Incoming 1L deciding between these schools and a couple t20's with significant scholarship. Was wondering what recruiting was like from Penn/nyu/columbia. Obviously I know big law isn't a guarantee but I want to maximize my chances of getting. Goals are nyc Transactional - not really open to other markets. Would any students at these schools be able to share their experience with career services and recruiting?

Edit: Penn/NYU/Columbia would all be sticker but the t20's would cost under $100k.

Hey, everyone, I recently got a job as a Mechanical Engineering Patent examiner (starting June 1st), and I was planning to do part-time law school in DC while i work at the USPTO. What kind of exit opportunities do I have after I graduate from Law school, especially as a part-time law student? I wanted to do BigLaw, and I am worried about wasting my time at the USPTO or having a hard time recruiting since I won't be able to do summer internships like normal law students. I'm really just trying to decide if I need to go to Law school full-time, since the part-time option makes more sense financially. Any advice is appreciated

I am a 1L with a 2L summer offer from a larger midlaw/speciality firm in my city, on the lower end of the AMLaw 200. They previously told me they return offer about 90% of their summers and didn't give any more info than that. I am really struggling academically this semester, and I foresee a decrease in my grades from the first semester.

How much do grades factor into return offers at firms like this? do I have a chance to impress them next summer, or will a drop in grades be a red flag? or does it totally vary firm to firm?

I am considering applying for a role at GT, but I have heard nothing but bad things about the firm from asking around. Does anyone have personal experiences (good or bad) to share? They don’t seem to have a good reputation from everything I’ve heard, but I wanted to know whether the bad reputation is consistent across the firm or only limited to certain regions/offices.

Incoming 1L wondering how biglaw recruiting went for nyu students

Hiya recruits!

Let's talk about how big law hiring in law school works and, for those of you who are very new to the system, what Pre-OCI/OCI/and post-OCI mean for you.

First, what is OCI?

OCI stands for On Campus Recruiting. Also sometimes called EIW. It is the structured recruiting program law schools run each summer where BigLaw firms come to campus (or log on virtually) to interview 2L students for summer associate positions in a condensed week or so ish timeline. Traditionally, this took place in your summer of 1L around July, but many schools have pushed up OCI to as early as January to be competitive with the pre-OCI timeline.

So then, what is Pre-OCI?

Pre-OCI means applying directly to firms, outside your school's system, before OCI begins. (Literally going to the firms website, clicking the career portal, and applying there). This traditionally happened in your second semester of 1L, but now, firms have started opening applications as early as October of 1L, both for 1L and 2L summer positions.

Applications start opening as early as October/November (yes, before grades are out, and yes you should apply then), interviews pick up in December/January and offers peak somewhere between January-March. By the time traditional OCI runs at many schools (which hold them in March or later), many, many, many spots are gone, meaning if you apply late, even with great grades and a great school, it can be an extremely uphill battle to nail one of these jobs.

This compression is uncomfortable for people who want to wait for a full picture before applying. You won't have a full picture. Neither will anyone else. The students who do well in pre-OCI apply early anyway, with imperfect information, and adjust as they go (i.e., you update with your transcript when you get grades later in Jan.).

Why the timeline shifted and why we're all now in this special circle of recruiting hell

Firms started moving earlier because, originally, there was a rule saying they couldn't recruit early. TLDR: that rule was nixed, and firms felt they were losing candidates to competitors who moved first. Once one firm starts making offers June, then May, then March, then January, etc., everyone else faced a choice: move earlier or lose talent. The result is an arms race that has pushed the window earlier every cycle. This shift started and was covered around back in 2024 and it has only accelerated since.

This creates real pressure on applicants. Exploding offers are still common. You'll sometimes get 24-48 hours to decide on an offer before you've heard back from half your list. There's no clean way around this. You ask for extensions where you can, you ask firms you prefer to expedite where you can, and sometimes you decide with incomplete information.

What to do right now

Build your list wide; it's a numbers game. When we say blanket the AmLaw 200, we mean blanket.

1. Ideally, target your schools target markets (or NYC), or markets you have a strong tie to, mostly because your school will have the most sway there, or it'll be the market where there are the most seats available to compete for.

Firms known to hire early are worth prioritizing early in your application cycle (and you can tell which do this using the sub database if you need help). But the bigger mistake most people make is over-filtering before they have any traction. Apply broadly first, nail an offer, then get picky and refine later.

2. Get your materials ready before apps open, not after. An exact list of what you need can be found here. Generally it's cover letter, resume, and a short list of networking contacts at target firms. Networking won't override weak credentials, but it pulls your application into the review pile faster, which matters when firms are moving quickly.

If pre-OCI doesn't work out

OCI still exists. Fewer seats, but it's real. Some firms also hire into the summer after OCI closes (usually more like midlaw and regional firms which run on later timelines, but many are following similar big law timelines as well, so don't sleep on these).

Worst case, if you don't get an offer in OCI either, there is the post-OCI process.

This post should help in that scenario: What to do if you didn't get an offer in OCI (and are maybe freaking out a bit 😨)

All in all, the fundamentals haven't changed. Apply early. Apply broadly. Move fast when things are moving. The recruiting window is shorter than it used to be, which means the cost of hesitating is higher than it used to be.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Are any firms reopening applications for summer 2027 NYC?

does it even matter at this point? Will being on a generic journal (not necessarily law review) impact anything - getting a return offer? lateraling a couple years out to a different firm? respect within the firm?

no interest in clerking

Incoming 1L and long time lurker here.

Saw that Law.com published a new article recently with Ropes & Gray on AI competency of law students. Seems like firms are setting higher expectations on candiates regarding their AI skills. Since AI is really taking/will take a big hit on big law recruiting I was wondering if there’s any advice you could share on how future job candidates could better prepare. Feel like law schools are catching much more slowly than the industry on the whole AI thing so any advice from the inside would be appreciated!

Someone in the law school admissions subreddit claimed that a T6 admissions officer told them that working in a law firm before law school counts against applicants in admissions. There are just too many applicants who worked as paralegals, project/case assistants, litigation analysts, etc.

Fair. I get that. But wouldn’t a big law recruiter prefer someone who already has experience at a law firm? Or does it depend on the law firm’s reputation?

Is there any advantage to taking one of these roles?

Hi I graduated from law school last year and had a corporate fellowship that was like 6 months long so that’s all the post jd experience I have. My law school experience has all been public interest and gov.

I just got an interview at a big law firm but have literally done a few OCI Screeners in law school and the rest of my experience and interviews have been for government and nonprofits. I have no idea what to expect or how to prepare.

Any tips for what to expect with these interviews? First round I’m meeting with 3 partners one after the other. What are some questions I should anticipate on moving from public to private? And what are some big law questions I should ask the partners? Thanks!!

Has anyone heard back yet after their screener? I’m getting a bit antsy because it’s been a week, but I’m not sure if that’s normal for this firm or big law in general. When should I expect to hear back?

Hey everyone, incoming 1L here at a strong regional school in a major Texas market. My ultimate goal is BigLaw.

I was just invited to interview for a fellowship at an on-campus criminal justice reform/policy center but I’m torn on whether it’s a smart move for my goals.

Here are the details of the fellowship:

• Full-time for my entire 1L summer. It also requires an 8-10 hour/week commitment during 2L Fall/Spring.
• $20k total scholarship ($10k 1L summer, $5k per 2L semester)
• No hour requirements during my 1L Fall or Spring semesters, and no requirements during any exam periods or holidays

My main concern is whether taking a criminal justice reform fellowship will pigeonhole me or hurt my BigLaw chances. If I want to land a BigLaw SA position for my 2L summer, will recruiters look down on the fact that I spent my 1L summer doing PI/policy work instead of a traditional judicial internship or a 1L SA role? Also, is the 8-10 hour commitment during 2L going to be a massive headache while juggling journal/classes?

Is the $20k and guaranteed 1L summer job worth giving up flexibility, or should I pass and hunt for more traditional corporate stepping stones?

Any insight from people who have navigated OCI with a heavily PI-focused 1L summer would be incredibly appreciated!

I didn’t hear much about them during the recruitment process but a close friend recently accepted an offer from them so I’m curious what the vibe is with them.

Interested in non patent tech transactional work. WE in tech. It is a negligible amount cheaper to attend GW. With the current craziness of recruiting, I just want a BL job in my practice area of interest and don't care about location as much as long as it's NY, DC, SF. Some concerns with GW's recent dip in BL numbers and the general rigor of the DC market in general. Seeking advice.

1L offer letter I signed has no indication of stipend from PI org being contingent upon any external funding (ie 2L biglaw stipend). am I obligated to report my external funding? if they ask randomly like a month in the future, would I be obligated to report? would that eliminate or limit my 1L stipend? just trying to understand what the ethics of this are.

signed,

a law student in debt

I had a post-clerkship screener with a partner at last Thursday, which I thought went really well. The partner said I’d hear back by 4/22; it is 4/24 and I have not heard from the firm (which, I assume, is bad news for me lol).

Is today too early to follow up/is there any harm in doing so?