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Hi,

I'm in my 1L year at a school in the top 40. My undergrad was electrical engineering and I got a 3.71.

I've got two interviews coming up for summer associate positions, both IP related. I'm wondering what kind of grades I'll need this semester to actually get them?

I'm hoping for a 3.2, which would be top 37%ish at my school. Does anyone think that'll be enough?

It's probably pretty much impossible for anyone to answer this with any precision. The better your grades, the better your chances, I imagine. But 1L SAs can be tough because you're likely competing with a bunch of candidates for a single 1L SA position at a given firm, so simply having a certain gpa won't guarantee anything.

Agree with the above, but wanted to add that researching the firms you want will increase your chances by a lot. Don't apply to firms only because they are highly ranked (vault, amlaw, and even chambers) and they list IP on their website. Chambers is a great place to start, but some of the top chambers firms only do bio litigation. I'd go into each firm's website, then go to the office you want to work at, and look at each of the partner's and associate's bios. If they have a lot of electrical engineering people, then it's likely a good fit (though not a guarantee bc there are comp. sci people at firms doing bio work bc that's all the firm does now).

glitched wrote:Agree with the above, but wanted to add that researching the firms you want will increase your chances by a lot. Don't apply to firms only because they are highly ranked (vault, amlaw, and even chambers) and they list IP on their website. Chambers is a great place to start, but some of the top chambers firms only do bio litigation. I'd go into each firm's website, then go to the office you want to work at, and look at each of the partner's and associate's bios. If they have a lot of electrical engineering people, then it's likely a good fit (though not a guarantee bc there are comp. sci people at firms doing bio work bc that's all the firm does now).

Partially agree. Yes, always better to know what you are applying for (i.e., don't say you want to do x work when the firm/office only does y). But at the same time--and even more so for 1L SAs--its a numbers game. The more firms you apply to, the better your chances are.

UW_1 wrote:Hi,

I'm in my 1L year at a school in the top 40. My undergrad was electrical engineering and I got a 3.71.

I've got two interviews coming up for summer associate positions, both IP related. I'm wondering what kind of grades I'll need this semester to actually get them?

I'm hoping for a 3.2, which would be top 37%ish at my school. Does anyone think that'll be enough?

Why are you hoping for such a low GPA? Nearly every firm is going to find you more desirable with better grades.

When you have grades like you hope for, many other factors come into the mix, some of which you don't control (is the firm less selective, are you personable, is the firm busy, are they interviewing at other schools later,...). Not to say these things still don't matter, but if you're near the top of your class (and your EE and the firm does electrical patent work), those other factors matter a lot less. Try to get into the top 10% and you will find a much easier time getting your first job and all jobs thereafter. In other words, I wouldn't be relying on your EE undergrad alone (and top 37% is not too impressive).