Anyone else having a pretty bad experience this summer? Maybe its just the firm I am at but—

* No one seemed to have time for me.
* A lot of people came across as rude or unprofessional.
* The overall vibe was that associates and partners were unhappy.
* The summer events were underwhelming.
* I personally know of three people who are deciding not to accept their return offers because of the vibes and culture in the office.

Curious if this was just my experience or if others felt the same…

likehelpful
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Why would a summer associate not accept an offer when they could just accept and keep looking during 3L? A bird in the hand… please advise your fellow SAs against doing this.

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Agreed with A4. Especially fresh out of law school it’s easier to find a job at another firm while you’re at a firm. If you strike out applying over 3L (which could happen because there are relatively fewer spots at that point), you’ll be guaranteed a reasonably lucrative landing spot while you search for your next move. (Also as A6 said, the experience might be different as an associate. The people in the group could change, there could be new hires that improve the experience, changes in workflow, etc. Plus for better or worse many people make more time for junior associates than summers because you’re there for such a small window.)

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Wow. You do not want to be there. Summer experience is supposed to be fun.

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What’s the firm

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I’ve been across from W&C’s NY M&A folks a few times and yeah, they seem pretty miserable. Partners are real dicks too.

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Associates and partners being rude to Summers is odd, in my experience. I wonder of there are financial problems at the firm.

The Big Law Summer experience is not representative of what it’s like to work there. But it doesn’t make sense for it be a negative experience, given the time and money the firm invests in it.

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I suspect there are

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Sorry to hear that OP. I summered at my current firm as a 2L (and was underwhelmed by the summer program too - social aspect was fine, but the assignments were lame busywork). By contrast, I summered at regional firm my 1L and a had great experience (assignments were interesting, folks seemed like normal people, etc) but the pay was much lower than Big Law. You're always going to find folks busy/stressed/unhappy in Big Law, but at least they try to fake it for the summer program. Just weigh your options and think realistically about your odds of getting securing a job elsewhere prior to graduation. If it's a gamble, may be best to accept your lot and just plan on lateraling after 2 or so years.

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I did, but I'm anl full time associate slammed with work

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