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Non-NY T14 3L going to NY biglaw, probably need to take the bar exam in another UBE jurisdiction and transfer score to NY.

Thinking of sitting on the exam in either DC or Illinois since I would like to get a license in either of them as well as NY. So...as a person who plans to work in private equity/investment management practice focused on cross-border transactions, which state would be better? Is one state noticeably more difficult to get barred than the other?

I know the late application fee for Illinois bar is huge but the firm will pay for that.

I suppose it primarily comes down to where you could see yourself practicing. My understanding is DC has pretty liberal waiver laws (at least when I took the bar, DC would allow you to waive in with reasonably decent MBE score immediately after admission). That might be a reason to do Illinois if the firm will let you and you could see practicing in Chicago some day.

It's worth noting that, waive-in rules have gotten more liberal as time has gone on. It really may not matter all that much as you can generally waive in after 5 years of practice in most states.

Do Illinois. DC basically lets anyone waive in with a passing UBE score. Knocks out two birds with one stone.