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sup3rman wrote:Hi all, please help. I need to make a decision between GW Law with scholly of $15,000/year or Indiana (IUB) with $30,000/year. How about UMN (Minnesota) with $22,000/year?

I have a strong hard science background. I know GW Law is very good with IP ranking. I'm just afraid of the high cost of living there.

Is it better to go to Indiana? Since Patent Law is so specialized, do I still need the higher ranking and better location of GW Law?

Thanks so much in advance!

None of those schools are worth it at those prices. Retake/reapply is the only sensible option.

No one here is going to tell you to go at those prices. Where are you from/Where do you want to work? If you had in-state tuition at IU or UMN it wouldn't necessarily be all that bad. Out of those three I'd choose UMN. Stay away from GW, it's a trap school according to TLS superposters.

OP, a lot of people here are going to tell you to retake/reapply. However, to answer the question you actually asked I think GWU is the best choice of the three schools you mentioned at those prices. GW's employment numbers are nothing to scream at, but they are much better than IUB and UMN (http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/). The difference in cost of attendance is not insignificant, but neither are the differences in employment opportunities, including access to externships in DC during the school year.

I don't know enough about IP to comment from that perspective, but a number of students transfer to GWU from similarly ranked schools (including IUB) to take advantage of its IP program. Most of the IP people with the right undergrad degrees did pretty well at OCI (this is anecdotal and should be taken with a grain of salt).

These are just some thoughts based on the question you asked. Whether you should actually go to law school at any of these places and at those prices is probably best answered by doing careful research and assessing your personal situation. Unfortunately, you are most likely not going to get more than a chorus of "retake" on this site.

fanlinxun wrote:OP, a lot of people here are going to tell you to retake/reapply. However, to answer the question you actually asked I think GWU is the best choice of the three schools you mentioned at those prices. GW's employment numbers are nothing to scream at, but they are much better than IUB and UMN (http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/). The difference in cost of attendance is not insignificant, but neither are the differences in employment opportunities, including access to externships in DC during the school year.

I don't know enough about IP to comment from that perspective, but a number of students transfer to GWU from similarly ranked schools (including IUB) to take advantage of its IP program. Most of the IP people with the right undergrad degrees did pretty well at OCI (this is anecdotal and should be taken with a grain of salt).

These are just some thoughts based on the question you asked. Whether you should actually go to law school at any of these places and at those prices is probably best answered by doing careful research and assessing your personal situation. Unfortunately, you are most likely not going to get more than a chorus of "retake" on this site.

lol

None of them are good options

If someone gave me the option of shooting myself in the left foot, the right foot, or the face, I wouldn't pick up the gun

I mean, I guess if I HAD too I would probably shoot myself in the left foot but in this case the OP doesn't have to pick up the proverbial gun

What is your science background?

If strong background doesn't mean PhD or EE/CS masters, it isn't strong.

If you must go this year, UMN seems like the best combination of decent scholarship, low cost-of-living, and future prospects. If you're comfortable living there afterward, Minnesota has some fairly strong IP firms (e.g. headquarters of national firms like Robins Kaplan, Dorsey, and boutiques like Merchant & Gould), and places clerks at the Federal Circuit. I also heard they are reducing their class size.

BigZuck wrote:
lol

None of them are good options

If someone gave me the option of shooting myself in the left foot, the right foot, or the face, I wouldn't pick up the gun

I mean, I guess if I HAD too I would probably shoot myself in the left foot but in this case the OP doesn't have to pick up the proverbial gun

I always laugh at this argument, because there is a huge difference between choosing a law school with somewhat decent employment stats and shooting yourself in the foot. At least with a law school there is a chance of a decent outcome.

Also, OP never asked if he should go to law school. He simply asked which school is the better option. If OP is dead set on accepting one of these offers, you have done him zero good by refusing to answer his question.

In my subjective opinion, GW is a better option than the other two. It is more expensive, but OP will either be paying a ton of money out of pocket or taking out quite a bit in loans either way. GWU does have the best employment stats of these schools and that should be the focus if OP will be financing or paying out of pocket more than $150k either way.

I'd go to Minnesota, but only if your degree is in CS/EE or as others mentioned a graduate degree in chemE or life sciences. I know someone who just graduated cum laude from UMN with a hard science bachelors that wasn't EE and he wasn't able to get a job in IP. So "IP Secure" doesn't really extend universally to patent eligible folks (although it definitely helps at the U).

What's your LSAT? The right answer is probably to retake. If you want to work in the twin cities, you could at least pull a full ride from minnesota.

These types of posts show a clear lack of research by OP. Look at the schools' OCI and see the types of firms that show up for IP interviews. GW fields more PLIP interviews than any other school out there, and their OCI is >50% IP.

Also, people are downright ignorant saying that you need an EE or a PH.D. to do IP. CS is highly sought after, and bio/chem can get it done if you have lab/work experience. Not enough information to say whether or not GW @ 15k is worth the gamble... need to know about degree, WE, and post-grad goals.