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Are some of these firms clearly out of my unfortunate <3.0 league? Any reordering? Any other firms I should consider? Thanks!

Harsh criticism is very welcome.

BID City Firm Name Slots
1 NY DLA Piper 9
2 NY Baker McKenzie 20
3 NY Bingham McCutcheon 39
4 NY Paul Hastings 58
5 NY Alston Bird 20
6 NY Linklaters 39
7 NY hogan lovells 58
8 NY Mayer Brown 51
9 NY Kaye Scholer 58
10 NY Clifford Chance 77
11 NY Holland Knight 20
12 NY Kasowitz 20
13 NY Duane Morris 20
14 NY Hughes Hubbard 58
15 NY Reed Smith 20
16 NY Katten Muchin 39
17 NY Greenburg Traurig 39
18 NY Goodwin Procter 39
19 NY King Spalding 39
20 NY Chadbourne Parke 77
21 NY Kramer Levin 39
22 NY Winston Strawn 39
23 NY Pillsbury Winthrop 58
24 NY K&L Gates 77
25 NY Willkie Farr 134
26 NY Schulte Roth 115
27 NY Hunton Williams 20
28 NY Venable 20
29 NY Dentons 20
30 NY Norton Rose Fulbright 20
31 NY Morgan Lewis 58
32 NY Curtis Mallet-Prevost 39
33 NY Dechert 134
34 NY Cadwalader 164
35 NY Stroock Stroock 115
36 NY Brown Rudnick 20
37 NY Troutman Sanders 20
38 NY Schiff Hardin 20
39 NY Herbert Smith 39
40 NY Carter Ledyard 39

Might as well throw 10 non-NYs at the bottom (like NJ and Stamford if you have no ties elsewhere) but otherwise, you're looking at the right firms. Mayer, Clifford Chance, and Paul Hastings probably won't dip that low, but given their relatively larger class sizes, it may be worth keeping them on.

I would use all your bids. Target anywhere you have ties to except DC. I would throw in CT, DE, NJ firms (which are probably not all that popular) in the end. I would be hesitant on adding any CA, Boston, or similar cities in the end because they might be too popular for you to obtain a slot, and they're slightly more selective (depending on the city). Other cities like Miami, Portland, etc. are also good (IF you have ties)

With a 2.98, you don't have an option to be selective. You'll need to focus on mass mailing and making sure you land something, even if it's not in NYC.

Also I'm pretty sure you know this but the firms you are applying to (in your top 10-20) all have small class sizes but are not very grade conscious. This doesn't mean they aren't selective. It means they are selective in other ways (interviewing). Hence, I would brush up on your interview skills