Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may identify a number of beam directions that satisfy a transmission power condition. The UE may select a beam direction for a random access signal by choosing one of the beam directions that satisfies additional criteria, such as transmitting a random access message at the next opportunity. The transmission power may be selected based on a target receive power and a path loss for the selected beam. In some cases, if the sum of the path loss for a beam direction and the target receive power exceeds a maximum transmission power by more than a predetermined amount, the random access signal will not be transmitted using that beam. In some cases, if a response to the random access is not received, a different beam direction may be selected, the transmission power may be increased, or both.