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Here is my bid list (which hasn't been ranked yet). I don't want NYC, but am willing to live there to get a job - I want a conservative list that still has a sliver of a chance for Cali. Please critique and make suggestions on how I should rank thee.
Seward & Kissel NYC
Latham Costa Mesa
Jones Day Irvine
Knobbe Irvine / LA
Greenberg Taur LA
Baker Hostetler LA
Jones Day LA
O'Melveny LA
Latham LA
Paul Hastings LA
Pillsbury Winthrop LA/nyc
Baker & McKenzie NYC
Baker & McKenzie NYC
K&L Gates NYC
Pillsbury NYC
Cadwalader NYC
Cahill, Gordon NYC
White & Case NYC
Wilkie Farr NYC
Baker Hostetler NYC
Bingham McCutchen NYC
Bingham McCutchen NYC
Bracewell and Giuliana NYC
Kasowitz NYC
King & Spalding NYC
Mayer Brown NYC
Orrick NYC
Proskauer NYC
Shearman & Sterling NYC
Wimer Hale NYC
Hunton NYC
Brown Rudnick NYC
Curtis, Mallet NYC
Katten NYC
Morgan Lewis NYC
Norton Rose NYC
Seward & Kissel NYC
Akin Gump NYC
Schulte Roth NYC
Weil Gotshal NYC
Linklaters NYC
GDC NYC
Baker Botts NYC
Fried, Frank, Harris NYC
Milbank, Tweed NYC
Bryan Cave OC
Paul Hastings OC
GDC OC
DLA Piper SD

TFALAWL wrote:Here is my bid list (which hasn't been ranked yet). I don't want NYC, but am willing to live there to get a job - I want a conservative list that still has a sliver of a chance for Cali. Please critique and make suggestions on how I should rank thee.
Seward & Kissel NYC
Latham Costa Mesa
Jones Day Irvine
Knobbe Irvine / LA
Greenberg Taur LA
Baker Hostetler LA
Jones Day LA
O'Melveny LA
Latham LA
Paul Hastings LA
Pillsbury Winthrop LA/nyc
Baker & McKenzie NYC
Baker & McKenzie NYC
K&L Gates NYC
Pillsbury NYC
Cadwalader NYC
Cahill, Gordon NYC
White & Case NYC
Wilkie Farr NYC
Baker Hostetler NYC
Bingham McCutchen NYC
Bingham McCutchen NYC
Bracewell and Giuliana NYC
Kasowitz NYC
King & Spalding NYC
Mayer Brown NYC
Orrick NYC
Proskauer NYC
Shearman & Sterling NYC
Wimer Hale NYC
Hunton NYC
Brown Rudnick NYC
Curtis, Mallet NYC
Katten NYC
Morgan Lewis NYC
Norton Rose NYC
Seward & Kissel NYC
Akin Gump NYC
Schulte Roth NYC
Weil Gotshal NYC
Linklaters NYC
GDC NYC
Baker Botts NYC
Fried, Frank, Harris NYC
Milbank, Tweed NYC
Bryan Cave OC
Paul Hastings OC
GDC OC
DLA Piper SD

This list is fine. If you're from LA, you should be competitive at many LA firms. But you should be mass mailing outside of OGI. UVA doesn't get all of the LA firms. You're going to get some but not a lot of pre-selects to the less grade selective firms. Use the top 10 of your lottery to get the LA firms you might not otherwise get by preselect (Latham, etc.)

I don't know if some of these have different offices for OC and LA. It's generally a waste to bid on multiple offices. I'd also take off places like Weil and Gibson Dunn unless you really, really want them. Remember you're taking firms that normally have a cut off of 3.6, and though people get around this all the time, you're sacrificing places where your 3.42 is great.

I would bet on having 15 interviews. This should be enough. Sometimes having too many plays negative returns once you start burnin out, and having callback dinners, the odds of having your hung over 9 AM lead to a CB are slim. MASS MAIL now (only firms you're not bidding on).

Thanks for the advice, one question. Weil and GDC I was only going to bid on b/c they have huge classes and career services told me to diversify between firms with huge classes and those that aren't grade selective. Do I still have a better shot at firms with lower gpa's even if their class size is less than 5? What are the data points I should look at to increase my chances? Anyway "easier" firms that are missing from this list? Thanks!

Unless you are IP take off Knobbe, they are IP all the way. Second on taking off Gibson, they have a hard grade cut off and you are not there.