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Title: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by ipwannabe1352 on Jun 2nd, 2007, 1:50pm 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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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by plex on Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:02pm 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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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by biopico on Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:09pm What about George Washington in DC, and Washington and Lee, Lexington, VA? :) |
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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by ipwannabe1352 on Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:26pm 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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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by plex on Jun 2nd, 2007, 2:40pm 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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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by biopico on Jun 2nd, 2007, 7:28pm It would be helpful to look at the statistics of law schools that you are considering: for example, GPA v. LSAT Top 1 through 5 Top 10 through 15 etc It doesn't hurt to apply for top 5 law schools in IP and also apply for some of top 10-20 law schools. |
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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by vivienleigh on Jun 3rd, 2007, 8:58am I have the same exact numbers as you (3.3/172) and have been told by pre-law advisors and law school admissions consultants that I should get in or get waitlisted at the schools ranked around #7 on down, so definitely set your sights higher. Plus, I've always thought of admissions as being somewhat arbitrary at times, so definitely take a shot and apply to all the schools you'd like to attend, even if they seem out of reach. You never know, and it's worth the application fees to have a chance. Also, try to get your applications in as early as possible because the schools will be a little less numbers-conscious at the start of the admissions cycle. Best of luck! |
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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by guest47 on Jun 3rd, 2007, 7:12pm You have a good chance at everywhere but HYS. Take it. |
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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by geez on Jun 5th, 2007, 8:04pm get with the program people lawschoolnumbers(dot)com |
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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by ipwannabe1352 on Jun 6th, 2007, 7:21pm I'm glad you are all much more optimistic than I am... I still don't think I have a shot at any T20 with my low gpa... That said, what are the career prospects for a EE patent attorney out of schools such as Santa Clara, Cardozo, and UHouston?? Thanks again! |
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Title: Re: help for a prospective ip attorney... Post by guest47 on Jun 6th, 2007, 7:39pm on 06/06/07 at 19:21:46, ipwannabe1352 wrote:
I'm inclined to assume you're joking, but in case you aren't: go to lsac dot org. Click on "Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools." Click on LSAC Data Search. Plug in your numbers and see for yourself. This calculation takes into account admission indexes and acceptance rates. Apply to all of the t14 at an average chance of 30% and your chances of getting into at least one are 90.2%. Northwestern is particularly sympathetic to splitters, and a bit further down the rankings list, Illinois is as well. |
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