S&C vs. CSM Forum

[Anonymous User]

Narrowed it down to these two. Not really sure between corporate or litigation, much less within them. I'm also a prestige and exit options focused loser.

Structure: I feel like this is the main difference. CSM has the rotations. I have a hard time buying that the rotations give you that much more substantive experience. But everybody (at CSM) claims they do. Experience sounds nice. I'm also worried about getting stuck with a bad partner. It seems like there would be less pressure to seek out work when compared to S&C, even with a bad partner. On the other hand, S&C's generalist approach sounds pretty mushy, but that sounds like it would be better given my lack of direction.

People: I like everybody at S&C more. Still, I think this is a wash, given that everybody's selected for you anyways. And S&C has the reputation it does for a reason, I assume.

Location: I like downtown more.

International: I have some language skills I think I might like to use. S&C does work in the relevant countries, while CSM does not. Not all that set on doing international work though.

Stability: ???. I assume they're both doing OK.

So, really, is there any difference in (1) the amount of substantive experience (2) prestige/exit options at CSM? Anything I'm missing?

[thesealocust]

Go with the firm you liked the people the best at.

[Anonymous User]

S&C sounds more fitting here. At CSM, you would have chosen corporate or litigation from the moment of your callback. I believe all of your interviewers would be either corp or lit. You can only do corp or lit during your SA at CSM. For corporate, some people will say S&C is more prestigious, others will say Cravath is more prestigious. For corporate, I heard S&C is stronger. These two firms are as close you can get in terms of prestige in NYC and the US. Internationally, S&C has a stronger reputation. Exit opportunities depend on the type of work you do and the relationships you build as an associate. If you're really after the best exit opportunities, S&C would be better because you can focus on M&A during your first few years. At CSM, you cannot control your rotation, and therefore you might have to rotate through banking & finance and end up with a very narrow set of exit opportunities after two or three years.

[7 hours of freshness]

S&C sounds more fitting here. At CSM, you would have chosen corporate or litigation from the moment of your callback. I believe all of your interviewers would be either corp or lit. You can only do corp or lit during your SA at CSM.

Not true. At CSM you can easily split your summer between the two (or between one of the two and exec comp or tax) if you're undecided.

[runinthefront]

the exit options will be the same and everything else suggests that S&C is more your thing so you should probably just go there

[jbagelboy]

Go where you like the people : this seems like S&C.

Also, as others have alluded to, everyone I know who summered at CSM knew going in they wanted corporate or litigation (or a smaller group), and they were pretty die hard about it. Yes, you can split your summer, but no, it's not the most flexible environment. I think S&C gets an edge here as well.

[Anonymous User]

The fact that CSM does not have offices in other countries does not mean the do not work with global companies. Your language skills will get used if you want it to (but more often than not as a favor to another associate, who asked in a firm-wide email looking for someone who speaks Farsi and needs to review this little 20 page document by tomorrow). And you can easily split your summer, lots of people do without a problem.

[Anonymous User]

The fact that CSM does not have offices in other countries does not mean the do not work with global companies. Your language skills will get used if you want it to (but more often than not as a favor to another associate, who asked in a firm-wide email looking for someone who speaks Farsi and needs to review this little 20 page document by tomorrow). And you can easily split your summer, lots of people do without a problem.

[7 hours of freshness]

Go where you like the people : this seems like S&C.

Also, as others have alluded to, everyone I know who summered at CSM knew going in they wanted corporate or litigation (or a smaller group), and they were pretty die hard about it. Yes, you can split your summer, but no, it's not the most flexible environment. I think S&C gets an edge here as well.

What percentage of the >100 person class was that?

[Anonymous User]

Lol you can easily split at CSM no problem.

Also, I chose between both CSM and S&C. The 4 people who took me to both lunches no longer work at both firms.

Something to think about. Turnover is high. Choose firm you think you'll excel at.

[jbagelboy]

Go where you like the people : this seems like S&C.

Also, as others have alluded to, everyone I know who summered at CSM knew going in they wanted corporate or litigation (or a smaller group), and they were pretty die hard about it. Yes, you can split your summer, but no, it's not the most flexible environment. I think S&C gets an edge here as well.

What percentage of the >100 person class was that?

Idk, not that many I guess. Maybe 15 across three schools? I only interviewed and considered lit and most of my friends were only interviewing and considering corp or t&e.

Once you're an associate you'll have to choose one or the other at each firm regardless, so I guess this is kind of a silly point.

[Anonymous User]

Any other thoughts on this? NALP deadline coming up. Should I just flip a coin?

[wons]

If you PM me I'm happy to answer questions about s&c