2020-21 Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion

[Jay-Lo]

I just received a White & Case Video Interview invite for Spring this morning, and I applied on November 4th.... I had also lost all hope but the world of grad rec really is as nebulous as @Jessica Booker is always attesting it to be!

Yeah I withdrawed my W&C spring vac scheme app was invited to the VI last Friday due to personal reasons. So I’m sure one lucky person has got my place instead or will have soon - best of luck everyone waiting to hear from W&C!

 

[A97]

Anyone heard from Skadden post-AC?

 

[I.Like.UFOs.Not.PFOs]

I have just found out some people get formatives in their degree? I haven't had one formative assignment my entire degree - everything handed in is counted towards my final grade. Have I been scammed?
View attachment 2728

For us this is very dependent on department size & module lengths. So for my LLB core modules (e.g. obligations, criminal law etc) there were formatives, but for shorter modules/departments with fewer staff, we never had a chance to do a formative as they wouldn’t be able to efficiently conduct it. It sucks that you don’t have formatives though because I know I would have performed poorly in a few modules if I didn’t get a chance to practise first

 

[OB]

I have just found out some people get formatives in their degree? I haven't had one formative assignment my entire degree - everything handed in is counted towards my final grade. Have I been scammed?
View attachment 2728

At Nottingham we had the chance to submit a formative essay each term for every module, while I’m not sure many people took up the chance. I only really got my act together in final year for it hahaha

 

[Yoryis]

The 80% or 90% cap is pretty consistent across unis for social science and arts degrees.

People need to get rid of this idea that RG unis do things one way and non-RG unis do it another. It really isn’t that black and white.

Hi Jessica,

A somehow related question. As a law graduate from a university in the EU, I was wondering if adding percentages would help in this case. At my uni to get a first somebody has to be in the top 5% of the class (we were about 400 students per year). Does a first also mean top 5-10% of the class in the UK? I was in the top 20% and got an upper 2.1 (UK equivalent). I usually add this percentage, but I am not sure if it helps or makes my grades look worse.

Indicatively, Oxbridge accepts students from my uni with a high 2.1 so I assume they are somehow aware of this (but perhaps GR teams are not?).

 

[Bonolaw]

Thank you! I put spring as my first preference

many thanks and good luck with the rest of your application with this

 

[SLKEJRWOI97]

Hi all!

Is anyone still waiting on Mayer Brown post-TI?

And has anyone heard from: Debevoise, White & Case (Spring post-App), Dechert (Spring post-App) and Covington?

 

[zb2944]

Hi all!

Is anyone still waiting on Mayer Brown post-TI?

And has anyone heard from: Debevoise, White & Case (Spring post-App), Dechert (Spring post-App) and Covington?

I am.

Does anybody know if MB is still giving out AC invites?

 

[ManifestingTC]

Eversheds AC!

Does anyone have any idea when their vac scheme is?

Did you ever find out dates? Have their AC on Friday

 

[Zay]

I have just found out some people get formatives in their degree? I haven't had one formative assignment my entire degree - everything handed in is counted towards my final grade. Have I been scammed?
View attachment 2728

To add to this, it might actually work in your favour. At my uni, final marks were mainly based on your end of year exams and being able to submit essays/coursework during the term can mean less pressure at the end of the year

 

[corplaw123]

Hi all!

Is anyone still waiting on Mayer Brown post-TI?

And has anyone heard from: Debevoise, White & Case (Spring post-App), Dechert (Spring post-App) and Covington?

I am still waiting to hear from Covington post-app. I think they hosted a few AC's last week so I'm really not too hopeful

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi Jessica,

A somehow related question. As a law graduate from a university in the EU, I was wondering if adding percentages would help in this case. At my uni to get a first somebody has to be in the top 5% of the class (we were about 400 students per year). Does a first also mean top 5-10% of the class in the UK? I was in the top 20% and got an upper 2.1 (UK equivalent). I usually add this percentage, but I am not sure if it helps or makes my grades look worse.

Indicatively, Oxbridge accepts students from my uni with a high 2.1 so I assume they are somehow aware of this (but perhaps GR teams are not?).

It is still a percentage, it is just the percentage is capped. UK universities don’t have a standardised bell curve type method of marking students where only so many people get X mark.

You have to be careful with “translating grades”. I have actually withdrawn an offer because someone recalculated their grades on the basis of a 90% cap. (Eg a module grade of 64 was put down as 71% on their application).

Just put your grades down as you know them. Most recruiters are aware of international grading systems, and there’s easy ways to find out if they don’t.

You can always add additional details like “At my uni to get a first somebody has to be in the top 5% of the class” to help quantify things, but I would try to translate grades yourself - just put them down as you know them.

 

[JayC]

Hi all!

Is anyone still waiting on Mayer Brown post-TI?

And has anyone heard from: Debevoise, White & Case (Spring post-App), Dechert (Spring post-App) and Covington?

No-one has heard from Debevoise yet, a bunch of people have been progressed with W&C over the last few weeks (I just got my VI this morning), I have seen some people get ACs with Dechert, and Covington has finished all its ACs

 

[LegalNim]

I have just found out some people get formatives in their degree? I haven't had one formative assignment my entire degree - everything handed in is counted towards my final grade. Have I been scammed?
View attachment 2728

My uni didn't have formatives. We weren't even allowed to get feedback or have anything checked before submission. I was definitely scammed haha.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Mayer brown:
Can someone who progressed to the next stage share what their top 3 strengths were pls

I’d stress they won’t always be the same three strengths for every candidate. It is typically a case of what isn’t in there, rather than what is.

 

[tc123]

Has anyone heard from Simmons and Simmons post VI for summer or anything from Ropes and Gray?

 

[LeilaScott]

Has anyone heard from Simmons and Simmons post VI for summer or anything from Ropes and Gray?

Nothing from Ropes and Gray - I didn't apply to Simmons and Simmons so cant speak to that

 

[Numerius Negidius]

Does anyone know WC's VI to AC ratio?

 

[Yoryis]

It is still a percentage, it is just the percentage is capped. UK universities don’t have a standardised bell curve type method of marking students where only so many people get X mark.

You have to be careful with “translating grades”. I have actually withdrawn an offer because someone recalculated their grades on the basis of a 90% cap. (Eg a module grade of 64 was put down as 71% on their application).

Just put your grades down as you know them. Most recruiters are aware of international grading systems, and there’s easy ways to find out if they don’t.

You can always add additional details like “At my uni to get a first somebody has to be in the top 5% of the class” to help quantify things, but I would try to translate grades yourself - just put them down as you know them.

Many thanks, Jessica! Yes, I always put them down the way they appear on my transcripts.

 

[JayC]

Does anyone know WC's VI to AC ratio?

They said on the Open Day that around 80 get VI then 40 get AC for 25 places on the vac scheme