Life science PhD, 170, 3.64 Forum

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jaymo8

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Life science PhD, 170, 3.64

Post by jaymo8 » Sat Sep 08, 2018 5:13 pm

I'm graduating this year with a Life Science PhD, and got a 170. UGPA is 3.64, Grad GPA is 4.0 (doesn't really matter here though, right?).

I want to go into patent law, and am applying to NYU, Berkeley, Michigan, UVA, Duke, Texas, WUSTL, and U Washington. Do I have chances at scholarship money at any of these schools? I've made it through grad school so far without debt, and want to try and avoid as much debt as I can with law school. I've tried looking at MyLSN, but I'm curious if my PhD will make a difference at all.

QContinuum

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Re: Life science PhD, 170, 3.64

Post by QContinuum » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:42 pm

The Ph.D. will be a "soft" boost, and you'll almost certainly outperform K-JD applicants with the same uGPA and LSAT. (You're correct that graduate GPA won't really be a factor.) That said, you'll still be at a disadvantage compared to non-splitters. I suggest applying to at least the entire T13. As a splitter, you don't really have the luxury of trying to save on application fees, as acceptances and scholarship amounts are not going to be nearly as predictable as for non-splitters. I'd drop U Washington, though. Also FWIW, Berkeley tends to be on the stingy side w.r.t. schollies, so if application fees are a real impediment, maybe consider dropping Berkeley.

Make sure to apply early in the cycle (i.e., before December). Best of luck!

IPProf

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Re: Life science PhD, 170, 3.64

Post by IPProf » Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:19 pm

A PhD isn't quite like most other soft factors. Some schools really like them, and some seem pretty indifferent. I don't know whether anyone has ever gotten stats on which schools are most PhD-friendly, and it might just vary based on who is reading the file. So apply broadly and negotiate once you have offers in hand. Things could be unpredictable.

How did you assemble your list? You seem to be missing some obvious peers (Northwestern, Cornell). Though application fees are annoying, it's sometimes worth thousands to have another possibility. I was applying with a PhD and the school that I ultimately attended was not one I'd expected to; they offered much more scholarship money than their peers for idiosyncratic reasons.

mmac

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Re: Life science PhD, 170, 3.64

Post by mmac » Tue Sep 11, 2018 1:38 pm

You have a good shot at Michigan, UVA, Duke, etc. without the PhD, so that will just be a bonus.

jaymo8

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Re: Life science PhD, 170, 3.64

Post by jaymo8 » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:06 pm

Hi all,

Thank you very much for the responses. I wish grad GPA could help boost uGPA, but I get it.. I guess that's the downside of doing a challenging life science undergrad where 3.6-3.7 is a pretty solid GPA.

I assembled the list mostly off of places my family and I would want to live for 3 years during school. I've lived in Upstate NY before, and didn't enjoy it that much so I didn't include Cornell. Northwestern has been on my list, but I just took it off because I don't think I'm going to be able to get many fee waivers and didn't want to spend too much on applications. I'll definitely be revisiting my list before I put my applications in and try and revise it some more. I'll probably end up taking the advice and just pay the fees for a few more applications to hopefully get more offers that I can negotiate with.

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