Congratulations! I unfortunately don't have any advice for you as I'm in a similar position to where you were last year...would you mind sharing what you did differently this year? Thanks
Hey Kubed! I have to admit, I found the rejection super hard last year, and was very unmotivated to try again but glad I did, so definitely just apply again if its what you want.
I think what helped this year was attending one or two events prior to applying. So for Hogan I met them at a legal cheek online event before applying and asked a question or two, and for Baker I attended one of their open days which definitely helped. In my feedback call, the partners specifically said the fact that I could point to a conversation with a trainee at the open day about his work within BakerMckenzie as one of my reasons for why baker was very helpful.
And the second thing I'd say for me was trying to include at least a couple of researched points about a firm in the apps (which i did little of first time around), and like its not like I had entirely distinct reasons for why this firm, some points were pretty generic but definitely having one or two that is unique to that firm helped me I feel.
Hope that helps a little and best of luck with apps!