OCI - How many screener interviews is ideal? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm at Columbia and we just received our OCI interview schedule. We were given 40 bid spots and out of those I received 18 interviews.

I knew I wouldn't get bids 32-40 since they were lower FFB that I placed there to potentially pick up an interview later. Between 1-31, I lost a lot of interviews from firms jumping >4 FFB slots, losing some that I ranked 6 spots above their FFB.

I'm below median grades, so I was hoping to do as many interviews as possible and I'm a little disappointed with only receiving 18. Does anyone know how many additional interviews I could potentially pick up through add/drop or hospitality suite drop-ins?

[smokeylarue]

18 is fine and pretty normal. You can pick up a handful from add/drop, so you'll have at least 20ish I'm guessing, which is fine.

[Yea All Right]

Didn't go to Columbia but I agree that 18 via the lottery is fine if you're a good interviewer - make sure to practice. Also agree that you can likely get a few more via hospitality suites, reaching out to specific firms that you bid on but didn't get an interview with, and mass mailing.

[Anonymous User]

At my lower T14, the mean number of interviews was in the 12-14 range. You'd be a solid standard deviation above the mean. You're in a good spot.

[QContinuum]

Didn't go to Columbia but I agree that 18 via the lottery is fine if you're a good interviewer - make sure to practice. Also agree that you can likely get a few more via hospitality suites, reaching out to specific firms that you bid on but didn't get an interview with, and mass mailing.

Seconding this. 18 OCI interviews is well in the mainstream. If there are any firms you're particularly interested in where you didn't get an OCI spot, mass-mail them now and (if you haven't heard back by OCI) swing by their hospitality suite. If they're interested, firms are pretty good about working around the lottery system - either by adding you to their OCI schedule, giving you a phone screener, or passing you straight through to a callback. But again, 18 - assuming these firms are reasonable for you in light of your grades - is a good number and generally it shouldn't be necessary to add more firms for the sake of adding more firms.

[Anonymous User]

At my lower T14, the mean number of interviews was in the 12-14 range. You'd be a solid standard deviation above the mean. You're in a good spot.

Got 13. My lower T14 said 25/75% is 12-18 so I'm on the lower end. I think median is 16.

[dvlthndr]

18 is totally normal. I knew a Kent Scholar years ago that really messed it up and had <10.

The vast majority of CLS students, even below the median, land market-rate big-law gigs.

Placing students in high-paying New York firms is something (perhaps the only thing) that CLS does exceptionally well. You will be fine.