TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[Afuturetrainee]

does anyone know if you can re-record your answers for the Latham VI?

No

 

[Afuturetrainee]

Which law firms other than Gibson Dunn, Slaughter, CC, Cleary, and Davis Polk are coverletter-based?

S&C, freshfields

 

[johnsmith]

Hello!

I've just had a look at the White & Case Application Form, and as there is a separate section for including your overall grade for each year, it seems that you do not need to list individual module grades for your undergraduate degree.

If you are still unsure of whether these should be included somewhere, it might be worth emailing the graduate recruitment team as I'm sure they'd be happy to confirm

I just checked back on my application and there was a section for undergraduate modules after putting in the summarised year averages. I wonder if they’ve changed it since?

 

[Andrei Radu]

Hello!

A question for RPC’s vac scheme is “In what ways do you see yourself as ‘strikingly real’, and how does that connect with your motivation to apply here and your confidence in succeeding?”

How should I go about answering this question?

Hi @fatimaanjum56 this is certainly a strikingly unusual question - my interpretation of what the firm is looking for here is that they want you to discuss some of your qualities/abilities that are both:

• Connected more strongly to your sense of who you are, your conception of yourself (from the "real") part; thus, here you will want to look for abilities/qualities that are tied to your important character traits and to your major passions/interests.
• Somewhat unusual or very noticeable (from the "striking" part): I think your answer will have to go beyond a usual story about how an example of an experience evidences a relevant skill or ability; it will have to be something more unusual or extreme, which will capture the attention of the reader.

If I were answering this question, I think I would go for the following structure:

Paragraph 1:

1. Name the relevant quality/ability/passion and provide a brief explanation of why this is something that is deeply important to who you are.
2. Provide an example of an experience where that quality/ability is showcased in a particularly unusual/noticeable manner. To the extent applicable, you can also elaborate your previous explanation of why this is so important to your sense of self.
3. Explain how this quality/ability is connected to the any of the firm's unique selling points (i.e. if, say, the quality is a relentless passion for advocacy, and the firm is great in disputes work, there would be a clear overlap).
4. Briefly explain how this quality/ability would be relevant for your work at the firm and your success in the TC (here, there may be some overlap with step 3, so you can consider merging them into one).

Paragraph 2/3:

• Repeat the above for a new ability/skill/passion if you have available word count.

 

[Andrei Radu]

Do people actually reapply to firms where they were rejected after completing a vacation scheme? I'm just curious 🤔

I do not know how often this happens, but I definitely know some examples of people who have ended up receiving a TC after an unsuccessful VS - a firm that comes to mind where I know this happened is White & Case. Nonetheless, I know there are also some firms that do not allow replications following rejections at that stage, or who only allow them provided you can show a substantial improvement of your candidate profile. As such, if you are considering reapplying, I think you should try to directly contact the relevant firm to ask about their policy.

 

[Abbie Whitlock]

I just checked back on my application and there was a section for undergraduate modules after putting in the summarised year averages. I wonder if they’ve changed it since?

Hey!

Yes, I remember there being a section to include individual module grades when I applied last year. It might just be that they've changed it for this year!

 

[Andrei Radu]

Anyone know what I might expect from the final partner interview for Sidley? Any and all help appreciated!

Hi - I found this older TCLA post (from the 2017 cycle) and this thread from 2018 where some candidates described their experiences interviewing at Sidley. There are also some more in depth and recent descriptions of interview experiences at Sidley (from 2024 and from 2022) which you can find on the premium database here - nonetheless, you must have a premium TCLA subscription to access them.