Fordham Rising 3L Taking Question. . . Forum

[starry eyed]

Thanks for this. Since the economy has picked up, have employment prospects improved? The classmates (group c) that were struggling to find jobs... are they doing better now? I just got a better-than-expected scholarship and I've never considered Fordham til now.

Congrats on the scholarship and sorry for the delayed response...I have been on spring break on a beach and chose to ignore all emails/texts/work.

I think the market has improved tremendously. Last year it was reported that Fordham had 118 students from the class of 2013 as first year associates at NLJ 250 firms. I don't have the data but I feel that this number has increased both for last years class and it will also increase for my class. That being said I think there is always going to be a group c, regardless of the economy. However of all my friends...every one who has been proactive with their job search has found something. Not all are big law. Some are going into compliance, some ADAs, a few at mid-size firms (but its too generally too soon for small and midsize firms to hire entry level associates). From talking with friends it appears the only students without jobs are the ones who have kinda sat back and not been super active (i.e. not mass mailing, networking, etc.)

Let me know if I can expand. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response. I'm leaning towards SMU bc I can go for practically free with the GI Bill and scholarships. But Fordham, I don't think, deserves much of the criticism it receives on here. For people like me who are on the periphery of T14, Fordham at half-price is a pretty good deal; placement numbers are basically the same as USC and UCLA. I don't have a burning desire to work in biglaw anyway, but if i miss the biglaw boat in NYC (likely), and then have to deal with the outrageous living costs on a small law salary, i'd be in a bind.

[3L_At_Law]

Thanks for this. Since the economy has picked up, have employment prospects improved? The classmates (group c) that were struggling to find jobs... are they doing better now? I just got a better-than-expected scholarship and I've never considered Fordham til now.

Congrats on the scholarship and sorry for the delayed response...I have been on spring break on a beach and chose to ignore all emails/texts/work.

I think the market has improved tremendously. Last year it was reported that Fordham had 118 students from the class of 2013 as first year associates at NLJ 250 firms. I don't have the data but I feel that this number has increased both for last years class and it will also increase for my class. That being said I think there is always going to be a group c, regardless of the economy. However of all my friends...every one who has been proactive with their job search has found something. Not all are big law. Some are going into compliance, some ADAs, a few at mid-size firms (but its too generally too soon for small and midsize firms to hire entry level associates). From talking with friends it appears the only students without jobs are the ones who have kinda sat back and not been super active (i.e. not mass mailing, networking, etc.)

Let me know if I can expand. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response. I'm leaning towards SMU bc I can go for practically free with the GI Bill and scholarships. But Fordham, I don't think, deserves much of the criticism it receives on here. For people like me who are on the periphery of T14, Fordham at half-price is a pretty good deal; placement numbers are basically the same as USC and UCLA. I don't have a burning desire to work in biglaw anyway, but if i miss the biglaw boat in NYC (likely), and then have to deal with the outrageous living costs on a small law salary, i'd be in a bind.

Congrats and best of luck at whatever school you choose to attend.

[If you have no real desire to work in NYC you probably can ignore this] Just to respond briefly to your last comment...going to Fordham and missing biglaw doesn't mean you are stuck in NYC...I summered at a midsize firm in TX. Fordham's name carries a lot of weight around the country. However, if you go to SMU and miss biglaw I think you will likely be limited to TX or maybe somewhere you have ties. Its a lot easier to go to a firm outside NY after studying in NY, than it is to go to a firm in NY after going to a school outside of NY (and outside the t14).

[tealeaves12]

I'm trying to figure out law school, generally, but since Fordham is my top contender right now, I'm also trying to figure it out specifically.

When does the OCI process happen? Were you generally satisfied with the firms/companies/opportunities, etc presented during OCI? Were there other job fairs, etc, that were helpful?

Does Fordham have any kind of online job search database that would be helpful in finding part-time work? my undergrad and masters degree institutions both had something like this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a thing in law school.

Do you know a lot of students who really wanted to be a part of a journal, but were unable to get a position? same question w/r/t clinics and competitions?

Thanks for answering questions on here; it's been really helpful so far.

[3L_At_Law]

I'm trying to figure out law school, generally, but since Fordham is my top contender right now, I'm also trying to figure it out specifically.

When does the OCI process happen? Were you generally satisfied with the firms/companies/opportunities, etc presented during OCI? Were there other job fairs, etc, that were helpful?

Does Fordham have any kind of online job search database that would be helpful in finding part-time work? my undergrad and masters degree institutions both had something like this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a thing in law school.

Do you know a lot of students who really wanted to be a part of a journal, but were unable to get a position? same question w/r/t clinics and competitions?

Thanks for answering questions on here; it's been really helpful so far.

OCI at Fordham has two parts: Early Interview Week (EIW) and OCI weeks 1-8. EIW is the two weeks before 2L fall semester. During this week pretty much all of the large law firms visit during this time. There is a bidding process for this where firms are allowed to select a certain percentage of their interviewees and the remainder of the slots are allocated based on student voting. OCI weeks 1-8 works in a similar way. This occurs during the first eight weeks of the semester, but smaller firms, DAs offices, agency's, and other employers attend (i.e. non-biglaw employers).

Overall the quality of employers that attend is great. Its just like any other top law school. The problem is that unless you have the grades its tough to get interviews and more specifically callbacks.

I attended other job fairs, but that is not something a lot of Fordham students do. These job fairs are generally for jobs in other parts of the country and Fordham generally isn't very helpful if you are looking to leave the tri-state area. I attended the Cook County Job Fair (in Chicago), the Vault Job Fair (in DC), and a job fair in Delaware (I can't remember the name). They were all helpful and I got a decent amount of interviews and a few callbacks, unfortunately I didn't land an offer this way.

Their is a job bank (Symplicity) just like every other school has. Jobs are updated all the time. Plenty of friends have found jobs through this.

I think every student that wanted to be on a journal and gave a good-faith effort during the writing competition got on a journal. Obviously not everybody can get on Law Review, but there are 5 other secondary journals. Same goes for clinics. Competition teams is different...I do know people who tried out multiple times for multiple teams and didn't make any. But once again there are numerous teams Trial Ad, Moot Court, DRS (negotiation, mediation, and arbitration)...so there are ample opportunity to make a competition team.

[tealeaves12]

OCI at Fordham has two parts: Early Interview Week (EIW) and OCI weeks 1-8. EIW is the two weeks before 2L fall semester. During this week pretty much all of the large law firms visit during this time. There is a bidding process for this where firms are allowed to select a certain percentage of their interviewees and the remainder of the slots are allocated based on student voting. OCI weeks 1-8 works in a similar way. This occurs during the first eight weeks of the semester, but smaller firms, DAs offices, agency's, and other employers attend (i.e. non-biglaw employers).

Overall the quality of employers that attend is great. Its just like any other top law school. The problem is that unless you have the grades its tough to get interviews and more specifically callbacks.

I attended other job fairs, but that is not something a lot of Fordham students do. These job fairs are generally for jobs in other parts of the country and Fordham generally isn't very helpful if you are looking to leave the tri-state area. I attended the Cook County Job Fair (in Chicago), the Vault Job Fair (in DC), and a job fair in Delaware (I can't remember the name). They were all helpful and I got a decent amount of interviews and a few callbacks, unfortunately I didn't land an offer this way.

Their is a job bank (Symplicity) just like every other school has. Jobs are updated all the time. Plenty of friends have found jobs through this.

I think every student that wanted to be on a journal and gave a good-faith effort during the writing competition got on a journal. Obviously not everybody can get on Law Review, but there are 5 other secondary journals. Same goes for clinics. Competition teams is different...I do know people who tried out multiple times for multiple teams and didn't make any. But once again there are numerous teams Trial Ad, Moot Court, DRS (negotiation, mediation, and arbitration)...so there are ample opportunity to make a competition team.

Brilliant, thanks for the information.

[sarge52]

any knowledge of the waitlist?

[3L_At_Law]

any knowledge of the waitlist?

Not much. Just the basic high level stuff. You wait...if a spot opens up there is a chance they call you. I think most spots open up after each of the deposits are due...and also when higher ranked schools (mainly NYU and Columbia) are do, because they are taking away students who placed deposits at Fordham and were waitlisted at these other schools.

I'm sure there are other posts on TLS that will explain this better.