Applied off-cycle after working at a smaller shop for ~10 months out of undergrad, showing it is possible to get your foot in the door even if it you don't come through a traditional recruiting channel. Process was a little less streamlined/timely because it was off-cycle: Was notified about first round about a month out. Had that in my office of choice (they would have done remote but I was going to be in town) on a Friday, received an email on Monday afternoon that I would be moving to the decision round scheduled for the upcoming Friday. Had decision round that Friday and despite repeated follow-up the next week regarding a decision/competing offers, it took a full week for them to get back to me and extend me an offer (for their normal notification timeline, relatively long). With all of these interviews, I think a lot of it unfortunately comes down to stuff out of your control. I was practiced which helped but sometimes it feels like you work well to solve problems with the interviewer and sometimes you don't. I really enjoyed speaking to both of my first round interviewers; thought they directed me through the case really well and found them to be super interesting/smart after speaking to them about their work and interests. The more senior interviewers during my second round were likewise nice/patient and were able to provide really candid answers about the firm and what they love/what could be improved. I really appreciated this and it was because of four pretty solid interactions that I ultimately accepted my offer. Just an FYI - I had interviewed at another similar firm and felt the interviewer was actively trying to mislead me and play both the tough client/helpful teammate at the same time which led to me not move on in the process. Sometimes you just get a jerk or you don't quite understand the case the way you are supposed to and unfortunately that's all it takes. This really shook my confidence and I wish people I spoke with were less quick to assume I needed more practice. I am quite certain that there are a ton of people at top firms who get rejected who could be superstars.