TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[l789]

Does anyone have the link for the linklaters associate panel, would be super grateful if anyone could share for the virtual event at 1pm

 

[johnsmith]

Does the mishcon test have a VI or is it all typing based? Am trying to see if I can do it in the library

Yes one short one!

 

[Andrei Radu]

in applications, do I capitalise departments? Ie. 'I sat with the Dispute resolution team' or would it be dispute resolution?

Generally, when referring to departments in the sense of broad departments existing in most major firms (i.e. corporate, finance, disputes, tax, etc) you should not capitalise. However, iff you are referring to a department more particular to the firm which has a specific name (i.e. "Technology Transactions Group"), if the firm capitalises it on their website I would advise you to do the same.

 

[WeGotThis!]

Has Gibson Dunn sent out interview invites to anyone for Spring?

 

[LaDiva]

Hey, I worked at Venture Capital and Small Investment Banking before which handled hedge fund clients, startup, and family office.

For up-to-date sources, I am following venture capitalists on LinkedIn.

And for data sources like self made vs inheritance millionaire they cited from Voronoi: https://www.voronoiapp.com/money/Self-Made-vs-Inherited-Wealth-5655

Or the outflows and inflows of wealth https://www.voronoiapp.com/wealth/UK-Faces-92B-in-Millionaire-Wealth-Outflows-in-2025--6665

You can also check MSCI, WTO, World Bank for the emerging market trends. Post the due diligence last year, I made a diagram venn below:

Thank you so much!

 

[Dogecoin GC]

in applications, do I capitalise departments? Ie. 'I sat with the Dispute resolution team' or would it be dispute resolution?

Main thing is to be consistent.

 

[doodllaw29]

A no from Gibson Dunn vac scheme

 

[aspringlawyer25]

Has Gibson Dunn sent out interview invites to anyone for Spring?

I believe someone mentioned that they have received one.

 

[aspringlawyer25]

Damn, guess they already progressed candidates, PFO incoming.

 

[routetotrainingcontract]

I am currently stuck on this question and i would appreciate some help on how to go about answering it- What impact do you want to make at CMS?- I have a few years of paralegal experiences at magic circle firms but I dont have anything unique about me that is enough to make an impact per say, i'm just an average law student (albeit i am an international law student). please any insight on how to approach this will be much appreciated Reed Smith">@Abbie Reed Smith @andreachai @TCLA Community Assistant 🧎‍♀️

 

[Dogecoin GC]

So last year did 40 apps.

This year only doing open days.

Then if they succeed, vac schemes.

Different to the controversial scattergun approach.

 

[AngelB]

A&O Shearman AC invite!!!!!!!!

 

[Arv_329]

Has anyone else heard from Cleary yet? Did they send ACs in batches?

 

[FutureTrainee100]

Hi @FutureTrainee100 I empathise with you and I know how disappointed and disheartened you must be feeling right now, having been in a somewhat similar position. As a fellow international student, I also completely "moved life" here and made a substantial investment in education in hopes of pursuing a successful career in commercial law. At the end of my first application cycle, I ended up with no progressions past the application stage. After also getting very strong academic results, my second cycle started off quite similar to yours, and I was also increasingly feeling like I had to come to terms with the fact that I may simply not be "good enough" or the "right type" for this career. Nonetheless, I persisted and ended up finishing the cycle with 3 TC and 4 VS offers from elite US/MC firms.

My story is also not at all a unique one or full of empty words of motivation - there are many people who have experienced a similar progression. A good friend of mine who I was guiding through the process last year was feeling like he was facing a similar problem, starting their 3rd application cycle worse than the previous two ones with several straight rejections. Of his first 10-15 applications they heard back from, only 2-3 were progressions, which was significantly bellow their prior rate. I advised them to persist, and within the space of a month or so they had several AC invites, while by the end of the cycle they received 7 VS offers.

Now, besides wanting to inspire you not to lose heart and to keep pushing forward, I mentioned these stories because I wanted to give you two concrete pieces of advice, which I think could end up having a substantial impact on your chances of securing a TC:

1. Firstly, you should submit many more high-quality applications: an AC progression rate of 3/7 is incredibly high, so the quality of your writing does not seem to be an issue. Nonetheless, in my opinion 7 applications is without any doubt too few to make given how competitive this job market is, even if you are a very qualified candidate. While it may end up working out for some, I would advise you not to go with the "quality over quantity" approach if you want to minimise the impact of luck and maximise success chances. Both me and the friend I mentioned were rejected in 15+ application during our incredibly successful cycles even though we made sure that the writing and research for every firm was high quality. Had we only applied to 7-10 firms, it could have easily been the case we would have ended the cycle with no VSs/TCs. I have written a significantly longer guide elaborating on the cost and benefits of the "numbers game" vs "quality over quantity" approaches and explained what I think is the ideal application strategy, which is to submit as many high quality (albeit perhaps somewhat imperfect) applications as possible (which should result in 15-20 on the lower end) - I would highly encourage you to take a look here.
2. Secondly, you may want to refresh your approach to AC preparation: while this is not an issue that you should be very concerned about right now, and while it is possible to have just been unlucky with your 3 prior ACs, my guess is that if there is any part of the application process for which you could improve quality-wise, it is this stage. I would highly encourage you to take a look at the Complete Competency Interview Preparation Guide I wrote here, as it explains in detail the step-by-step approach I took which was successful 4/4 times I implemented it.

Hi @Andrei Radu,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience and for your encouraging words. It genuinely means a lot to hear from someone who has been through something similar. I also appreciate the guide you shared — I’ll definitely take a closer look and try to apply the advice.

I’ve spent a lot of time refining my interview skills over the past year, but given that I haven’t even been invited to a single AC this cycle, I’m starting to worry that all that effort might have been for nothing. Recruitment also feels completely different this year — I was finally starting to feel like I understood the process last cycle, and now suddenly it’s a whole new landscape with constant tests and VIs. Do you have any advice for handling those?

So far I’ve submitted 5 applications, with 3 more planned for this week, and 16 more lined up over the next couple of months. Would that be enough? I’m trying to balance a job to pay my bills alongside all of this, and nothing seems to be progressing. With rolling deadlines, I also feel like I’m racing against time — it’s starting to feel really overwhelming.

 

[bh.sa]

A&O Shearman AC invite!!!!!!!!

Congrats!! Which scheme is this for?

 

[abc124]

How bad is a 3/9 on grit and creative force (amberjack)…I’m happy with the other scores but the language the report uses for the 3/9 scores indicates this is really far from good performance in these two pillars and I’m scared Reed Smith really won’t like that 😭

 

[AngelB]

Congrats!! Which scheme is this for?

It’s for spring/summer

 

[cheeseontoast]

CC London Open Day PFO, oh well :/

 

[Dannie]

Anyone heard back from King & Spalding for the Nov Open Day?

 

[BM99]

CC insight day invite