Where to apply? Forum

[mah]

Hi everyone. I thought I should ask for some advice as I am really having a difficult time deciding where to apply to law school.

My numbers: lsat: 167 undergrad cumulative gpa: 3.84 major gpa: 3.70
Major: Computer Science.
Age: 27
University: Transfer from community college to University of California Irvine.
Work experience: 6 years before going back to school.

I am a white male and I am a non-traditional applicant. I do not have much when it comes to extra curricular activities but I did conduct research with 2 separate professors at UCI. I do have an interesting and very unique life story to write about in my personal statements.

I am interested in intellectual property law and my first choice of schools will be Berkeley but obviously the odds will not be that great.

If anyone could recommend a reasonable number of reach, realistic and safety schools to apply to it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Michael

[sophia.olive]

reachy: duke, berk, nyu, uva, michigan, cornell, georgetown
target: ucla, vandy, ut, usc
saftey: dont know, use lsn... crap...!
IP? look at the top ip law schools and apply there for safties. i think they are houston, kent, cant remeber the rest but you may be able to pull money from one of these

[2ofspades]

What is your work experience? If you had 6 years of post-graduate WE, then you can apply to Northwestern as a reach. Yours isn't post-graduate, but it sounds substantial, depending on what you were doing. I'd call them and ask how your WE would be considered to see if you can swing it.

Also, add GWU to that list.

[mah]

Thanks for the feedback. My work experience is why I decided to go back to school, ha. I worked for 3 years at a small electronics distributor as a shipping and receiving manager and then I worked 3 years for a general contractor learning various trades. I continued to work as a subcontractor and handyman to help support myself through college.

Based on LSN and LSP, I have at least a shot of being accepted to a lot of the t-14 but I want to narrow it down to maybe 3 reach schools, 3 realistic ones and a couple of safeties so I can concentrate on writing good quality essays etc.

[2ofspades]

If you were a general contractor and have a computer science degree, definitely call NW and ask how they'll treat your WE. They've got an IP journal and students closer to your age, so it could be a good fit, but it's still a reach. And I wouldn't limit yourself to eight schools - you will feel much better later on in your cycle if you apply broadly and have options. Apply everywhere sophia.olive told you and then to GWU/BU/UIUC/similar as safeties.

[sophia.olive]

If you were a general contractor and have a computer science degree, definitely call NW and ask how they'll treat your WE. They've got an IP journal and students closer to your age, so it could be a good fit, but it's still a reach. And I wouldn't limit yourself to eight schools - you will feel much better later on in your cycle if you apply broadly and have options. Apply everywhere sophia.olive told you and then to GWU/BU/UIUC/similar as safeties.

+1

[094320]

..

[merichard87]

Do you have a graduate degree? If not you might be a hard sell to Northwestern. They really push advanced degrees in IP and Computer Science is not a highly sought after IP field in the first place. Apply to 7-14 of the the T-14 and any strong regional schools you are interested in but I don't think you should have to go lower than T-20.

Also throw in an ED to one of the T-14 if you are that interested.

[mah]

Thanks again for responding everyone. I am not planning on retaking the LSAT as I took a prep course and spent many hours studying and never scored over a 168 on my practice exams. I do not have a graduate degree. I like the idea of applying to 7-15. Is it really worth applying to anything below 7? My last question is regarding safety schools. Would schools like Minnesota and George Washington be considered safety schools for someone like me or should I go much lower with something in the range of Hastings? Oh ya, one more thing... Does anyone else have an opinion on ED and if so, which school?