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FWIW, I got my clerkship with a similar GPA from a T30. That said, I received zero interest from judges in major cities. You may want to temper expectations.

Depends what rank a 3.5 is.

Not OP but in the same boat. 2L, 3.67 GPA at MVP, secondary journal, born and raised in southern California, wondering what my chances are for D.Cts. in CA (would prefer CDCA but know that it's the most competitive in CA). Thanks in advance.

I had similar stats and landed D.Ct. Some tips:

(1) Apply as broadly as you're comfortable.
(2) Flex your faculty connections. Are your recommenders tight with any judges? If not, will they make calls for you?
(3) Make sure to include anything unique about you in your resume. Judges are idiosyncratic and like different things in their clerks - backgrounds, languages, etc.
(4) If possible, consider getting an editing-heavy ed board spot on your journal (articles, notes, or EIC). Also, publish articles/notes/blogs/whatever you can.

Anonymous User wrote:Not OP but in the same boat. 2L, 3.67 GPA at MVP, secondary journal, born and raised in southern California, wondering what my chances are for D.Cts. in CA (would prefer CDCA but know that it's the most competitive in CA). Thanks in advance.

What rank is 3.67? If you're top 15-20%, you have an outside shot at CDCA.

3.67 at MVP with strong Southern California ties (and ideally a SA position in LA) makes you competitive (but not a lock) for a C.D. Cal. clerkship. A lot of those judges want to hire clerks with 1-2 years of experience, for what that's worth.