yossarian71 wrote:Cuse. You're a beautiful person.
ND students are reporting that biglaw went really deep this OCI. Like top 1/3 for sure got it if they wanted it and several between 1/3 and median getting it. (this seems suspect to me) WUSTL reporting the same or still top 20-25%?
Top third at WUSTL has always made you BigLaw eligible, this is only becoming more true as our class sizes decrease. Anecdotal evidence from SBA meetings indicates that the 2Ls did very well, better than the previous year. As far as how that compares to ND, we'll have to wait for the data to come (remember to adjust for class size when you eventually compare the two).
Whenever anyone talks about the safe harbor cutoffs for BigLaw, what we're really referring to is the odds of getting a screener interview. After the screener, it comes down to how well you interview. When I tell 0L's that Top 20% is secure, i mean that it's more likely than not that you'll get multiple screeners based on your grades. But that doesn't mean Top 20% is NECESSARY. There's a difference between
secure and
likely. You'll likely get screeners with top third grades, but it might require more legwork and mass mailing on the part of the candidate. Ultimately everyone only ends up taking one job, so from the 0L perspective it's easy to just lump them all together, but it's not that monolithic. If you're top 10% you're going to have a very different OCI experience than if you're top 33%. Both candidates will likely get a job, but the options will be different and the top third candidate will have to invest more effort into getting screeners.
So I still stand by my statement that top 20% is pretty secure at WUSTL. That doesn't mean you're screwed if you miss it. There are plenty of people here who are top third and find jobs through OCI or mass mailing. I'm just more conservative with my estimates because I'd rather have 0L's shoot for the more secure--albeit higher--cutoff.
palbatron wrote:^^^ same. I am still interested in WashU, but ND gave me much more money (like 20k/yr more). Looking for Chicago Biglaw, so an answer here could prove helpful.
Do you have ties to Chicago? There are only 3 schools that will give you a boost in the Chicago market
just by virtue of attending their school: UChi, NU, and Michigan. I guess you could make an argument for UIUC as well.
Unless you're specifically gunning for the Chicago office of Jones Day, going to ND isn't going to give you a boost just by virtue of you being a student there. That said, ND places a higher percentage of kids in Chicago than WUSTL does. But ND also attracts more students who want Chicago than WUSTL does. We do better than ND in D.C., but that doesn't mean you can't get to D.C. from Notre Dame.
If you have the grades, you can get to the top Chicago firms from WUSTL (e.g. KirklandEllis, WinstonStrawn, JonesDay etc...). Having ties to Chicago is always helpful as well. I know 2Ls that are going to these top Vault Chicago firms, and I also know 2Ls who got offers from them but opted to take the NYC or D.C. offer instead. It's all about getting the screeners, but all 0L's see is the percentage of people that ultimately choose Chicago. It's the best metric that's available to you guys, but it's not the most accurate.
Ultimately, picking your school is just a balancing act of hedging and speculating. Hedge by minimizing costs (while still maintaining job opportunities) and by picking a school that offers a portable degree (gives you a chance at multiple markets). And speculate by identifying which markets you want and maximizing your chances of getting top grades (which is its own topic entirely)
