying "I only want to be in Chicago, you are a firm in Chicago, therefore I want to work for you."

[Anonymous User]

Wachtell ding, CB was last Friday

[Anonymous User]

OMM LA offer. CB was today.

[Anonymous User]

Stats
Median-ish, white straight male, no journal but completed Keystone Program.

OCI
Results:
New York: 13 screeners → 4 callbacks → 1 offer, 1 ding, 2 cancels
Chicago: 7 screeners → 1 callback → 1 cancel
Los Angeles: 1 screener → 0 callbacks
Seattle: 1 screener → 0 callbacks
Columbus: 1 screener → 0 callbacks
London: 1 screener → 0 callbacks

Takeaways:
I should have followed Neal Patrick Harris's advice more thoroughly by ignoring the OCI Report to a larger degree. I was weary of applying to "preftigious" firms because I figured that they wouldn't consider a non-diverse candidate with meh grades even though they hire many more SAs every year. However, I actually had more success with the firms that were ranked higher on Vault and had higher GPA 25th percentiles than the lower ranked firms with lower GPA 25th percentiles. For example, I am almost 100% sure I wouldn't have gotten WLRK or Cravath even if I had interviewed with them, but I got CBs from the two V5s I interviewed with and wish I had interviewed with DPW instead of bidding on some other random firm (that eventually dinged me) just because it had a lower GPA on the OCI Report. In a nutshell, don't underestimate how deep reputable firms are willing to reach into our class, and don't assume that less-reputable firms will scrape the bottom of the barrel.

I also made the mistake of picking up a ton of screeners during open sign-ups. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I mistakenly felt like it was a waste not to add 2 extra screeners per day even if I had no interest in those firms. This is how I ended up with screeners for firms in places like LA, Seattle, Columbus, London, and even a lot of my Chicago firms. I pretty much bombed every single one of those interviews because I didn't want to be in those markets or at those firms and it showed. It also drained time/energy that I could have used to prepare for the interviews I actually cared about.

Mass Mailing
Results:
Target Foreign Market: 4 applications → 4 screeners → 4 callbacks → 2 offers, 1 ding, 1 cancel

Takeaways:
As others have already mentioned on here, I also reached out to and met with several UChicago alumni over the summer. In addition to alumni, it is also totally okay to reach out to random people at firms / practice areas you are interested in even if they aren't from our school. I only mass-mailed firms whose attorneys I had met beforehand, and even though this was kind of risky since I only networked with 4 firms over the summer, these were the places with the highest yield rate by far. Although that one anon got shit on for the awful timing of their post about their mass-mailing success, the point they were making was completely legit. Also, I had applied to all 4 of these firms as a 1L and gotten dinged, but it didn't seem to affect my results as a 2L whatsoever. (One of the firms had even post-CB-dinged me during 1L, but they ended up being one of my offers during 2L.)

Lastly, the firms I applied to via mass-mail were all the foreign offices of American firms and not domestic firms in the target market. (It is usually easier to land a position at a domestic firm overseas because they generally pay less and can prevent you from ever finding a decent legal job if you want to return to the States at some point down the road, so I wouldn't recommend that route for anyone considering it unless it is in London.) If any of you future 2Ls are hoping to work abroad doing biglaw, post in this thread and I will PM you.

(I realize that I might as well post this under my normal user name since it is pretty clear who I am, but I am going the anon route just in case employers ever read this thread.)

[Mal Reynolds]

It was clear to me after one sentence.

[WhiteyCakes]

no journal but completed Keystone Program.

[Neal Patrick Harris]

:lol: It was clear to me after one sentence.

The colors. Didn't even have to read to know lol

[Mal Reynolds]

no journal but completed Keystone Program.

Someone get this man a scotus clerkship.

[permapress]

PM me! considering biglaw in asia

[elterrible78]

no journal but completed Keystone Program.

Someone get this man a scotus clerkship.

Clerkship? I think he needs to go straight to the bench.

[Anonymous User]

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