Top Law Schools

Made my first deposit into UNH. I want to to Patent Law and they are top 10 in patent law. Also, I have been wait listed at Rutgers which is only minutes from my house, but not nearly as strong in patent law with a steadily decreasing ranking due to the possible Rowan merger. I do have connections and cost is not an issue for me. How long should I play the game if Rutgers could literally let you know 72 hours in advance of my acceptance?

First off, specialty rankings don't mean shit. So I wouldn't use that as a criterion for selecting a school. Additionally, Rutgers ranking has not decreased because of the possible Rowan merger, it rises and falls in a certain band just due to the fickle reporting of USNWR data. Oh, did I mentioned that Rutgers ranking doesn't matter? Because USNWR doesn't matter? That being said, Rutgers would be the better option for you. Do you have any retakes left, because I am not sure UNH is worth attending. I know you say cost is not an issue, but employment prospects should be. "Some connections" is too tenuous to go all-in on.

stillwater wrote:First off, specialty rankings don't mean shit. So I wouldn't use that as a criterion for selecting a school. Additionally, Rutgers ranking has not decreased because of the possible Rowan merger, it rises and falls in a certain band just due to the fickle reporting of USNWR data. Oh, did I mentioned that Rutgers ranking doesn't matter? Because USNWR doesn't matter? That being said, Rutgers would be the better option for you. Do you have any retakes left, because I am not sure UNH is worth attending. I know you say cost is not an issue, but employment prospects should be. "Some connections" is too tenuous to go all-in on.

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The Rover wrote:

stillwater wrote:First off, specialty rankings don't mean shit. So I wouldn't use that as a criterion for selecting a school. Additionally, Rutgers ranking has not decreased because of the possible Rowan merger, it rises and falls in a certain band just due to the fickle reporting of USNWR data. Oh, did I mentioned that Rutgers ranking doesn't matter? Because USNWR doesn't matter? That being said, Rutgers would be the better option for you. Do you have any retakes left, because I am not sure UNH is worth attending. I know you say cost is not an issue, but employment prospects should be. "Some connections" is too tenuous to go all-in on.

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Where are you from and where do you want to work, OP? Those are far, far more important questions than the things you are considering right now.

romothesavior wrote:

The Rover wrote:

stillwater wrote:First off, specialty rankings don't mean shit. So I wouldn't use that as a criterion for selecting a school. Additionally, Rutgers ranking has not decreased because of the possible Rowan merger, it rises and falls in a certain band just due to the fickle reporting of USNWR data. Oh, did I mentioned that Rutgers ranking doesn't matter? Because USNWR doesn't matter? That being said, Rutgers would be the better option for you. Do you have any retakes left, because I am not sure UNH is worth attending. I know you say cost is not an issue, but employment prospects should be. "Some connections" is too tenuous to go all-in on.

+1

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Where are you from and where do you want to work, OP? Those are far, far more important questions than the things you are considering right now.

From South Jersey and would like to stay in the South Jersey Philly Area. However, I have been told Boston is a significantly better market for Patent Law, while NYC and Philly are more focused on Soft IP. My connections are in Boston and South Jersey.

joeyc328 wrote:
From South Jersey and would like to stay in the South Jersey Philly Area. However, I have been told Boston is a significantly better market for Patent Law, while NYC and Philly are more focused on Soft IP. My connections are in Boston and South Jersey.

Go to Rutgers brah. Disregard specialty rankings/rankings in general.

Do you have a hard science background?

I don't know all that much about IP, but my understanding is that patent law in Boston is gonna be very biotech intensive, rather than other kinds of tech (computers/electrical, mechanical, etc.) that may be more prevalent elsewhere, like Silicon Valley. If your background/degree is in a different science/engineering field, it won't be of too much help in Boston. Again, just my casual observations.

i think another thing to consider is whether UNH can really get you to Boston? It seems you're competing against a ton of schools in that New England region, and wouldn't Boston firms be more loyal to Suffolk?

i'd go to Rutgers for south jersey. my family just moved there, and every attorney seems to be from rutgers. It seems to be a tier 2 that while not a golden ticket does at least place a decent percentage of students into firms, which in this economy cannot be discounted.

stillwater wrote:First off, specialty rankings don't mean shit.

This advice is usually solid, but it's usually with the disclaimer UNH may be an outlier as a TTT, but has beyond-regional portability because of their focus in IP. Their success doesn't have anything to do with specialty rankings; rather the rankings have to do with their focus.

Rankings would suggest choosing UHLC over T14 if you want IP.

Take them with a grain of salt. Well, more like a mountain of salt.

The bay area! (Norcal for all you East Coasters). All the major tech companies are right over here! Not to mention the start ups with the crazy start up capital just throwing it away on everything including legal (IP, Patent, etc).

Rutgers is TCR, but I think the cost probably makes it a bad call.

My degree is in physics with a concentration in materials. One thing that is making me leery about Rutgers is that there is only one faculty member who teaches anything IP related and its all soft IP. I feel like that is an extremely tricky situation especially when UNH has half of its faculty who have an IP focus.

What is your GPA / LSAT?

When you play the game of TTT law schools, you win or you die.