How much weight do firms give to the university you go to? Is it relatively small or a massive advantage/disadvantage? From my understanding, with law students it matters to a certain extent but I'm a non-law student so I'm not sure if that changes things.
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TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26
- Thread starter Ram Sabaratnam
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I am doing research into PMC Guildford office and can't find much information the work in those offices. I can't find much online on what type of litigation, restructuring or construction work lawyers in that office does. Does anyone have experience with applying for their Guildford, Basingstoke or Oxford offices. Is it okay to mention work from other offices like deals in the cover letter but tie it back to my interest in the firm.
Hey does anyone know whether White and Case send their VIs in batches? Applied and sat the online test early/mid December so I’m hoping the VIs are from people that applied earlier (because ik they’re rolling) and so doesn’t mean a PFO for me 😭
I also went to a Northern RG uni! The ratio of Southerners to Northerners seemed to be 20:1😭My face when I arrived on campus for a seminar at a Northern RG uni for the first time only to discover I was in fact the only northerner in the room…
It was a struggle frfr! I’ve got a weird hybrid of a scouse and manc accent and I would get made fun of for how I pronounced diff words.
It’s been nice to read you guys’ experiences and stories. We should all embrace our accents cos it’s what makes us who we are ultimately!
I went to a top uni and many non-law students scored MC or SC vacation schemes and training contracts. To be honest, I think for many top firms, the university you go to matters whether you are law or non-law. However, it’s also important to keep in mind that many firms have a blind application process where they don’t see what uni you went to unless you tell them in your application questions or interview!
I emailed and this was the reply I received 3 days ago:
We are aware of an issue with the Bright Apply links indicating that the opportunity is now closed. Please be assured that we are investigating this as a matter of priority and will contact you once it has been resolved. This will not affect your application, and we will provide a new deadline for completing the assessment.
Haven't received a new link yet
Hey!
I think there will be differing views on this (and it definitely differs between firms as well), but I'd say that the university you attend can have some impact on your opportunities, particularly when it comes to commercial law. I went to a non-RG university, and one of the most striking differences I noticed when speaking to RG and Oxbridge students on vacation schemes was the amount of opportunities and firm engagement they had access to. For example, at my university's law fair we never had London firms attending, only regional firms, which sometimes made it harder to gain insight into the commercial law market or speak directly to people that worked in those firms.
However, I think the significance of the university you go to has less of an impact in the application process now than it used to. Many firms now operate CV-blind or partially blind recruitment processes, meaning that written applications and SJT / interview performance tend to carry far more weight than the name of your university.
Ultimately, it is likely that there is an advantage in the process if you go to a leading university, but this doesn't mean that you are absolutely doomed if you don't come from a top RG uni! I know plenty of people who have secured TCs at top commercial firms from non-RG universities, which really shows that it isn't a barrier if you don't let it be one. What really helped me was to make the most of the opportunities that were available to non-RG students (such as BIUCAC), as this gave me unique talking points for my applications and beyond
I went to a mid-tier university (as my parents kept reminding me) and I have an interview with a reasonably decent American law firm (Gibson Dunn) if it provides you with any consolation.
Gibson Dunn and ‘reasonably decent’ in the same sentence? I thought they were pretty good? This is Gibson Dunn’s reaction after seeing this comment about their status as a US firm:
I said they were reasonably decent, didn't I... that means pretty good lol.Gibson Dunn and ‘reasonably decent’ in the same sentence? I thought they were pretty good? This is Gibson Dunn’s reaction after seeing this comment about their status as a US firm:
I'm pretty pleased, don't get me wrong. Gibson Dunn, if you're reading this, I love you really.
I go to a non RG university and so far this cycle I’ve got a magic circle AC coming up, a silver circle AC, and I’ve gotten through initial application stage at Skadden. I don’t actually see it as the barrier it may have been historically. I was also recently told by grad rec at Ropes & Gray that they review applications without seeing what university an applicant is from.
No. I just received an automatic report.
Gibson Dunn putting you on a watch list like:I said they were reasonably decent, didn't I... that means pretty good lol.
I'm pretty pleased, don't get me wrong. Gibson Dunn, if you're reading this, I love you really.
@angdps this is a very good question! Personally, I've played around with this topic many times over the last few years (especially when I felt like my applications were not getting anywhere) but my honest opinion is that it doesn't matter a great deal so as to affect the likelihood of your application progressing.
The reason being, it's not factored into the screening process. Traditionally ATS's such as CvMail and Vantage (which allow the primary user e.g. Grad Rec to filter out applicants based off any question in the application) were only used to filter out academic criteria and where there were EC's these were decided holistically. I'd be surprised if anyone would then filter out based off universities without disclosing this as part of their initial criteria. For example, I think Slaughter and May used to filter on universities and in line with industry-wide transparency they disclosed it. If this was actively happening, other firms would disclose it too (it's not illegal and unnecessary applications cost £1000's). The only time it could realistically affect you is through some bias of the end-reader, however unconscious bias training is now actively given to graduate recruitment/assessors on the VS/TC so as to prevent the likelihood of this happening. So, for anyone worried about whether or not their university will hold them back, please don't be.
I think the issue is more to do with the applicant pool itself, which can be attributed to recruitment strategy and applicant confidence/perceived prospects (I won't bore you with my theory but please apply).
P.S. If it helps anyone, just know I went to a clearance university that's 79 on the league tables.
Hi, is it too late to apply for rolling deadlines that are due mid Jan? The White & Case VS deadline is 12th Jan, but they also have a non-rolling TC deadline that I would be eligible for. Ideally would like to apply for the VS, but if this is cutting it too close I will apply for the direct TC instead. Has anyone progressed with White & Case despite applying very close to the deadline?
Mishcon High Numerical and Verbal but 18/36 on the rest. Anybody historically got simialr stuff and still went forward?
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