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[QuantTrader77]

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[JJ123]

A lot of the top schools are out for you. Unfortunately, your undergrad GPA is what they look at.

Personally, I'm not sure law school makes a lot of sense for you. Even if you land a full ride to a top 14, why leave a potentially lucrative career? Certainly you can make over $100k in your current field, right?

[patogordo]

what about part time

[QuantTrader77]

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[patogordo]

all you can do is apply to t14 and see what happens. urm splitters are hard to predict and you have an unusual resume. gl tho

[northwood]

I do not want to attend law school part-time since I have the strong desire to do patent litigation. I have checked some stats, and I have seen black males with similar LSAT score but with incredibly lacking in other areas attain entry into Georgetown, Northwestern, Cornell, and NYU. I do not think I would attend any law school unless it is top 5 or 6.

I can make over $100K in my field, but I am thinking about making $400-$500K a year, If I stay in my field, I will be capped around $150K.

Very, Very few lawyers make 400-500K a year . Those that do are named partners at a firm, or have been at a firm for a loooooooong time.


are you okay with taking a paycut from 100K+ to 50K a year for the next 10 years IN ADDITION TO student loans ( or reducing your retirement accounts to pay for the costs of law school??)

[NYC-WVU]

I'm a little confused about the timing of this post considering how late it is in the cycle, but otherwise, I would say: Go for it. That EE degree is gold, at least for employment. And I have to assume the schools know enough to give you some favorability for having it. Your UGPA is obviously not great, and the GPA of the graduate degrees allegedly doesn't matter. But I think just having a PhD in aerospace and a MS in EE buys you a ton. I don't think you need to worry about having your salary drop to 50K a year for 10 years. My starting salary as an agent was more than that.
Assuming you do reasonably well in a top school, you should have no problem pulling in at least 150K after graduating. And considering the persevernace you've shown in getting your engineering degrees, I don't think making partner in an IP boutique is a pipe dream. Once you've got some clients, you could leave and start your own shop, but you might not think it's necessary.
The only potential concern is that you could be considered to be a bit . . . unfocussed.
Lastly, I don't think you need to limit yourself to HYS and CCN. Not that you shouldn't go to those schools, I just don't think you need to tell yourself "HYS or bust."

[dandoe123]

With your credentials, I'm pretty sure you'll have a solid shot at most of the T14 schools.

Having said that, I'd certainly focus heavily on the amount of debt you'll be taking on when choosing a school. With your EE degree, I personally don't think it's worth going to Harvard at sticker when you could go to some other respectable school for very little debt. Your EE degree alone (assuming you do respectably in law school) should be sufficient in landing you a job at many of the top firms.

[dnptan]

I think this is the wrong sub, hopefully a mod moves this to "What are my chances?"

Consider becoming a patent agent - this does not require a law degree.

But, since you asked: The PhD is definitely helpful in the patent field. Unfortunately, the best IP schools (Berkeley and Stanford) are very unlikely, even with your great softs, URM status and LSAT. That 2.8 GPA is just too low.

Harvard is the same deal, although I don't know why you would place H over S/Berk for IP law. Unless you were interested in Biotech.

If you REALLY want to go to law school, pick a region and go for the top 3 schools there, and blanket the T14. Even though these schools are a reach, you never know since you are AA. Considering you make 100k, application fees shouldn't be an issue. If they are, ask for waivers.

Lastly, do not go into law for the money. It's not as reliable as an engineering degree. Trust me, I'm an engineer (lol been waiting to say that credibly for a lonnnnng time). Btw, I work in IP consulting so feel free to pm me about IP-related questions, especially patent agents. We work with lawyers, sure, but some of our best clients aren't lawyers at all. Agents handle most of the IP stuff for their company/university/non-profit.

[tmn5044]

Hi
I was wonder if you can tell me how you made it out. I'm in a very similar situation. I went to PSU for my aerospace engineering degree and current attending there for MS in mechanical engineering. UGPA: 3.2 and GGPA: 3.75. I did a sample test and got 173 on the LSAT.

I also have a interesting background as well. I took 53 more credits during my undergrad year, on top of that I was running 2 different school organizations. I also spend a lot of time in my senior year doing an international AHS helicopter design project which I won first place and invited at their conference. I since parent didn't make a lot of money I had to work on the side to support myself.

[drblakedowns]

Hi
I was wonder if you can tell me how you made it out. I'm in a very similar situation. I went to PSU for my aerospace engineering degree and current attending there for MS in mechanical engineering. UGPA: 3.2 and GGPA: 3.75. I did a sample test and got 173 on the LSAT.

I am applying right now and I am in a similar situation. I am currently finishing a STEM PhD, my uGPA was <3.3 and I scored a 173 on my LSAT. I am in at UVA; WL at Cornell, Michigan, Duke, Chicago and Penn; Dinged at Berkeley and Yale; and still waiting on Harvard, Stanford, NYU, Columbia and Northwestern.