Can anyone go to law school? Forum

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OneStungI

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Can anyone go to law school?

Post by OneStungI » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:23 am

Hi, I was just curious and if anyone could gimme some feedback that'd be great. Is it appropriate for a student with an engineering background in his/her undergraduate career to go into law school. Is something like this possible and does something like this make sense. If so, what areas of law might a person be able to practice, such as IP, patent, environmental? Any feedback would be great, and if I have been a bit vague in my question, i'd be happy to fill any empty spaces. Thanks

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Samara

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Re: Can anyone go to law school?

Post by Samara » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:27 am

OneStungI wrote:Hi, I was just curious and if anyone could gimme some feedback that'd be great. Is it appropriate for a student with an engineering background in his/her undergraduate career to go into law school. Is something like this possible and does something like this make sense. If so, what areas of law might a person be able to practice, such as IP, patent, environmental? Any feedback would be great, and if I have been a bit vague in my question, i'd be happy to fill any empty spaces. Thanks
It's entirely appropriate. In fact, you'll likely get a small boost from having an engineering background and it will be very helpful for patent/IP. My understanding is that in most cases, some kind of science/engineering degree is required if you want to do patent law, so you're in good shape. There are threads around here with a lot more information if you poke around the search function a little bit.

OneStungI

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Re: Can anyone go to law school?

Post by OneStungI » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:31 am

@Samara

Thank you so much for the feedback, it means a lot. Would you happen to know what kind of law school prospects i could be seeing, if I had a 3.6 gpa in UG, and around a 171 LSAT. Schools that would show strength in IP, patent, environmental.

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Samara

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Re: Can anyone go to law school?

Post by Samara » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:47 am

OneStungI wrote:@Samara

Thank you so much for the feedback, it means a lot. Would you happen to know what kind of law school prospects i could be seeing, if I had a 3.6 gpa in UG, and around a 171 LSAT. Schools that would show strength in IP, patent, environmental.
I would post in the What are my chances? forum for more feedback on this question, but to give you a brief idea: a 3.6/171 should get you in at MVP on down, except NW unless you have WE. If you apply to CCN, you have a good chance of getting at least one. Are those your real numbers, though? Your UG GPA is not necessarily the same as your LSAC GPA. Use this calculator to find out: http://www.lawpad.com/gpa_calculator/ Also, is that a real LSAT score? Many people score below their practice average, so you'll want to reassess your chances after a real score. There's a significant difference between a 3.6/171 and a 3.6/169.

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cmckid

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Re: Can anyone go to law school?

Post by cmckid » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:56 am

Reasons to go into law-

1. YOu've been working for a while in a related field, know what law is about, and can use your contacts to help you find a legal job.
2. You have a graduate science degree, and are not a dumb ass, and would like to do IP.
3. You can get scholarship money to a t14 and know what law is about.
4. You can go to a top regional school with at least a decent scholarship and have contacts in that local community.
5. You like working in a contract farm.
6. If below top 50, without any contacts- you want to be in debt for a good portion of your life just to say you are a lawyer. ( Even if you do well, you probably won't get big law, so hello debt living)

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duckmoney

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Re: Can anyone go to law school?

Post by duckmoney » Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:01 am

Yes, you can absolutely go to law school with an engineering degree. Although unless you for some reason despise engineering, I have no idea why you would. You will make better money (assuming you don't get big law, which is a reasonable outside of the top 6 schools or so), be more likely to find employment, be in less debt, and work fewer hours as an engineer. The job will probably be more enjoyable.

If I had an engineering degree, I would not be going to law school. However, political science will only take you so far.

OneStungI

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Re: Can anyone go to law school?

Post by OneStungI » Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:08 am

@duckmoney

Thanks for your input! I was just curious and wondering what kinds of options that an engineering UG background could contain for me in the future. Given the current economic climate, I was just curious of the different options that could be available to me.

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