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So I don't feel extremely comfortable with advice from CSO so I'd love to get last minute advice on my bidding strategy.

-I'm slightly below median at UVA
-I'm from a secondary market in the Mid-Atlantic/Mid-West: think Baltimore, Richmond, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Indy

I have ties to a couple other regional cities in that general area

CSO told me to yes, bid NYC, but also to bid my home market and those other regional markets.

So...I would like to end up in my home market over NYC, and I'm just not sure if it's worth it to bid the other regional markets where I have small ties.

Bidding is due tonight: My current strategy is to bid NYC first ten bids or so, maybe one or two hometown firms in there, keep all my hometown firms within the top 20, keep bidding NYC through 30/35, and then slip in those other regional markets in the last 15/20 bids.

Is this reasonable?

Any help is appreciated in this late hour.

Sounds reasonable. Much more important than NYC or regional is firm popularity and number of interview slots. It's probably generally wise to bid the mix of both, but for optimal strategizing you just want to make sure you get all the interviews possible. If a big NYC firm is unpopular with tons of interview slots there's no reason to bid it highly, and if a regional firm is popular with just a few interview slots it should really make the top of your list.

In any event, be sure to hustle during OCI and get more interviews by dropping by with your resume. It's surprisingly easy to get your foot in the door that way, and all it takes is one yes, so...

Thanks a bunch! I have the data from CSO but they were placing way too much emphasis on my preferences rather than what will actually get me a job

Yeah, CSO can be pretty hit or miss.

And since your are below median, you will get an additional 20 bids so I'm sure you can easily cover all your bases.

wait, uva gives below median kids an additional 20 bids? thats awesome

Jim Jones wrote:wait, uva gives below median kids an additional 20 bids? thats awesome

Yup. OP can just go top heavy NY and still get all desired firms in there.

Thrive wrote:

Jim Jones wrote:wait, uva gives below median kids an additional 20 bids? thats awesome

Yup. OP can just go top heavy NY and still get all desired firms in there.

This makes a lot of sense. The firms with the biggest classes also tend to be the most selective.