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Topic: help for a prospective ip attorney... (Read 2460 times) |
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ipwannabe1352
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help for a prospective ip attorney...
« on: Jun 2nd, 2007, 1:50pm » |
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Hi Everyone,
I am very interested in pursuing a career in patent law.
My problem is my low gpa--especially since I've heard law schools don't really take into consideration school reputation or major.
A little about myself:
Double Major in Economics and Electrical engineering at a top 20 school
GPA: 3.3
LSAT: 172
Work experience as a summer intern at a law firm, a major defense contractor and other fortune 500 engineering firm (if those will even count for anything). Some other EC around school...
I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on what schools I should be looking at. I am currently looking at Georgetown and Vanderbilt (huge reaches), Emory, BC, WashU, GW, Notre Dame and Fordham. What are the career prospects like out of those schools for a patent attorney?
I am not sure if I'm too ambitious applying to schools of such high caliber with my GPA... should I be looking more into lower ranked schools with excellent IP programs such as Cardozo, Santa Clara and UHouston? Would the salary difference/career prospects be significantly different than the above mentioned schools?? (This is very important for me because I will be taking out quite a bit in loans for law school).
ANY input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
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plex
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Posts: 168
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Re: help for a prospective ip attorney...
« Reply #1 on: Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:02pm » |
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You are aiming too low, you should be easily able to get into a school in the 5-20 range with your scores. You will likely be denied at most of the schools in that range who prefer high GPA's (Boalt for example) but the rest will likely consider you or accept you, since you have an acceptably high LSAT.
You are also wrong about major not being important to patent law, its requirements are quite a bit different from general practice. A technical degree, like EE, is advantageous for finding patent law work.
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biopico
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Re: help for a prospective ip attorney...
« Reply #2 on: Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:09pm » |
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What about George Washington in DC, and Washington and Lee, Lexington, VA? 
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ipwannabe1352
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Re: help for a prospective ip attorney...
« Reply #3 on: Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:26pm » |
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Thanks for the input!
Plex-What I meant about degree not mattering was in terms of law school admissions--I've heard that schools are not likely to differentiate between a 3.3 in EE and a 3.5 in a liberal arts major.
Biopico-I am definitely considering GW... except (from my limited experience) the only person I know who attends had a 3.86 GPA in mechanical engineering and a 168, so I've always considered it a bit out of my league.
Can anyone give me some information on which schools I should look into applying (maybe even early decision) which would tend to overlook my low GPA and concentrate more on the relatively high LSAT? Any schools which are particularly lenient for engineers?
Thanks again!
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plex
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Re: help for a prospective ip attorney...
« Reply #4 on: Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:40pm » |
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Ah, yes, law schools give no weight to any particular degree, sadly. The only notably special consideration some schools give is for URM status, that is about it.
You are still aiming too low though, based off of your LSAT score. Go to lawschoolnumber.com and check the 5-20 schools, you will see if people with similar stats were able to get into each of the schools for this admissions cycle fairly easily. If no one did, its a huge reach school, if half did, it is a reach school, if everyone did, it is a safety school.
For example, you mentioned Vanderbilt as a huge reach, it isn't, with a 172 and a 3.3, there is a pretty good chance you would get in, one person with similar stats also got a small scholarship.
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| « Last Edit: Jun 2nd, 2007, 3:07pm by plex » |
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