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[Desert Fox]

With that good of a GPA why not get a PhD?

[unemployable]

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[unemployable]

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[MtCore]

Wait, marketable + portable engineering degree yet so uncommon that it would out you?

Anyway...it's only October so you have time to continue the job hunt. Top 10% + good engineering college should have no issue landing some position. The question is how narrow your interests are. If you are looking only at pure engineering position and your field is stagnant or crowded (e.g. Civil or BME), then it may be tough. However, it should be manageable with your stats (work on the interview and don't take rejections personally).

If you are willing to consider other areas, then the search should be much easier. Consulting firms (Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, etc.) and finance companies are happy to hire people who are quantitative/problem-solving oriented. If you have programming/data analysis experience, consider targeting some applications to tech/data analytics groups that straddle business/engineering skills (e.g. tech group in a bank, data science group in any industry). Apply even if you only plan to work for 1-2 years while prepping for the GRE/GMAT. The experience will be helpful for 1) Adjusting to life after school, 2) law firm interviews, and most importantly 3) Keeping your options open.

I wish I tried more things in my field before going to law school. If you were originally drawn to engineering by some passion, then you may regret not experiencing the richness of your field. If you weren't...then geez that's a hell of a way to slog through 4 years. It's worth looking at career trajectories after college as well...I think you will be surprised where people (especially engineers) go and the possibilities out there. You don't have time to figure all that out right now. Again, this makes keeping your options open important while you evaluate your interests/goals (maybe work/money barely matters to you compared to free time, location, hobbies, significant others, etc.).


Edit: Saw your post on # of apps/rejections. That's a very low amount so don't take any of them personally...
It does make me wonder what your motivations for Biglaw are though. Is the field you're applying to that small? If so, kinda wondering why you picked such a narrow field unless there was something that you liked about it. Taking the plunge immediately into law is an interesting switch......

Re: your concerns -- yes social skills can tip the balance in most client facing businesses (e.g. law)...but you kind of need them for any field. Not so much for landing biglaw through the traditional path (good GPA/OCI) since you just need to hold it together for a few interviews (personal view). If you want to kill it at biglaw recruiting with a median GPA, then that's a different story since good networking can be a huge asset.

[McAvoy]

I have a real LSAT score which is either a 172, 173, or 174. I'm just paranoid about being outed.

Because of those racist posts you made in the lounge? Or you can't stand the idea that someone might find out you sought career advice?

[Attax]

Is it actually portable and marketable, or is it something that is really niche like nuclear health radiation engineering (a degree a friend of mine got) that was supposed to be portable and marketable but now you realize that a MechE could do your job too so they get hired instead.

[unemployable]

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[unemployable]

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[unemployable]

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[MtCore]

Sorry to hear that. You are still good for applying to general consulting and analyst positions as long as you can express some interest/knowledge of them. You have better cards to play than most people. Tacking on an interest in client interaction (consulting), industry (e.g. healthcare), business, etc. can open up options.

Lots of engineers jump immediately to non-engineering jobs for the reasons you mentioned. It's a little late to develop a story for certain areas (e.g. pure finance/ibanking), but you still bring to the table all the skills/challenges you put up with in engineering and have a flexible reason for wanting to work in X field -- more social interaction/interest in work outside engineering.

Edit: Not sure how interesting law school/most jobs will be to you since there is a lot of busy work particularly in law. Can't really comment on whether the social scene/working with lawyers is an improvement -- TLS tends to be pretty cynical about it. Might fit you better since it on average is more social (school at least)? Life in Biglaw might turn that upside down (those working there for a few years can comment better than me).

[pancakes3]

With a 3.86/173 STEM degree the OP is knocking on the door of HYS and was already accepted into two top 10's. I don't think we need to fight him on going to LS.

With respect to the original questions the OP asked:

Sticker: Debt is not optimal but if you're in the top 10 sticker is manageable. I would say if you get HYS, go for it but outside that ignore the rankings and follow the money.

Something wrong with you: Probably not. I had a bunch of niche engineering friends end up getting Masters and PhD's because of the job prospects. Technically there are jobs but it's not guaranteed placement. There's also an element of hustle, luck, and networking. It's definitely not applicable to law school. You get the requisite GPA/LSAT and it doesn't matter what you majored and where you went.

Public speaking: Probably the biggest preconceived lie about law school. You don't have to be a good speaker to do well in law school. Just do the readings, grasp the concepts, and analogize those concepts to hypothetical scenarios. The merits of your arguments are in the content of your words, not the delivery.

[BeenDidThat]

Read as "Can't get a job. Want more debt." See how dumb that sounds?

[McAvoy]

Sticker: Debt is not optimal but if you're in the top 10 sticker is manageable.

I hope you were giggling when you wrote this

[TheSpanishMain]

talk about fish!

Thanks Greg.

Sticker: Debt is not optimal but if you're in the top 10 sticker is manageable.

I hope you were giggling when you wrote this

[jbagelboy]

you won't pay sticker with 173/3.86. you can get at least a half tuition scholarship to a top school, if not more than that.

you'll be eminently hirable in law school and you'll probably get a 1L SA if your fall grades are decent at a top law program.

re: jobs out of college, it sounds like you struck out at a few positions looking for EE, MechE or ChemE grads, but you definitely haven't struck out of work altogether. I got my job after graduation from college in january/february at a well regarded consulting firm. I think you are being paranoid.

When you have job offers, you can weigh them against your scholarships and admissions at law schools. Mostly likely, taking the job will be superior. In the unlikely event you truly can't get a decent salaried job, you'll have lots of great law school options discounted by $100-150K, and you'll be very well situated to land a well paying IP position during law school.

[Ohiobumpkin]

Too early to worry. You haven't even graduated yet, so don't worry about the lack of a job. I tell you what, you should take a few years and work as an engineer, make $$$, save some of that $$$, reapply when the number of entering law students is truly rock bottom, and go to a T-10 at full ride or HYS. Then profit even more.

[Freebot]

I think that the OP would have a rough time breaking into patent prosecution with a nuclear engineering background. At the very least, it is very rare for the USPTO to hire patent examiners in that field, and I haven't noticed any law firms advertising nuclear engineering positions. If the USPTO will take you, though, it's a relatively safe way to determine whether you even like patent law in the first place.

I myself am a patent examiner in semiconductor devices considering whether to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement program to do part time at Georgetown. LSAC GPA 4.0+. LSAT to be determined in a week . . .

[yot11]

OP, you are absolutely not "unemployable". The job market (despite what you might read on CNN Money) is still not great, even for engineers. It sounds like you applied to <10 jobs, which is absolutely nothing if you're cold-calling jobs with no connections. Chances are, you didn't even make it past the computer filter to get your resume to an actual person.

These days, by far the easiest way to land a job out of college is to land an internship while IN college, and do a good enough job to make them want you back. If you have no internship experience or connections, then don't be surprised at all if you don't land a job with a 3.8x and 10 apps.

I applied to 80+ positions to land an internship position (arguably easier than landing a full-time position), and I got one callback, which turned into an offer. If you haven't applied to 200 jobs (no joke here), you are not unemployable.

Remember: it only takes one.

[ChemEng1642]

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