Below median URM at T14 OCI chances Forum

[Anonymous User]

Duke/UVA. AA. Bottom 1/3ish. 3+ years WE. Secondary journal board. 1L SA (ATL). I like my current firm but would like to explore other options.

Casting a wide net over the south plus DC/TX. Am I okay using all of my bids on these markets or should I also add some NY firms to the mix?

[Lacepiece23]

Duke/UVA. AA. Bottom 1/3ish. 3+ years WE. Secondary journal board. 1L SA (ATL). I like my current firm but would like to explore other options.

Casting a wide net over the south plus DC/TX. Am I okay using all of my bids on these markets or should I also add some NY firms to the mix?

Do you have an offer at your current firm? If no, then you should bid NYC. The goal should be a job after law school, and I'm not sure URM + T14 (with bottom 1/3 grades) gets you there. You'd be surprised how small the minority bump really is at firms for the 2L summer. This is all coming from an AA male.

[cavalier1138]

If no, then you should bid NYC.

I second this. You definitely shouldn't be wasting bids on DC (or TX unless you have ties). NYC is going to have a lot more positions open and give you access to firms that are less grade-selective.

[Anonymous User]

Duke/UVA. AA. Bottom 1/3ish. 3+ years WE. Secondary journal board. 1L SA (ATL). I like my current firm but would like to explore other options.

Casting a wide net over the south plus DC/TX. Am I okay using all of my bids on these markets or should I also add some NY firms to the mix?

Do you have an offer at your current firm? If no, then you should bid NYC. The goal should be a job after law school, and I'm not sure URM + T14 (with bottom 1/3 grades) gets you there. You'd be surprised how small the minority bump really is at firms for the 2L summer. This is all coming from an AA male.

Does having an offer from my current firm change anything? I've gotten every indication that barring anything catastrophic, they would love to have me back. I'd also rather not go to NY, and would take a job in a secondary market over NY. But at the end of the day, I'll do what I have to maximize my chances.

[Lacepiece23]

Duke/UVA. AA. Bottom 1/3ish. 3+ years WE. Secondary journal board. 1L SA (ATL). I like my current firm but would like to explore other options.

Casting a wide net over the south plus DC/TX. Am I okay using all of my bids on these markets or should I also add some NY firms to the mix?

Do you have an offer at your current firm? If no, then you should bid NYC. The goal should be a job after law school, and I'm not sure URM + T14 (with bottom 1/3 grades) gets you there. You'd be surprised how small the minority bump really is at firms for the 2L summer. This is all coming from an AA male.

Does having an offer from my current firm change anything? I've gotten every indication that barring anything catastrophic, they would love to have me back. I'd also rather not go to NY, and would take a job in a secondary market over NY. But at the end of the day, I'll do what I have to maximize my chances.

I think it does. Firms say all the time that they want the minority summer they hired as a 1L back and then, for whatever reason, do not make an offer to that summer. I've seen it happen over and over again. I'm not saying it will happen to you, but it could. Until you have a firm offer, I'd bid like you have no job. And that means NYC and markets where you have ties. I've seen a lot of minority law students screwed over by the 1L SA programs. You're lulled into a false sense of security, fail to mass mail/hustle, then end up jobless because of poor bidding strategy based on thinking you were biglaw secure.

[beeoBoop]

Accept a 2L SA at the ATL firm and do a split summer with a NYC firm. Two bites at the apple. You already have an in with the firm you're with and you may be able to transfer offices if you want.

[anxious2L]

Duke/UVA. AA. Bottom 1/3ish. 3+ years WE. Secondary journal board. 1L SA (ATL). I like my current firm but would like to explore other options.

Casting a wide net over the south plus DC/TX. Am I okay using all of my bids on these markets or should I also add some NY firms to the mix?

Do you have an offer at your current firm? If no, then you should bid NYC. The goal should be a job after law school, and I'm not sure URM + T14 (with bottom 1/3 grades) gets you there. You'd be surprised how small the minority bump really is at firms for the 2L summer. This is all coming from an AA male.

Not to hijack OP's thread, but how "small" is the AA bump during 2L OCIs? Asking as an AA who is bottom 1/4 at a T14, with W/E, Secondary Journal Experience and 1L SAs at two international firms.

[Anonymous User]

Duke/UVA. AA. Bottom 1/3ish. 3+ years WE. Secondary journal board. 1L SA (ATL). I like my current firm but would like to explore other options.

Casting a wide net over the south plus DC/TX. Am I okay using all of my bids on these markets or should I also add some NY firms to the mix?

Do you have an offer at your current firm? If no, then you should bid NYC. The goal should be a job after law school, and I'm not sure URM + T14 (with bottom 1/3 grades) gets you there. You'd be surprised how small the minority bump really is at firms for the 2L summer. This is all coming from an AA male.

Not to hijack OP's thread, but how "small" is the AA bump during 2L OCIs? Asking as an AA who is bottom 1/4 at a T14, with W/E, Secondary Journal Experience and 1L SAs at two international firms.

Tough to say. From my classmates, the AAs that had great social skills, were decently attractive, and seen as the cooler kids in class had no problem regardless of grades. Unfortunately, the more unsocial, nerdier AAs really underperformed.

This is really just generalizations and not terribly helpful. Some people got huge AA bumps because they were the total package other than grades and the firms were willing to dip lower to grab him/her. Some people got no AA bump or, from my experience, didn’t get jobs that they should have gotten because they didn’t fit the cool AA stereotype. It’s more nuanced than a flat bump.