Switching to law. Forum

[Engr2Lawyer]

I am an Engineer working for a chip making giant in the US (Arizona) with a Masters in Optical Engineering. I've had a pretty successful career so far but I have come to realize that Engineering has a low ceiling once you reach a certain point (probably a debatable point depending on who you talk to). I want to go back to school, and as I weigh my options - Business school, PhD or Law, it became abundantly clear that Law would be the right thing for me. Also, my wife is currently a 2L at Arizona State so I kind of know what the law school grind is like.

I know I want to go into Patent law and work at a top law firm in the Phoenix area. My plan is to take the LSAT in October 2015 and have started studying for the test using Powerscore. I also want to take the patent bar later this year and get exposure working as a patent agent part time.

I am targeting Harvard, Stanford and Berkley and I know it will take at least a score close to 175 for me to make that happen. The problem is that my Undergraduate degree is from Pakistan where its really hard to get a decent GPA, so I have a mediocre GPA of 3.58 in Mechanical Engineering (Even though I was ranked 3rd in my graduating class and the school is top ranked in that country). I don't think LSAC takes into account your Masters GPA (?), which is slightly better (3.73).

Assuming I pass the patent bar, score between 170-175 in the LSAT and with 7 years work experience at a top tech company, what would my chances be at my 3 dream schools? What other things should I be doing to help my transition from Engineering to law?

[twenty]

For starters, don't get hung up on "Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley" because all three schools have this thing for high uGPAs. Also, go actually take the LSAT -- the difference between 170 and 175 is pretty significant, and it's a bit silly to try and predict your chances when you don't have an actual score yet.

For the time being, enjoy mylsn + LST.

[FSK]

Why JD and not MBA? 7 years w/e, tech background, you seem perfect for that path?

[twenty]

Because it's better for him (given his goals) to spend more money on the law school front than to skimp on the law school expenses and get an MBA alongside it.

eg.

UofA with a full tuition scholarship + UofA MBA = 125k over four years

Northwestern/Cornell/Duke with a >half scholarship = 150k over three years

[Hand]

Your foreign undergraduate GPA doesn't really matter, as it won't be reported.

[Engr2Lawyer]

Because it's better for him (given his goals) to spend more money on the law school front than to skimp on the law school expenses and get an MBA alongside it.

eg.

UofA with a full tuition scholarship + UofA MBA = 125k over four years

Northwestern/Cornell/Duke with a >half scholarship = 150k over three years

Can you elaborate on what types of opportunities open up to you if you do a JD/MBA?

And yeah I'm taking the LSAT seriously, its a beast for sure. But Stanford and Cal are top schools for IP so I would really like to earn the right to go there.

[Engr2Lawyer]

Your foreign undergraduate GPA doesn't really matter, as it won't be reported.

I saw a similar post by someone on TLS forums but I couldnt find an undergraduate exception on any of the schools websites. Do you have a reference for this? Thanks.

[Hand]

[twenty]

And yeah I'm taking the LSAT seriously, its a beast for sure. But Stanford and Cal are top schools for IP so I would really like to earn the right to go there.

Knowing that your GPA won't be calculated by LSAC, you may actually have a shot at Stanford or Cal.

[Engr2Lawyer]

And yeah I'm taking the LSAT seriously, its a beast for sure. But Stanford and Cal are top schools for IP so I would really like to earn the right to go there.

Knowing that your GPA won't be calculated by LSAC, you may actually have a shot at Stanford or Cal.

Well that's good news!

Now how does a JD/MBA fare as an entry level attorney? larger pay? Promotion prospects?

[Engr2Lawyer]

Your foreign undergraduate GPA doesn't really matter, as it won't be reported.

I saw a similar post by someone on TLS forums but I couldnt find an undergraduate exception on any of the schools websites. Do you have a reference for this? Thanks.

Your foreign transcripts will be forwarded by LSAC to AACRAO (see here: http://www.lsac.org/llm/application-pro ... -graduates), who will generate an equivalency report, which does not report a GPA, but only a generic ranking of your performance as "superior", "above average", "average", or "below average". Here is an example of such an equivalency report: http://ies.aacrao.org/about/course.pdf

Edit: note that while your particular undergrad institution may use a letter grade scale (so that a GPA is available), most universities outside the US and Canada do not, and even when they do, it's not always clear whether an 'A' at a school in, say, Pakistan, means the same as an 'A' at a school in the US.

Thanks, this was very useful!