What GPA Considered "Untouchable" For Firm Job? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm just curious as to what is considered too-low a GPA to have no realistic shot at a big firm job in NYC. I'm worried that, with my 3.15 (median at my lower T-14 is 3.3), I won't have a realistic option down the road (i.e. big firm job to pay off my loans), and should consider dropping out. I'm a 1L, so I still have one more semester to go. However, if I end up with a similar result, I wonder how much of a long-shot I'll be at OCI. Not URM, no engineering background. Thoughts?

[Nebby]

Eh untouchable is probably more like sub-3.0

Your interview skills will help you land a SA. Practice interviewing

[Glasseyes]

The GPA "floor" for any given firm depends on your school more than anything. If you're at Cornell, you probably have much less to worry about regarding NY firms than you do at GULC. By the tone of this post I'm guessing you're at GULC. Most importantly, do everything you can to course correct now. Talk to profs about your exams and ways to improve; figure out if it was a semester long study problem, misuse of time during the exam period (I.e., failure to effectively use practice exams), or if it was a test day foible. Ultimately, GPA definitely matters the most when getting interviews, but it also may matter more than we can ever know when the firm is deciding which of its callback candidates to hire, as the final distinguishing factor (or as the ultimate, quantifiable tiebreaker). The more mitigating factors you have the better off you'll be. Meaning you'll need to excel in interviewers, hustle at firm receptions and reach out to firm alumni now and all through 1L summer. If you have significant work experience, that can be a major plus offsetting gpa as well, or if you have connections or ridiculous softs. Without any of those peripheral things, it becomes a contest of grades and interview performance.

Shorter answer to your question: assuming you're at GULC, based on past years it seems like almost all firms cut off around median, with a handful of exceptions. Hollingsworth has dipped down to 3.0, but who knows how impeccably qualified that candidate was. They're a below-market lit boutique/midsize, and they look for different things than true biglaw anyway. A couple of other firms like Venable, Foley, and Holland and Knight will take a few below or around median, but they also hire almost exclusively based on fit, which is harder to game than it sounds. Those firms also get more bids than any others, for obvious reasons.

As for what you should actually do: if you actually want to be a lawyer, stick it out and pull those grades up. You should still reconcile yourself to the outcome that biglaw may not happen, and ask if you're OK landing a smaller firm job or some kind of less competitive government job. If you're not OK with that path, or if you don't really want to be a lawyer, then this is where you drop out and save yourself a semester's tuition (assuming it's not too late for a tuition refund). Best of luck out there.

[Serett]

And if you're not at GULC, I'm guessing Duke. Stick with it. 70% got Biglaw or a federal clerkship per the most recent LST data, and based on the 2L summer employment list for the current 3Ls, I'm pretty sure it was even better for their year (no data on the current 2L class yet). Some degree of the rest are self-selection to other preferred options, and the vast majority of the class ends up with at least something decent. You're only halfway to grades actually mattering, and even then, it's worth it to at least tough out OCI before dropping out if it goes poorly and you're still so inclined.

[BmoreOrLess]

If you're at GULC, plenty of time to get your grades up. You have 18 or 19 credits of grades coming this semester. B+'s with one A- puts you right back around a 3.3.

[gaddockteeg]

There isn't one. Like someone mentioned, good interviewing will go a long way.

One of my close friends was bottom 10% at GULC. Landed v100 midway through 3L.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Where would 3.15 put me at a ~3.3 median? Bottom 20%? 10%? I have no idea. And yes, I'm at one of those aforementioned schools

[ballouttacontrol]

I was fine only a hair over 3.0 at a not hys t14. Had buddies with Cs that struggled but still managed to land something.

[TFALAWL]

For OCI, you will have to sell yourself w/ anything less than a 3.2. That said, I had plenty of interviews that I got purely from networking (including the firm I work at). In short, you will be in for a harder ride, but I wouldn't say you're "untouchable."

[Lexaholik]

I'm just curious as to what is considered too-low a GPA to have no realistic shot at a big firm job in NYC. I'm worried that, with my 3.15 (median at my lower T-14 is 3.3), I won't have a realistic option down the road (i.e. big firm job to pay off my loans), and should consider dropping out. I'm a 1L, so I still have one more semester to go. However, if I end up with a similar result, I wonder how much of a long-shot I'll be at OCI. Not URM, no engineering background. Thoughts?

Do you want to be a lawyer? If so, you can get a biglaw job. I've seen classmates with 2.something land summer associate jobs.

However you must bring something else to the table. (This is what people mean by selling yourself.) It could be your enthusiasm for working for the firm, it could be URM status, it could be an engineering degree, etc. Most law students don't know how to pitch themselves, they think you just show up with your resume and GPA and you'll get a callback (or not). Years ago when I did OCI, I landed a summer associate position at a firm I thought I had no chance at because I was significantly below their GPA floor. It turns out that all the things I did to prepare myself and sell myself to firms worked. (I wrote about them in a blog post: http://www.lexaholik.com/how-to-succeed ... nterviews/)

So yeah I would ignore GPA floors. Just make sure you want to be a lawyer. Don't drop out just yet--you have a 3.15 and you've only completed half of 1L year.