Transfer Student--Which firms should I bid?--CA Biglaw Forum

thecaliforniakid · Post by **thecaliforniakid** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 12:50 pm

Quick question for the TLS world. I've been a long-time lurker here and I could really use your help.

I will begin my 2L year at Berkeley as a transfer student. I transferred from a Midwest TT/TTT with a 3.9/4.0 and 2 CALI Awards.
Softs: URM; Undergrad degree in Finance from a CA top 25 University; Born and raised in CA.

Ideally, I want biglaw in either SF or LA. I also wouldn't mind working in Silicon Valley.

How will firms look at my GPA as a transfer student? Is it worth it to bid Keker, Munger, or Gibson Dunn?

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 3:22 pm

You can probably bid Gibson, but you have no chance at Keker and Munger.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:51 pm

sorry to jump in on this thread, but my question is also related to transfer odds for CA

would a top 5-10%'er going from MVP to HYS have a shot at Keker/Munger? Or would they be shut out as well? Does anyone have experience as a transfer in this type of situation or anecdotes of friends who have similar profiles?

WhiskeynCoke · Post by **WhiskeynCoke** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:12 pm

I agree with the above poster. You have NO chance at Keker or Munger. Keker only hires 4 summers each year. They pick 1 student from Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, and Yale. They aren't gonna have their 1 Boalt summer be the kid who transferred from a midwest TTT. Munger is almost as selective, and I'd throw Boies onto that list as well. You've gotta be Top 5-10% from B to really have a shot. You MAY have an outside chance at Gibson, but it depends.

How firms evaluate you will depend on what school you transferred from. I know several people who transferred to B from various schools, so here's the word on the street re B transfers:

- If you transferred from a school that the firm is familiar with (i.e. they've hired from before your school before) then you're looking real good at EIW. This generally applies to most of the CA schools like Hastings, USF, etc. This is because firms have a baseline of students to compare you to, since they know what to expect from top 5% kids from said school.

- If you transferred from a school the firm has either never hired from, or worse, never even heard of, you're facing an uphill battle. Since you're from a midwest TTT, I would be very careful bidding. Look to see which firms come to your old school's OCI, or who have alumni working there, and bid those. This will probably be the bigger, NYC-based firms.

I know people who transferred from Hastings and cleaned up. But I also know a guy who's smart and charming as SHIT, but struck out at EIW because the firms didn't know what to make of his old school, which was in AZ. He's clerking for a fed judge in SF now. However, he did EIW in 2010 (c/o 2012), which was a fucking BLOODBATH. The last couple EIWs were WAY better, and the Bay Area has been booming, so I expect this year's to also go well.

Good luck and welcome to B, you're gonna love it.

WhiskeynCoke · Post by **WhiskeynCoke** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote:sorry to jump in on this thread, but my question is also related to transfer odds for CA

would a top 5-10%'er going from MVP to HYS have a shot at Keker/Munger? Or would they be shut out as well? Does anyone have experience as a transfer in this type of situation or anecdotes of friends who have similar profiles?

I'd say you're definitely in the running for Munger, but a bit less so for Keker, for the reasons described above. It definitely helps that you transferred from MVP and not a TTT though. I don't think it would be crazy to bid either.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:21 pm

WhiskeynCoke wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:sorry to jump in on this thread, but my question is also related to transfer odds for CA

would a top 5-10%'er going from MVP to HYS have a shot at Keker/Munger? Or would they be shut out as well? Does anyone have experience as a transfer in this type of situation or anecdotes of friends who have similar profiles?
I'd say you're definitely in the running for Munger, but a bit less so for Keker, for the reasons described above. It definitely helps that you transferred from MVP and not a TTT though. I don't think it would be crazy to bid either.

thanks, appreciate the advice

thecaliforniakid · Post by **thecaliforniakid** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:35 pm

WhiskeynCoke wrote:I agree with the above poster. You have NO chance at Keker or Munger. Keker only hires 4 summers each year. They pick 1 student from Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, and Yale. They aren't gonna have their 1 Boalt summer be the kid who transferred from a midwest TTT. Munger is almost as selective, and I'd throw Boies onto that list as well. You've gotta be Top 5-10% from B to really have a shot. You MAY have an outside chance at Gibson, but it depends.

How firms evaluate you will depend on what school you transferred from. I know several people who transferred to B from various schools, so here's the word on the street re B transfers:

- If you transferred from a school that the firm is familiar with (i.e. they've hired from before your school before) then you're looking real good at EIW. This generally applies to most of the CA schools like Hastings, USF, etc. This is because firms have a baseline of students to compare you to, since they know what to expect from top 5% kids from said school.

- If you transferred from a school the firm has either never hired from, or worse, never even heard of, you're facing an uphill battle. Since you're from a midwest TTT, I would be very careful bidding. Look to see which firms come to your old school's OCI, or who have alumni working there, and bid those. This will probably be the bigger, NYC-based firms.

I know people who transferred from Hastings and cleaned up. But I also know a guy who's smart and charming as SHIT, but struck out at EIW because the firms didn't know what to make of his old school, which was in AZ. He's clerking for a fed judge in SF now. However, he did EIW in 2010 (c/o 2012), which was a fucking BLOODBATH. The last couple EIWs were WAY better, and the Bay Area has been booming, so I expect this year's to also go well.

Good luck and welcome to B, you're gonna love it.

Thanks for this. Really appreciate it.

SLS_AMG · Post by **SLS_AMG** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:09 pm

OP, are your CA ties in SoCal? If so, I'd maybe aim for the larger SoCal offices of CA firms (e.g. Gibson, Latham, O'Melveny, etc.). Those firms tend to be underbid at OCI I, so you're very likely to get interviews with them, and the classes are bigger, which usually (though not always) means the offers are a bit easier to come by. Bay Area firms are very heavily bid on and many have 4-5 SA spots. I just think you might be at a disadvantage compared to someone who did 1L at Boalt. Best of luck.

thecaliforniakid · Post by **thecaliforniakid** » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:38 pm

SLS_AMG wrote:OP, are your CA ties in SoCal? If so, I'd maybe aim for the larger SoCal offices of CA firms (e.g. Gibson, Latham, O'Melveny, etc.).

I grew up in Northern California; undergrad in Southern California.

I'm really indifferent as to whether I work in SF or LA.

Transfer Student--Which firms should I bid?--CA Biglaw Forum

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