OCI Outcome Looking Bad, Drop Out?
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 5:24 pm
I'm starting my 2L year at a lower t-14 school. My GPA is right at the median for my school, and I am on a good journal at my school that is known as a hard journal to get on, but it is not law review. I have a pretty good scholarship at my school but will still graduate with 6 figures of debt if I continue.
At OCI, I had 20 screening interviews, which is about the maximum we could get. I did about 10 interviews with large firms in NYC and then the rest where with more mid-size firms in secondary markets where I have ties. In terms of callbacks, I have had 6 so far. I did get 1 callback with a large NYC firm, but my other 5 callbacks where with the mid-size firms in secondary markets. The NYC firm didn't give me an offer, and 1 of the mid-size firms hasn't given me an offer either. I'm still waiting on results from the other 4, but I am nervous because these mid-size firms have small class sizes and so the chances of getting an offer are low.
People have told me I interview very well and so that isn't my issue. I think that what hurt me in NYC in particular and with the NYC firms I interviewed with is that I am an older, non-traditional student. I had a career before law school and I did very well in it with lots of awards, etc.. By contrast, in law school, I have just done average. I think that the NYC firms looked at my resume and concluded I am past my prime professionally since the results I have achieved in law school don't match my prior career where I was above average. In turn, this is why I think that I was stronger in more secondary markets with more mid-size firms that may not have been as concerned with that.
Anyway, I feel like the outcome of OCI is looking bad for me and there is a real chance I won't get any summer associate position. We have at my school until about the third week of September to withdraw and get around 50% of our tuition back. I am thinking at this point of staying around that long to see if I get an offer but if not I am seriously thinking of withdrawing. However, if I withdraw, I don't really know what I would do. I can't go back into my prior career at all. Plus, I like law school and would like to work at a firm. But I am worried that if I have not done well here at OCI the path to getting a job at a firm, even a more mid-size firm in a secondary market, is not certain at all, and I don't want to graduate without any job prospects and with massive debt.
Any advice would be appreciated.
At OCI, I had 20 screening interviews, which is about the maximum we could get. I did about 10 interviews with large firms in NYC and then the rest where with more mid-size firms in secondary markets where I have ties. In terms of callbacks, I have had 6 so far. I did get 1 callback with a large NYC firm, but my other 5 callbacks where with the mid-size firms in secondary markets. The NYC firm didn't give me an offer, and 1 of the mid-size firms hasn't given me an offer either. I'm still waiting on results from the other 4, but I am nervous because these mid-size firms have small class sizes and so the chances of getting an offer are low.
People have told me I interview very well and so that isn't my issue. I think that what hurt me in NYC in particular and with the NYC firms I interviewed with is that I am an older, non-traditional student. I had a career before law school and I did very well in it with lots of awards, etc.. By contrast, in law school, I have just done average. I think that the NYC firms looked at my resume and concluded I am past my prime professionally since the results I have achieved in law school don't match my prior career where I was above average. In turn, this is why I think that I was stronger in more secondary markets with more mid-size firms that may not have been as concerned with that.
Anyway, I feel like the outcome of OCI is looking bad for me and there is a real chance I won't get any summer associate position. We have at my school until about the third week of September to withdraw and get around 50% of our tuition back. I am thinking at this point of staying around that long to see if I get an offer but if not I am seriously thinking of withdrawing. However, if I withdraw, I don't really know what I would do. I can't go back into my prior career at all. Plus, I like law school and would like to work at a firm. But I am worried that if I have not done well here at OCI the path to getting a job at a firm, even a more mid-size firm in a secondary market, is not certain at all, and I don't want to graduate without any job prospects and with massive debt.
Any advice would be appreciated.