Physics Major Forum

[soccerfreak]

If it helps I have also been debating for 6 years competitively.

And this. People saying this doesn't matter are ridiculous. You are after all going to law school to go into a career where you will be debating in a court room, public speaking, etc... It makes perfectly good sense to me that this would help you.

O gosh. Of course debate experience matters. It will matter because you likely have good logical reasoning skills. It will help you because you may be a natural in mock trial. It may help you when interviewing for certain jobs, or performing in a courtroom down the road. It's possible. We are saying that in the very specific situation of applying to law school, it DOES NOT MATTER. I'm not saying it shouldn't. I can see where someone new on the scene would think that it would. But it just doesn't.

[integralx2]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

[MormonChristian]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

can you elaborate?

[Blessedassurance]

And this. People saying this doesn't matter are ridiculous. You are after all going to law school to go into a career where you will be debating in a court room, public speaking, etc...

Lay off the Law and Order re-runs, will ya?

Happy New Year. Cheers.

[c3pO4]

If it helps I have also been debating for 6 years competitively.

I am national finalist in both high school and college. I do not think this will help me at all. (Speech and Debate is no better than any other run-of-the-mill soft). Sorry OP.

Parli, right? Also, Purdue doesn't have a good debate team.

ETA: Debate helps you on law school exams, and maybe you have an easier time networking because so many debaters go on to law, but it won't help much or at all for law school admissions.

[pu_golf88]

You'll be a Purdue grad, you can go wherever you want.

[cutecarmel]

So debating won't really matter as far as admissions are concerned. It won't make up for low GPA and LSAT scores. It can help during law school because you will know basic debating skills; however, you should know that as a lawyer, the majority of your time is going to be spent at the desk, typing and making phone calls. Every lawyer that I have met tries to settle and prefers not to go to court because it is time-consuming. You will benefit more from strong writing skills than from verbal debating skills.

If it helps I have also been debating for 6 years competitively.

And this. People saying this doesn't matter are ridiculous. You are after all going to law school to go into a career where you will be debating in a court room, public speaking, etc... It makes perfectly good sense to me that this would help you.

O gosh. Of course debate experience matters. It will matter because you likely have good logical reasoning skills. It will help you because you may be a natural in mock trial. It may help you when interviewing for certain jobs, or performing in a courtroom down the road. It's possible. We are saying that in the very specific situation of applying to law school, it DOES NOT MATTER. I'm not saying it shouldn't. I can see where someone new on the scene would think that it would. But it just doesn't.

[c3pO4]

So debating won't really matter as far as admissions are concerned. It won't make up for low GPA and LSAT scores. It can help during law school because you will know basic debating skills; however, you should know that as a lawyer, the majority of your time is going to be spent at the desk, typing and making phone calls. Every lawyer that I have met tries to settle and prefers not to go to court because it is time-consuming. You will benefit more from strong writing skills than from verbal debating skills.

If it helps I have also been debating for 6 years competitively.

And this. People saying this doesn't matter are ridiculous. You are after all going to law school to go into a career where you will be debating in a court room, public speaking, etc... It makes perfectly good sense to me that this would help you.

O gosh. Of course debate experience matters. It will matter because you likely have good logical reasoning skills. It will help you because you may be a natural in mock trial. It may help you when interviewing for certain jobs, or performing in a courtroom down the road. It's possible. We are saying that in the very specific situation of applying to law school, it DOES NOT MATTER. I'm not saying it shouldn't. I can see where someone new on the scene would think that it would. But it just doesn't.

^ thinks debate is about talking; doesn't realize debaters do more research and writing in a year than a MA student. So the average debater will have the equivalent of 4 MAs worth of analytic reasoning, research, and writing by graduation. I agree debate doesn't mean shit for admissions, but if you knew how many current clerks/biglaw rock stars and partners/top gov lawyers did college debate you would be blown away.

[kwais]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

lol

[c3pO4]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

lol

he wants the big money

[integralx2]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

can you elaborate?

Sure I can. First let me say your in a GREAT position still. You dont need that T14 school to do well if you plan to do patent obviously. Dont get me wrong that T14 school will open doors for you, but your doing patent work, which the competition for the job position dwindles down to handful of people ( in this case that T14 would most likely put you over the top !). But, if you do some research on some boutiques , and larger size firms you will notice that most patent attorneys did not graduate from T14 schools (alot are from T3/T4). The reason is because you have undergrad in a hard science/engineering which majority of law graduates DO NOT HAVE as a result it lowers your competition for that patent job. Im sure I will get flamed by all the liberal art majors but thats the hard truth. So anyway like I was saying a BS in any hard science will not land you that patent job. You need at least a PHD (experience also preferred), and NOT ALL hard sciences will get you that patent job. I am only aware of PHD in Chemistry, BioChemistry, Organic Chemistry (anything related to medicine, and other medical related fields) are in demand (and will continue). My advice get a BS in Physics, and MS in an engineering related field, and get some work experience (EXPERIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT). Unless you can somehow switch to engineering without losing time (NOT CIVIL ENGINEERING).

[c3pO4]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

can you elaborate?

Sure I can. First let me say your in a GREAT position still. You dont need that T14 school to do well if you plan to do patent obviously. Dont get me wrong that T14 school will open doors for you, but your doing patent work, which the competition for the job position dwindles down to handful of people ( in this case that T14 would most likely put you over the top !). But, if you do some research on some boutiques , and larger size firms you will notice that most patent attorneys did not graduate from T14 schools (alot are from T3/T4). The reason is because you have undergrad in a hard science/engineering which majority of law graduates DO NOT HAVE as a result it lowers your competition for that patent job. Im sure I will get flamed by all the liberal art majors but thats the hard truth. So anyway like I was saying a BS in any hard science will not land you that patent job. You need at least a PHD (experience also preferred), and NOT ALL hard sciences will get you that patent job. I am only aware of PHD in Chemistry, BioChemistry, Organic Chemistry (anything related to medicine, and other medical related fields) are in demand (and will continue). My advice get a BS in Physics, and MS in an engineering related field, and get some work experience (EXPERIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT). Unless you can somehow switch to engineering without losing time (NOT CIVIL ENGINEERING).

The crazy thing is why anybody with a hard science PHD would want to become a lawyer.

[integralx2]

I dont want to be a downer, but you will be in for a VERY rude awakening if you think you will be able to do patent work with only a physics major. I am assuming you want the big $$$(litigation and prosecution), and a BS in Physics will just not cut it. You will need at least a PHD in a hard science. I am very familiar with the patent field (currently work as an engineer), and I know a thing or two from this exposure (I was in your shoes too).

can you elaborate?

Sure I can. First let me say your in a GREAT position still. You dont need that T14 school to do well if you plan to do patent obviously. Dont get me wrong that T14 school will open doors for you, but your doing patent work, which the competition for the job position dwindles down to handful of people ( in this case that T14 would most likely put you over the top !). But, if you do some research on some boutiques , and larger size firms you will notice that most patent attorneys did not graduate from T14 schools (alot are from T3/T4). The reason is because you have undergrad in a hard science/engineering which majority of law graduates DO NOT HAVE as a result it lowers your competition for that patent job. Im sure I will get flamed by all the liberal art majors but thats the hard truth. So anyway like I was saying a BS in any hard science will not land you that patent job. You need at least a PHD (experience also preferred), and NOT ALL hard sciences will get you that patent job. I am only aware of PHD in Chemistry, BioChemistry, Organic Chemistry (anything related to medicine, and other medical related fields) are in demand (and will continue). My advice get a BS in Physics, and MS in an engineering related field, and get some work experience (EXPERIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT). Unless you can somehow switch to engineering without losing time (NOT CIVIL ENGINEERING).

The crazy thing is why anybody with a hard science PHD would want to become a lawyer.

For some its the opportunity to practice law, and for some its the money.

[r6_philly]

For some its the opportunity to practice law, and for some its the money.

You forget that for many the job prospect after a PhD is not thrilling for many reasons besides money. Love for the discipline is not the same as love for working in that industry.

[Josh363663]

With all of that in mind would it make sense to stay an extra year and get a minor or two to pad my GPA up to 3.7?

Parli, right? Also, Purdue doesn't have a good debate team.

I plan on a national title in the next 2 years. If we just had an ounce of school funding we'd kick ass but Purdue has the most whack priorities.

[soccerfreak]

With all of that in mind would it make sense to stay an extra year and get a minor or two to pad my GPA up to 3.7?

If you want to stay an extra year, that's cool, but do it because you like school or want to study something. A year of your life to maybe-possibly pad your GPA is just a waste of time, IMO. Surely you have better things to do than get a couple of useless minors.

[Mal Reynolds]

Fellow physics major here currently in law school, and I had the same questions last year when I was looking around. Sorry bud, bad news. As much as it should matter, it just doesn't. Your friends who were poli sci majors who've never even heard of a derivative or a test where the average is a 50% have their GPA looked at in exactly the same way.

I was a poli sci major and I know what a derivative is

[JCFindley]

FWIW, I was a physics major then changed to math so I could graduate on time but still a hard science. This cycle so far has gone exactly as the LSAT and GPA predictors said it would and I have some rather interesting unique softs to go with that 3.4 in math. While anecdotal, I would say the physics major will not help you preform above your numbers..... In a perfect world it should, but alas it likely won't....

JC