below-curve hls 2L re: oci prospects

[procrastinator]

The results of "average" students (all of these were at the median during 2006, when the economy was still good):

Morrison & Foerster LLP New York Screening Interview -- Rejection
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP New York Screening Interview -- Rejection
Sidley Austin LLP New York Screening Interview -- Rejection
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Door LLP Washington, Dc Screening Interview -- Rejection
Proskauer Rose LLP New York Callback -- Rejection

Lesson?  Bid widely.  Don't take anything for granted.  Interview well.  Cling to your callbacks.

My research has increasingly indicated that, with the exception of Y, T14 students have to make the grade like everyone else.  I think it's silly to assume otherwise.

I'm willing to bet this is due to a questionable personality and not grades.  Look, Harvard students get special privileges during OCI.  I don't think most top firms even have a GPA cutoff (unofficially) for Harvard students.  The universal decision date when law students must decide on a 2L summer firm is December 1.  That is, universal, bar Harvard: I think Harvard students have until December 5 or something like that.  My point is, firms love Harvard students, no matter where they fall on the curve and I really think a 3.1 at HLS is golden.  Just make sure you charm the socks off the interviewers and you'll have your pick of firms.  Dude, I know below median folks at UCLAW who got V20 firm jobs.  Of course, they were not the norm.  But if it is a possibility at UCLA, it is a near sure thing at Harvard.  I know we law students have delicate egoes and are used to shining in academia, which makes it especially hard to swallow a 3.1.  But honestly, as far as OCI prospects are concerned, you're sittin' pretty.  That really is the beauty of going where you go.

[stricly bricly]

dude.

[stricly bricly]

yeah, jesus, put the blog back up.  it was way cruel to start one and then wink it out of existence a moment later.  do you do this with candy and children too?

[goaliechica]

dude.

As in, dude, where have you been?

I will not creepily internet-stalk you, as I know you have committed to coming to my school, and may worry that I will harass you... But it's nice to see you again!

[stricly bricly]

goalie!     i don't feel stalked.  just the love.  i'll be up there august 1!  i signed a manville lease and i've already put a few tears on my pillow because of it, but there's just no time to go up there and apartmenthunt.  oh well!


end digression!!!

[goaliechica]

goalie!     i don't feel stalked.  just the love.  i'll be up there august 1!  i signed a manville lease and i've already put a few tears on my pillow because of it, but there's just no time to go up there and apartmenthunt.  oh well!


end digression!!!

Dude. Whatevs. For all my Manville cautionary tales, it is one block from where I live, and as far as I'm concerned that is an excellent location. Also, at some point, housing is housing. As long as it's got a microwave and a mattress, I'm pretty sure you will survive. I will see you at Thalassa, my friend 

[Resident CLS Troll]

Dude, don't be that guy. Almost everyone worries about their grades, no matter where they are. It doesn't mean they don't appreciate where they are, or don't recognize that they're still in a good position. This is  legitimate question, and one that's hard to figure out without input from other people (I know I'm feeling pretty hazy about how OCI actually works, myself). 

I totally read this at first as "Dude, don't be that gay", and thought "wow, goalie's true nature comes out." 

But yes I agree that the OP is entitled to a little consideration.  You shouldn't trash someone just because you think they have it better than you do and are still being whiny about it.  Granted I do this sometimes too, but whatever.

OP: you'll be okay, assuming you don't have a crappy personality in real life.  What market are you shooting for?  NY?  DC?

[rainyday]

hey, thanks.  i hope i don't have a crappy personality.  at least my gazillions of friends don't think so. anyway, prob ny, since i know dc's harder to break...have ties to both.  we'll see i guess.  i really didn't mean to come off as whiny or insensitive. i'm honestly just concerned.  at the end of the day, bottom of the pack anywhere makes you seem like...bottom of the pack. it's all relative.

thanks for everyone's input.

[rainyday]

also, just one more thing to add. i feel like the people who would call or did call me a whiny jerk assume something that i don't think is really fair: that employers compare apples to apples when they look at all law students and that where you ended up is a proxy for your intelligence/potential to do well in the law to start with. but the fact is (even assuming such a thing is measurable ex-ante), it's impossible for the law school selection process to perfectly sort qualified candidates, given financial aid packages, lifestyle preferences, etc., not to mention the lsat/gpa combo is an imperfect proxy for savvy in legal practice, or that it accounts for potential across many areas of law, etc., etc. 

ubersmart people obviously end up at "less competitive" schools. so, even if you allow for the sake of argument that perhaps everyone "prefers" oranges to apples, a rotten orange is still going to look way worse than a good apple, even if, were both items were in a race, the orange would have beaten the pants off the apple.  (and that's a a REALLY big "even if," because at the end of the day, that scenario probably proves false more often than it holds true.)

hopefully that makes sense. at a minimum, just more fodder for the whole "law school situations are, at least on some level, completely arbitrary" argument.

[Saja]

Rainyday- I'm just another 1L too (were you in Section 6, btw?) so I guess my thoughts need to be taken with a grain of salt, but here they are:

Yes, your grades are likely below the median at HLS.  Ten years ago the median was between a B and a B+, and I'm guessing that has gone up to around a B+ just based on my observations.  Still, a 3.1 is by no means terrible.  There are people who get C's here, and they still get jobs.  That being said, with the economy as it is, you may have a tougher time than some getting a BIGLAW summer job, but you WILL get one, especially if you want to be in NYC.  While the top firms are more picky, the consensus is many of the middle to lower Vault 100 won't even look at grades, or just give them a passing glance, especially if you interview well and they like you.  Of course, OCS may be lying to us, but they likely aren't, and I've never heard of someone not getting BIGLAW who wanted it.  Have you looked at the spreadsheets of who's going to these firms from HLS (they're on the OCS website)?  Many, many very good firms do not even get one 2L for their summer program.  These firms want people from Harvard, if only to make the other summers at the firm think "oh, this firm must be good, people from Harvard come here!"  We get a lot of bids for OCI, and as long as you bid strategically (ie. not putting down the top 20 firms) you should be just fine.