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Rising 2L here at CCN. Wanted to check in and see if this is a good idea.

Currently summering in DC at a financial regulatory body. Career goals are big law -> gov't some day in the far future. Interested areas of practice = financial regulatory groups (sec reg, investment, broker-dealer), FIG, banking, etc. I have no ties to DC besides this summer. I've got pretty below median grades at CCN (~3.1). I'm going to do OCI of course, but what can I do to boost myself and make myself more marketable for these goals? I really don't want to end up in NYC long term, but I won't be wasting any bids on DC for OCI because of grades.

Should I try to get a fall externship at the SEC or similar in NYC? (If so, does anyone have info on how to best do this? I checked USAjobs and didn't see any NYC openings).

Besides that, I was thinking of doing a DC regulatory clinic at my school during 3L. FWIW, I'm not on any journals.

Get in touch with the government adviser at your CSO. She'll have much better answers for you, including on specific programs you can do, like externships through the school.

The fall SEC application closed a few weeks ago. I think spring closes in early November. CFTC only has enforcement in New York, but with all their new Dodd-Frank powers the name throws a bit more weight than it used to. No clue if these places hire interns during the school year in New York, but the Fed, OCC, and FDIC would be much better to have on a resume than the SEC. SEC has something like 300+ legal interns a year, they're a dime a dozen.

Nat Sherman wrote:The fall SEC application closed a few weeks ago. I think spring closes in early November. CFTC only has enforcement in New York, but with all their new Dodd-Frank powers the name throws a bit more weight than it used to. No clue if these places hire interns during the school year in New York, but the Fed, OCC, and FDIC would be much better to have on a resume than the SEC. SEC has something like 300+ legal interns a year, they're a dime a dozen.

To counter this somewhat, as former fall SEC intern, I had different results. Yes, SEC takes a lot of students. But, it's a huge office, and the SEC has pretty good name recognition. Nearly all of the interns I worked with (admittedly a small number) were going on to big firms.

Can't speak for the Fed or OCC, but in NYC, the FDIC office has a fraction of the employees. At a minimum, I would say that it would be a mistake to choose FDIC in NYC over SEC in NYC (assuming both options were on the table) just because you think the SEC would make you "dime a dozen." Maybe start with which type of work you think you're more interested in.

If you are at UChi and saying 3.1 to try and equate it to NYU/Columbia let me know because my advice would help. At below median here you aren't out of play for NY V10s and that should be your target. Out of NYU/Columbia I'm unqualified to answer.

Agh really missed the boat on SEC Fall then huh? I'll look into FDIC, OCC, and the Fed. Thanks!

Not at chicago. I hear v10 is an extreme reach for me from OCS and past results.