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Hi TLS,

I have an idea about how this is going to go from all of the reading I have done on here but it will be nice to get some advice unique to my situation so here it goes.

My goal is to get into intellectual property law. I have a degree in Biomedical Engineering from a top 20 University. My GPA is far from stellar as you can see, however there is definitely an upward trend. Some things that may be considered soft factors are that I have two really good engineering design projects on my resume (one in particular that has some esteem), I will have 2 years of work experience at big engineering companies by the time I apply (next year) and 3 years of experience by the time I plan to attend. I have good extracurriculars including an organization where I was on the executive board.

My questions for you are:

1. What are the best schools I have a shot at? Do I have any chance whatsoever at Northwestern, Cornell, Georgetown or Austin as I stand now? What about Vanderbilt, Minnesota, GW, Wash U or Emory? Or even Fordham as I am a New Yorker and I love the city.

2. With the schools you picked, what do you think my job prospects are providing that I perform well?

3. In the next year what can I do to improve my chances of getting into better schools? I know retaking the LSAT is the general answer, but my PTs leveled off at around 167/168 and I am afraid of performing lower. How much would performing lower hurt me? And lastly, would passing the patent bar help at all?

Thank you for your time anyone who replies I know I said a mouthful. I appreciate any advice you all can give.

You should at least try to shore up your LSAT skills and give it another go, unless you really, really think you have topped out. As for scoring lower, the great majority of places only look at your highest score, but I still think you would not want it to be much lower. A 167 or 168 probably would not hurt at all. A 172 or higher, of course, would be very helpful. I am in a similar boat gpa-wise, and I am still thinking about retaking a 172.

Northwestern would be the perfect school for you with low stem gpa, an IP focus, and solid work experience.

Unfortunately, you'll have to cop a 171 (or minimum 170) to be eligible for NU. Retake October. With your current LSAT, if the 170 holds this year you'll be a long shot, and UMN or GWU will be your new targets.

You dont have to take the patent bar yet; that will have no impact on admissions, although it could help at OCI (patent eligibility is what is key).

Re: previous poster, retaking a 172 is dumb with sub-3.0 GPA. No schools where you would be eligible have medians over 170 or 75ths over 172.

People with similar stats were getting big scholarships at T25s this year. Since OP is IP eligible and wants to do IP, does he really need to retake the LSAT?

Retaking couldn't hurt, obviously, but if the IP job market is as good as people say I would think OP doesn't need to worry about getting T14. (Disclaimer-I know nothing about the IP legal market besides what I read on the internet.)

Thanks for the replies all of you.

ws81086n, part of me thinks that I topped out on my LSAT score even though I was consistently getting better up to the point of taking the test. You may have inspired me to give it a few weeks and see if I can get PTs into the 170s. I don't see a reason not to at this point.

jbagelboy, Northwestern would be a dream school for me. I am considering applying ED there just to give it a shot. Do you think applying ED would give me a better shot or still slim chance unless I improve my LSAT?

you'rethemannowdawg, from speaking to a handful of professionals I think (and hope) you are right about the IP legal market. I spoke to someone who does hiring in big law and they said they only look at applicants from T20 with few exceptions. But hey, not getting a job in big law isn't the end of the world so long as I can get a job. Do you know which T25 schools specifically were accepting people with similar stats?

unfortunately if the ED to northwestern still carries a full ride then they would probably just move your app to RD.

NU ED comes with a full ride attached, it is much harder to get ED than to just get in. Trust me, settle in for a year, study till there is nothing left on the LSAT you can't do while asleep, cop 171+ and you'll look good for NU.

Oh wow, was not aware that ED Northwestern was full ride attached. Thanks for the heads up. I will give the lsat another go.

Any thoughts on ED to Cornell, Georgetown, UT Austin or Vanderbilt? Or possibly GW? With my current stats.

All

b2r90 wrote:Oh wow, was not aware that ED Northwestern was full ride attached. Thanks for the heads up. I will give the lsat another go.

Any thoughts on ED to Cornell, Georgetown, UT Austin or Vanderbilt? Or possibly GW? With my current stats.

All very bad with that gpa except gw and maybe gulc. Either retake and northwestern, or go for free at a worse school, or don't go.seriously.

b2r90 wrote:Do you know which T25 schools specifically were accepting people with similar stats?

http://mylsn.info/4nep6z

UMN, WUSTL, GW and Alabama. From what I remember, WUSTL and UMN were giving out substantial scholarships to people above their LSAT medians.