Mixed/low grades at UChicago and OCI Chances Forum

[Anonymous User]

How do people get offers pre OCI?

[Anonymous User]

OP here. am I better off holding off on OCI until next year to get my grades up?

No, you should take whatever biglaw job you can get and if your grades improve, shop around after your summer.

Has the grading system changed such that spring is no longer worth 55% if your 1L grades? There’s still time to pull yourself up to the 177 range which will be smooth(er) sailing.

[Anonymous User]

Advice for OP: try networking with people at your target markets. Even if you don't find UChicago Law or whatever undergrad you went to, you'd be surprised at the number of people who'd be happy to talk to a law student about their experiences. Especially! If you're a URM from UChicago Law. You'll be fine. Network over the summer and bid California and Florida. Ties help, but they're not dispositive

OP should definitely not be bidding on Florida offices as a backup. Florida is insanely competitive—countless T14 grads try to land spots every year and fail. There are very few SAs there. A quick search of this forum for Florida biglaw would quickly alert you that it’s not a backup.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. am I better off holding off on OCI until next year to get my grades up?

No, you should take whatever biglaw job you can get and if your grades improve, shop around after your summer.

Has the grading system changed such that spring is no longer worth 55% if your 1L grades? There’s still time to pull yourself up to the 177 range which will be smooth(er) sailing.

It has, they made huge (good, imo) changes to the 1L schedule and grading system a couple of years ago.

[Anonymous User]

Advice for OP: try networking with people at your target markets. Even if you don't find UChicago Law or whatever undergrad you went to, you'd be surprised at the number of people who'd be happy to talk to a law student about their experiences. Especially! If you're a URM from UChicago Law. You'll be fine. Network over the summer and bid California and Florida. Ties help, but they're not dispositive

OP should definitely not be bidding on Florida offices as a backup. Florida is insanely competitive—countless T14 grads try to land spots every year and fail. There are very few SAs there. A quick search of this forum for Florida biglaw would quickly alert you that it’s not a backup.

The post you’re quoting doesn’t say to bid FL as a backup? I’m confused

OP should bid CA, FL, and NYC seems to be the consensus, which seems right to me

[Anonymous User]

OP here. am I better off holding off on OCI until next year to get my grades up?

No, that’s not a thing. OCI as a 3L works for people who did a SA their 2L summer and have an offer to return and want to change firms. It’s not a second chance to get into biglaw for the first time. (Unless you’re doing a joint degree or something that extends your degree another year, of course.)

This, not a thing, and 3L OCI is really hard anyway

[Anonymous User]

Advice for OP: try networking with people at your target markets. Even if you don't find UChicago Law or whatever undergrad you went to, you'd be surprised at the number of people who'd be happy to talk to a law student about their experiences. Especially! If you're a URM from UChicago Law. You'll be fine. Network over the summer and bid California and Florida. Ties help, but they're not dispositive

OP should definitely not be bidding on Florida offices as a backup. Florida is insanely competitive—countless T14 grads try to land spots every year and fail. There are very few SAs there. A quick search of this forum for Florida biglaw would quickly alert you that it’s not a backup.

The post you’re quoting doesn’t say to bid FL as a backup? I’m confused

OP should bid CA, FL, and NYC seems to be the consensus, which seems right to me

"Advice for OP" person here: yeah I never said bid FL as a backup. The people on this thread are really underestimating how badly markets want URMs (especially ones who go to top law schools). If OP would be happy with any market paying California firm, OP should be able to land one. Gibson Dunn will likely be out of the question, but there are a lot of California firms and relatively very few URMS who target CA. OP will be fine for OCI if they bid mostly California (which seems to be preferred over NYC), some Florida, and some NYC. Make sure to network and practice interviewing OP!

[Anonymous User]

OP here. am I better off holding off on OCI until next year to get my grades up?

No, you should take whatever biglaw job you can get and if your grades improve, shop around after your summer.

Has the grading system changed such that spring is no longer worth 55% if your 1L grades? There’s still time to pull yourself up to the 177 range which will be smooth(er) sailing.

It has, they made huge (good, imo) changes to the 1L schedule and grading system a couple of years ago.

Yep, now it's about a third of your grades, though Spring Quarter has the structure of feeling almost entirely like electives now (minus arguably the Con Law elective imo) and the brief. Depending on how one performs in these types of classes relative to doctrinals, there is still room for movement.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a 3L at UChi.

OP, you are fine.

Its harder to go to Cali; could spend a minority of your OCI bids on CA, join the california student group, and try to network if you want to go there.

Otherwise, would bid heavily for corporate gigs at Chicago or NYC area firms with GPA medians of 177 or lower. That is almost always the easiest path to a job.

You're not that bad at 175.5, there are minority hiring preferences, and Id really expect you to be OK as long as you do not bid for something uncertain even for honors kids (DC litigation).

You also can raise your GPA meaningfully this term (although holding at 175.5 is, again, probably going to be OK). That may mean doing nothing but study for the next three weeks. Make your own outline and do the tests in the library.

Do not rely on OCS for advice. They can review your resume and do a mock interview, but past that, its better to consult upperclassmen or recent alumni.

In recent years, 90% of people get a "good" (BL/FC) job. The remaining 10% weren't necessarily people with bad grades; they may have self-selected PI/govt/academia, bid disastrously, or been brilliant but impossibly awkward.

So while your grades certainly do not help, in expectation, you will still get a job. You just need to be tactical/realistic with the firms you target. And of course, do your best from here out.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a 3L at UChi.

OP, you are fine.

Its harder to go to Cali; could spend a minority of your OCI bids on CA, join the california student group, and try to network if you want to go there.

Otherwise, would bid heavily for corporate gigs at Chicago or NYC area firms with GPA medians of 177 or lower. That is almost always the easiest path to a job.

You're not that bad at 175.5, there are minority hiring preferences, and Id really expect you to be OK as long as you do not bid for something uncertain even for honors kids (DC litigation).

You also can raise your GPA meaningfully this term (although holding at 175.5 is, again, probably going to be OK). That may mean doing nothing but study for the next three weeks. Make your own outline and do the tests in the library.

Do not rely on OCS for advice. They can review your resume and do a mock interview, but past that, its better to consult upperclassmen or recent alumni.

In recent years, 90% of people get a "good" (BL/FC) job. The remaining 10% weren't necessarily people with bad grades; they may have self-selected PI/govt/academia, bid disastrously, or been brilliant but impossibly awkward.

So while your grades certainly do not help, in expectation, you will still get a job. You just need to be tactical/realistic with the firms you target. And of course, do your best from here out.

I am aware of 0 people in ‘21 who didn’t get a good job of some sort, and only 2 people in ‘20. People who don’t do BL overwhelmingly self-selected out.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

I'm a 3L at UChi.

OP, you are fine.

Its harder to go to Cali; could spend a minority of your OCI bids on CA, join the california student group, and try to network if you want to go there.

Otherwise, would bid heavily for corporate gigs at Chicago or NYC area firms with GPA medians of 177 or lower. That is almost always the easiest path to a job.

You're not that bad at 175.5, there are minority hiring preferences, and Id really expect you to be OK as long as you do not bid for something uncertain even for honors kids (DC litigation).

You also can raise your GPA meaningfully this term (although holding at 175.5 is, again, probably going to be OK). That may mean doing nothing but study for the next three weeks. Make your own outline and do the tests in the library.

Do not rely on OCS for advice. They can review your resume and do a mock interview, but past that, its better to consult upperclassmen or recent alumni.

In recent years, 90% of people get a "good" (BL/FC) job. The remaining 10% weren't necessarily people with bad grades; they may have self-selected PI/govt/academia, bid disastrously, or been brilliant but impossibly awkward.

So while your grades certainly do not help, in expectation, you will still get a job. You just need to be tactical/realistic with the firms you target. And of course, do your best from here out.

I am aware of 0 people in ‘21 who didn’t get a good job of some sort, and only 2 people in ‘20. People who don’t do BL overwhelmingly self-selected out.

It’s not like people advertise their own failure. People strike out at OCI every year, although most of those people will eventually get something

[Anonymous User]

I'm a 3L at UChi.

OP, you are fine.

Its harder to go to Cali; could spend a minority of your OCI bids on CA, join the california student group, and try to network if you want to go there.

Otherwise, would bid heavily for corporate gigs at Chicago or NYC area firms with GPA medians of 177 or lower. That is almost always the easiest path to a job.

You're not that bad at 175.5, there are minority hiring preferences, and Id really expect you to be OK as long as you do not bid for something uncertain even for honors kids (DC litigation).

You also can raise your GPA meaningfully this term (although holding at 175.5 is, again, probably going to be OK). That may mean doing nothing but study for the next three weeks. Make your own outline and do the tests in the library.

Do not rely on OCS for advice. They can review your resume and do a mock interview, but past that, its better to consult upperclassmen or recent alumni.

In recent years, 90% of people get a "good" (BL/FC) job. The remaining 10% weren't necessarily people with bad grades; they may have self-selected PI/govt/academia, bid disastrously, or been brilliant but impossibly awkward.

So while your grades certainly do not help, in expectation, you will still get a job. You just need to be tactical/realistic with the firms you target. And of course, do your best from here out.

I am aware of 0 people in ‘21 who didn’t get a good job of some sort, and only 2 people in ‘20. People who don’t do BL overwhelmingly self-selected out.

It’s not like people advertise their own failure. People strike out at OCI every year, although most of those people will eventually get something

To be clear, that’s after 3L—I know of some strikeouts but they landed something