2L recruit

[Pizzaandpasta]

I haven’t been admitted to any law schools yet (I’m applying for the 2022-2023 cycle and submitting applications on Nov 1st) but I was wondering if big law firms ask for undergraduate transcripts during the OCI process/ or 1L/2L recruit? Or do they consider your law school grades more? 

[cherrytree]

Not every firm participating in 1L/2L OCIs asks for undergrad transcripts, but the overwhelming majority does. It is variable how much weight a firm gives to your undergrad grades in their consideration of your application materials. Personally I've never heard of an applicant being denied interviews due to really poor grades in undergrad (the law school admissions process usually serves as an effective filter for that already, access category applicants notwithstanding). However, I think there are some "big law" firms that prefer hiring students who come from Ivy League undergrads, because that is just how they set up their selection criteria to give those students an edge over others.

[TheDevilIKnow]

I only applied to 3 OCIs, but they all required all undergraduate transcripts. This is a small sample size, but I'm answering just to share the fact that I did get all three of those OCIs (and 2 in-firms), despite having a year with 5 F's in my transcripts.

So if you get into law school but have something you're not happy about in your transcript history, don't convince yourself that that will hold you back. Even if they want to see everything, it doesn't mean your old grades will necessarily hurt you.

[Pizzaandpasta]

Good to know! Thanks for your feedback guys, this makes me feel a lot better!! 

[Rashabon]

1 hour ago, cherrytree said:

Not every firm participating in 1L/2L OCIs asks for undergrad transcripts, but the overwhelming majority does. It is variable how much weight a firm gives to your undergrad grades in their consideration of your application materials. Personally I've never heard of an applicant being denied interviews due to really poor grades in undergrad (the law school admissions process usually serves as an effective filter for that already, access category applicants notwithstanding). However, I think there are some "big law" firms that prefer hiring students who come from Ivy League undergrads, because that is just how they set up their selection criteria to give those students an edge over others.

Like 99% of candidates hired in the 2L recruits are Canadians that never went to the US.

If you are applying in Ontario, submitting your undergrad transcripts is mandatory as part of the OCI application process and grades do get reviewed as part of the overall application. More weight is attached to law grades.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Rashabon

[cherrytree]

1 hour ago, Rashabon said:

Like 99% of candidates hired in the 2L recruits are Canadians that never went to the US.

If you are applying in Ontario, submitting your undergrad transcripts is mandatory as part of the OCI application process and grades do get reviewed as part of the overall application. More weight is attached to law grades.

Incorrect wording on my part, I meant to say "Not every firm participating in 1L/2L OCIs requires undergrad transcripts", some employers may ask for undergrad transcripts but list it as an optional item as opposed to mandatory. I think normally people just submit everything despite the "optional" part. You probably already have a PDF ready to go and it's less hassle to submit the same set of materials in every application you're doing. And indeed law grades matter way more than your grades.

This could be a UofT thing because the school's well-known and well-established pipeline to NYC jobs, but my class had a handful of people with US undergrad degrees who got jobs in 1L Toronto and 2L NYC recruits, I would put their number at over 1% of the total class size.

[Darth Vader]

24 minutes ago, cherrytree said:

Incorrect wording on my part, I meant to say "Not every firm participating in 1L/2L OCIs requires undergrad transcripts", some employers may ask for undergrad transcripts but list it as an optional item as opposed to mandatory. I think normally people just submit everything despite the "optional" part. You probably already have a PDF ready to go and it's less hassle to submit the same set of materials in every application you're doing. And indeed law grades matter way more than your grades.

This could be a UofT thing because the school's well-known and well-established pipeline to NYC jobs, but my class had a handful of people with US undergrad degrees who got jobs in 1L Toronto and 2L NYC recruits, I would put their number at over 1% of the total class size.

Probably a U of T thing since I've seen a few people with master's degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE also attend U of T. I have rarely seen anyone with an ivy league education attend another Canadian law school. Socioeconomic factors likely play a role in this as everyone I have seen with an ivy league education that attended law school were groomed for this since they were young, attended private schools, and were from relatively wealthy backgrounds.

[Rashabon]

56 minutes ago, cherrytree said:

Incorrect wording on my part, I meant to say "Not every firm participating in 1L/2L OCIs requires undergrad transcripts", some employers may ask for undergrad transcripts but list it as an optional item as opposed to mandatory. I think normally people just submit everything despite the "optional" part. You probably already have a PDF ready to go and it's less hassle to submit the same set of materials in every application you're doing. And indeed law grades matter way more than your grades.

This could be a UofT thing because the school's well-known and well-established pipeline to NYC jobs, but my class had a handful of people with US undergrad degrees who got jobs in 1L Toronto and 2L NYC recruits, I would put their number at over 1% of the total class size.

1% is a tiny number so it’s hard to credibly say that certain firms “prefer” to hire like 5 people that exist.

[QMT20]

1 hour ago, Darth Vader said:

Probably a U of T thing since I've seen a few people with master's degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE also attend U of T. I have rarely seen anyone with an ivy league education attend another Canadian law school. Socioeconomic factors likely play a role in this as everyone I have seen with an ivy league education that attended law school were groomed for this since they were young, attended private schools, and were from relatively wealthy backgrounds.

I knew two people in the year above me at Queen's who did their undergrads at Yale and Princeton, and two in my year who had masters degrees from Oxford. There may have been others too, but those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I don't think it's quite as rare as people make it out to be. All of those people also landed at top firms or government jobs so maybe it did help them in the recruit but they also all seemed to be at least above average law students.