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I'm a 1L and I'd like to work at Williams & Connolly in DC. I'm around top 25% at Duke, approx 3.65.

I have no ties to DC, and I will not be working there over the summer.

My internship with be at a state AG's office, doing litigation work (mostly research).

I'm not on moot court or mock trial, and I have minimal extra curricular activities.

What do I need to do to make myself competitive, other than attending whatever mixers my school puts on with Williams & Connolly? Do I email people that I meet at these mixers, reiterating my interest in their firm? Anything else I can do, short of tattooing their name on my chest?

Sweety....

FSK wrote:Sweety....

?

Does this mean I have no chance?

Transfer to HLS + write-on to HLR

Anonymous User wrote:Transfer to HLS + write-on to HLR

OP here. By headcount, they have hired from:

Harvard Law School
University of Virginia Law School
Duke Law School
Yale Law School
university of pennsylvania law school
Columbia Law School
University of Michigan Law School
Stanford Law School

Is there that big of a difference? Esp considering that Harvard is a much bigger school than Duke

Probably not for a Duke top 1-5% guy. But top 25% is probably a no-go for W&C.

Part of the HYS appeal is that their grading policies make it harder to quantify the difference within the top of the class.

You don't really have a chance because of your GPA. Whatever else you do likely isn't going to matter. At my HYS top 25% seems to be a pretty hard cutoff for them (at least as best as I can estimate percentiles). That was just the absolute bottom cutoff (probably for URMs). Average is probably about ~10%. Also, everybody I know who's going to W&C had clerkships lined up when they applied. Best thing you can do is raise your grades second semester, write on to LR, etc. and generally be an overachiever.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Transfer to HLS + write-on to HLR

OP here. By headcount, they have hired from:

Harvard Law School
University of Virginia Law School
Duke Law School
Yale Law School
University of Pennsylvania Law School
Columbia Law School
University of Michigan Law School
Stanford Law School

Is there that big of a difference? Esp considering that Harvard is a much bigger school than Duke

Look at the credentials of the people they hired from Duke . . . Multiple clerkships, law review, published, top of class, etc. etc.

Anonymous User wrote: Look at the credentials of the people they hired from Duke . . . Multiple clerkships, law review, published, top of class, etc. etc.

So you should be published and have multiple clerkships lined up even before the 2L year really starts? How?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: Look at the credentials of the people they hired from Duke . . . Multiple clerkships, law review, published, top of class, etc. etc.

So you should be published and have multiple clerkships lined up even before the 2L year really starts? How?

You probably won't be published, but you can definitely line up clerkships during the summer.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: Look at the credentials of the people they hired from Duke . . . Multiple clerkships, law review, published, top of class, etc. etc.

So you should be published and have multiple clerkships lined up even before the 2L year really starts? How?

You probably won't be published, but you can definitely line up clerkships during the summer.

After 2L grades come out? That's a pretty narrow window....do people really do that? And does it give you a leg-up?

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: Look at the credentials of the people they hired from Duke . . . Multiple clerkships, law review, published, top of class, etc. etc.

So you should be published and have multiple clerkships lined up even before the 2L year really starts? How?

My point was that they are crème de la crème.

Also, what grades (besides as high as I can) should I be aiming for? Would a 3.8 (rumored to be around top 10%) get me in the door?

That would mean I would need almost a 4.0 this semester. Which isn't looking too good.

Also, what grades (besides as high as I can) should I be aiming for? Would a 3.8 (rumored to be around top 10%) get me in the door?

That would mean I would need almost a 4.0 this semester. Which isn't looking too good.

Anonymous User wrote:Also, what grades (besides as high as I can) should I be aiming for? Would a 3.8 (rumored to be around top 10%) get me in the door?

That would mean I would need almost a 4.0 this semester. Which isn't looking too good.

Stop reading tea leaves, start doing things.

OP: What is your GPA now? Remember that you have less than half your grades right now--keep pushing and anything is possible.

Anonymous User wrote:OP: What is your GPA now? Remember that you have less than half your grades right now--keep pushing and anything is possible.

And also don't get your hopes too high up. Objectively, people with much better stats/backgrounds don't have a shot, although sometimes it's possible to win the lottery. No one will think you're a failure for going to a "solid" biglaw firm out of Duke rather than W&C.

I'm at 3.65 so it looks like W&C is a pipe dream I guess, even if I somehow managed to pull off a 4.0 this semester

Anonymous User wrote:I'm at 3.65 so it looks like W&C is a pipe dream I guess, even if I somehow managed to pull off a 4.0 this semester

If you got a 4.0 this semester you would be in the running. Don't listen to the noise. You would solidly be above 3.8.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I'm at 3.65 so it looks like W&C is a pipe dream I guess, even if I somehow managed to pull off a 4.0 this semester

If you got a 4.0 this semester you would be in the running. Don't listen to the noise. You would solidly be above 3.8.

That's a big if. But the bigger issue is that nobody, even the top of the class, should obsess about any one specific firm. OP should focus on grades now and then come up with a reasonable fall application strategy based on their grades. Worrying about W&C during February of 1L is utterly pointless.

dude, you may hate W&C... why get caught in one firm because of name and prestige...

do the best you can, sharpen your interview skills, and get a job. Anything more is gravy.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: Look at the credentials of the people they hired from Duke . . . Multiple clerkships, law review, published, top of class, etc. etc.

So you should be published and have multiple clerkships lined up even before the 2L year really starts? How?

You probably won't be published, but you can definitely line up clerkships during the summer.

After 2L grades come out? That's a pretty narrow window....do people really do that? And does it give you a leg-up?

The super fancy feeder judges tend to hire really early, so they could well hire after 1L grades are out/pre-2L OCI.

ticklemesilly wrote:

FSK wrote:Sweety....

?

Anonymous User wrote:Probably not for a Duke top 1-5% guy. But top 25% is probably a no-go for W&C.

Part of the HYS appeal is that their grading policies make it harder to quantify the difference within the top of the class.

This is wrong and false. They know exactly who is top of the class and quantify it just as they do other schools. The HYS appeal is that they want more of those students.