Top Law Schools

I've heard/read conflicting arguments about the success of engineering majors in law school in terms of grades and jobs. I know Arrow had an engineering background but I was wondering if some of you guys who were/knew engineering majors who went to law school could drop some knowledge.

As for me: CS and Econ majors + Math minor

They seem to do well at my school both academically and in the job hunt.

Good luck!

gaud wrote:They seem to do well at my school both academically and in the job hunt.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! do you know specifically what kind of disadvantages/advantages they had if any?

lhanvt13 wrote:

gaud wrote:They seem to do well at my school both academically and in the job hunt.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! do you know specifically what kind of disadvantages/advantages they had if any?

I have a pretty good friend who graduated from my chemical engineering program and is now a patent prosecutor. He told me that he wishes he had taken more writing classes as an engineering major in undergrad.

LaBarrister wrote:

lhanvt13 wrote:

gaud wrote:They seem to do well at my school both academically and in the job hunt.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! do you know specifically what kind of disadvantages/advantages they had if any?

I have a pretty good friend who graduated from my chemical engineering program and is now a patent prosecutor. He told me that he wishes he had taken more writing classes as an engineering major in undergrad.

Ah :/ so I guess writing IS a pretty big issue.

lhanvt13 wrote:

LaBarrister wrote:

lhanvt13 wrote:

gaud wrote:They seem to do well at my school both academically and in the job hunt.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! do you know specifically what kind of disadvantages/advantages they had if any?

I have a pretty good friend who graduated from my chemical engineering program and is now a patent prosecutor. He told me that he wishes he had taken more writing classes as an engineering major in undergrad.

Ah :/ so I guess writing IS a pretty big issue.

He said that when you do your group projects, always try to be the person who writes the report. And, if you can, take as many writing classes your electives will allow. Unfortunately, we engineering majors don't have many options in writing-heavy classes. You may want to take some writing courses outside of your curriculum if you can afford to do so.

I know one engineering major who has also cited the amount of writing in law school to be the biggest obstacle. I would also recommend you take as many writing electives as possible. But good choice of major btw!

LaBarrister wrote:
He said that when you do your group projects, always try to be the person who writes the report. And, if you can, take as many writing classes your electives will allow. Unfortunately, we engineering majors don't have many options in writing-heavy classes. You may want to take some writing courses outside of your curriculum if you can afford to do so.

thanks for the reply. I'm definitely the one that does the writing since people say my writing is better than theirs but who knows once I get to law school.. hah

Ohiobumpkin wrote:I know one engineering major who has also cited the amount of writing in law school to be the biggest obstacle. I would also recommend you take as many writing electives as possible. But good choice of major btw!

^thanks!

so big thing is writing. I guess I'll take some writing class at the near-by CC over the summer.

On a separate note, do you guys seem to grasp the material (the law and "thinking like a lawyer") more easily? I talked to somebody that said engineers or "hard-sciences" people tend to grasp concepts better during class.. How true is this?

lhanvt13 wrote:

LaBarrister wrote:
He said that when you do your group projects, always try to be the person who writes the report. And, if you can, take as many writing classes your electives will allow. Unfortunately, we engineering majors don't have many options in writing-heavy classes. You may want to take some writing courses outside of your curriculum if you can afford to do so.

thanks for the reply. I'm definitely the one that does the writing since people say my writing is better than theirs but who knows once I get to law school.. hah

Ohiobumpkin wrote:I know one engineering major who has also cited the amount of writing in law school to be the biggest obstacle. I would also recommend you take as many writing electives as possible. But good choice of major btw!

^thanks!

so big thing is writing. I guess I'll take some writing class at the near-by CC over the summer.

On a separate note, do you guys seem to grasp the material (the law and "thinking like a lawyer") more easily? I talked to somebody that said engineers or "hard-sciences" people tend to grasp concepts better during class.. How true is this?

If you can find them, I'd suggest some Journalism writing courses since it's a bit different than writing for English Lit. Journalistic writing is much more direct and to the point and would probably serve you better if you want to be lawyer.

eric922 wrote: If you can find them, I'd suggest some Journalism writing courses since it's a bit different than writing for English Lit. Journalistic writing is much more direct and to the point and would probably serve you better if you want to be lawyer.

What do you think about Technical Writing?

edit: or philosophy? Can't find a journalism class at the near by CC

lhanvt13 wrote:

eric922 wrote: If you can find them, I'd suggest some Journalism writing courses since it's a bit different than writing for English Lit. Journalistic writing is much more direct and to the point and would probably serve you better if you want to be lawyer.

What do you think about Technical Writing?

edit: or philosophy? Can't find a journalism class at the near by CC

I would choose technical writing over philosophy. In technical writing, you will not only write, but learn grammar and sentence structure, etc. You won't get this in philosophy.

Technical writing is also good because you are taught to write objectively about something. Getting used to writing about something without getting to emotionally involved in the material should be good training for any aspiring law student.

I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

Other than LRW, writing barely matters in law school, at least 1L.

Engineers average overall.

Desert Fox wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

Other than LRW, writing barely matters in law school, at least 1L.

Engineers average overall.

could you elaborate ?

lhanvt13 wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

Other than LRW, writing barely matters in law school, at least 1L.

Engineers average overall.

could you elaborate ?

As long as your exam is readable you'll get points.

I am with DF here. You don't need to be an incredible writer to do well in law school. As long as you are able to put decent sentences together you will be alright.

Thanks Desert and AllTheLawz, I'll keep that in mind

Don't worry too much about writing. I mean you can't suck at it, but otherwise you'll be fine.

I do think the problem-solving skills I gained in a hard science helped me during law school...hard to really know though.

And job info for engineers isn't really conflicted...if you wanna do ip, you will absolutely have a boost in the job market.

soccerfreak wrote:Don't worry too much about writing. I mean you can't suck at it, but otherwise you'll be fine.

I do think the problem-solving skills I gained in a hard science helped me during law school...hard to really know though.

And job info for engineers isn't really conflicted...if you wanna do ip, you will absolutely have a boost in the job market.

I hear this, but I cannot help but worry about my simple chemical engineering degree not faring well for me. I just hope that I can find a job after law school, whether it is patent prosecution or patent litigation.

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

So, if I majored in bioengineering, currently work in public relations, volunteer as the editor of a sports news blog and enjoy writing in my free time, I should be okay?

Phew!

Okay, the lines above were a bit sassy, but I am actually glad my lack of engineering offering straight out of undergrad is paying off. Thanks for the reassuring note that my skills and hobbies might come in handy!

yeah, engineers don't seem to have fared that well...


their writing is problematic for exams.

mephistopheles wrote:yeah, engineers don't seem to have fared that well...


their writing is problematic for exams.

The engineers I know at NW seem to do all over the place. More above average than below, but not by a suspicious margin.

Desert Fox wrote:

mephistopheles wrote:yeah, engineers don't seem to have fared that well...


their writing is problematic for exams.

The engineers I know at NW seem to do all over the place. More above average than below, but not by a suspicious margin.

yeah, i could see that. the problem over here has something to do with structuring answers and not really doing the whole apply law to fact, but instead writing all of the rules and then giving a conclusory once over at the very end?

at least from what i gather from postmortems.

Desert Fox wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

Other than LRW, writing barely matters in law school, at least 1L.

Engineers average overall.

Writing clearly and efficiently is basically the only skill that matters in law school. Any shithead in high school could memorize law school material and spot issues on a torts exam. The only thing that distinguishes people is writing ability.

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I agree with everything that has been said about the importance of writing. Engineering majors who can write do extremely well in law school. Unfortunately, not many engineering majors can write well. As someone else said, journalistic writing is the most useful type of writing you can learn in undergrad.

Other than LRW, writing barely matters in law school, at least 1L.

Engineers average overall.

Writing clearly and efficiently is basically the only skill that matters in law school. Any shithead in high school could learn and memorize law school material and spot issues on a torts exam. The only thing that distinguishes people is writing ability.

Analysis bro.