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I go to a T14. We have a lottery/blind OCI. I'm in a big city this summer. There are receptions and other things. I've been to a few and emailed people on the side as well. I've had some informal meet-ups and whatnot, but nothing major.

But nothing really materialized from my actions other than being able to mention the people I met in future interviews.

Yet I constantly hear about people getting interviews before OCI (even for firms coming to OCI).

So are people just really smooth?
Are they getting coffee with a metric ton of people?
Are they mass mailing firms before OCI even though the firm is coming to OCI? Should I mass mail firms even though they're coming to OCI?

How does it all work? I am just a random dude who wants to make the most of my time in the city but not offend firms for the future.

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to email people directly asking for a job or something? Is my GPA too low?

Can anyone tell me what they did to get a pre-OCI offer?

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks so much!

It’s because they have a top 10% GPA. Nothing to worry about.

cookiejar1 wrote:It’s because they have a top 10% GPA. Nothing to worry about.

This is a tragically wrong. I went to a t13. Wanted the most competitive city- DC, but was at median. Career services told me it was a waste even bidding there as even top 25% kids strike out all the time in DC. I hustled my face off, networked and mailed super hard. So did a few of my median friends. Guess what? We all got DC offers before OCI. We then proceeded to strike out in totality from OCI. If we waited, didn't network and mail and generally hustle our faces off, even though we went to a t13, we would have struck out.

So no, it is not just for top 10% kids.

To answer OP: it sounds like you are on the right path, you just are going at 20 mph instead of 100 mph. Make no mistake, Pre-oci is a thing and here to stay. Multiple firms I networked with and did OCI with dont even do OCI anymore because they fill their classes exclusively with pre-oci kids now. Multiple mentorees of mine already have callbacks in NY and DC from my t13, with absolutely 0 of them in the top 25% of the class.

You need to be networking harder and mailing other markets. Offers are going out already.

Does Pre-OCI happen in LA/SF/SV/Chi as well or is this still mostly a NY/DC thing?

Got most of my pre-OCI offers from SF/Silicon Valley and LA and only one from NY. Pre-OCI is doable in most markets.

sparkytrainer wrote:

cookiejar1 wrote:It’s because they have a top 10% GPA. Nothing to worry about.

This is a tragically wrong. I went to a t13. Wanted the most competitive city- DC, but was at median. Career services told me it was a waste even bidding there as even top 25% kids strike out all the time in DC. I hustled my face off, networked and mailed super hard. So did a few of my median friends. Guess what? We all got DC offers before OCI. We then proceeded to strike out in totality from OCI. If we waited, didn't network and mail and generally hustle our faces off, even though we went to a t13, we would have struck out.

So no, it is not just for top 10% kids.

To answer OP: it sounds like you are on the right path, you just are going at 20 mph instead of 100 mph. Make no mistake, Pre-oci is a thing and here to stay. Multiple firms I networked with and did OCI with dont even do OCI anymore because they fill their classes exclusively with pre-oci kids now. Multiple mentorees of mine already have callbacks in NY and DC from my t13, with absolutely 0 of them in the top 25% of the class.

You need to be networking harder and mailing other markets. Offers are going out already.

Top 1/3 CCN here. I'm networking hard in a secondary market, but have barely done any in NYC and have already sent out semi-targeted mailed apps to a lot of the V100 in NYC. Should I be networking in NYC as well? Or is it too late already?

This is totally anecdotal. Out of nowhere, I (and a few others at my LS) received unexpected invites to a V10 interview with paid travel and accommodations. This occurred before our grades had been officially released. Initially, I thought [wrongly] that the firm had a pipeline into the school and that my grades must have been sensational (turned out that they were just okay). I was strongly advised to declare that my lifelong dream was to work in NYC. I followed that guidance and the advice to write my resume on school letterhead. It worked. If you are invited, as a 1L to a V interview, be absolutely prepared. The incredible benefit is that you will not have to deal with the anxiety of OCI, mass mailing, etc. The ones who weren’t offered ended up interning with judges and later found themselves in a multitude of OCI lines.

To this day I do not know why some 1Ls were chosen and others were not.

I got several pre-OCI offers. I was top 5%, so grain of salt, but I really didn't do it through networking-- just emailing my transcript and resume to firms' recruiting departments and letting them know they were at the top of my list and I'd like to interview, meet people etc. A few firms just didn't respond or said they didn't do pre-OCI recruiting, but I got a couple interviews out of it. And even the ones who said no, it didn't seem to negatively affect my performance with them at OCI.

I'm a JDMBA at a T14/M7. I got coffee with an associate at a V25 early in the spring semester hoping to just get a feel for the firm and then got a callback invitation after submitting my first semester grades (probably top 1/3rd ish) but before spring exams had even started.

Toni V wrote:This is totally anecdotal. Out of nowhere, I (and a few others at my LS) received unexpected invites to a V10 interview with paid travel and accommodations. This occurred before our grades had been officially released. Initially, I thought [wrongly] that the firm had a pipeline into the school and that my grades must have been sensational (turned out that they were just okay). I was strongly advised to declare that my lifelong dream was to work in NYC. I followed that guidance and the advice to write my resume on school letterhead. It worked. If you are invited, as a 1L to a V interview, be absolutely prepared. The incredible benefit is that you will not have to deal with the anxiety of OCI, mass mailing, etc. The ones who weren’t offered ended up interning with judges and later found themselves in a multitude of OCI lines.

To this day I do not know why some 1Ls were chosen and others were not.

I thought most 1L positions with firms were diversity based? You don’t need to answer but it’s interesting if there is more 1L SA hiring by firms than I thought, that’s all.

I’m pretty sure this thread is talking about SA for
2L/rising 3L summer. Having any law experience as a 1L is going to help with pre OCI and OCI for connections and experience to talk about in interviews.

OP needs to amp up what they are doing and try to utilize all the opportunities available this summer, as others have said.

quote="Npret"

I thought most 1L positions with firms were diversity based?
Possibly, but news to me.

You don’t need to answer but it’s interesting if there is more 1L SA hiring by firms than I thought, that’s all.
IMO: 1L SA hiring is uncommon.

Having any law experience as a 1L is going to help with pre OCI and OCI for connections and experience to talk about in interviews.
I came in thinking that if it was a bust, at least the interviewing experience was good to have.