CarlyIN wrote:sunynp wrote:Lol you should have said you have a rich husband so you don't care how much it costs. Most people don't have that luxury. Even people who do have that luxury try to maximize their scholarships by negotiating competing offers. To do that they have to apply to more than one school. You said you were applying to one school and I wanted you to know at least one reason why it was a mistake. It didn't appear from your posts that you had considered that angle.
I also think you misunderstood me. I never said you didn't work hard. What I meant was that law school classes, law school exams and the law school mandatory curve are completely different from the type of exams and experiences that science graduate schools have. The mandatory curve, in my experience, is harshest to those who assume they can just work hard and do well. In science hard work generally equals good grades - this is not the case in law school. I don't know if your science background will save you if you don't get the grades- yet another reason to apply more broadly ( though your gpa and LSAT might be an issue.)
I think you may also be mistaken about many other aspects of law school. However as you feel you are quite well informed, I'm happy to leave you to it.
Different tone in this message than the last...Honestly, I would not take any advice from you considering you believed that you could compare grad school to law school having never attended the former. I think you are arrogant and a waste of my time...now that is "harsh". "I'm happy to leave you to it"...please do!
I think sunynp's advice was good but was just misinterpreted. Law school admissions IS different from graduate school admissions. I am just like you (engineering B.S. and M.S.) so I'm familiar with graduate level research and the classes, etc.
What he meant is that the legal field is different from science field. Take for example, employment. For most scientists and engineers, employment is based on research interests and there are usually good prospects for people graduating with science degrees because your research is novel, and there are few people focusing on aspects of the field which you are studying. In law, everyone is law school pretty much learns the same curriculum, and with the number of schools out there as opposed to the number of graduate programs out there, there is an oversupply of lawyers. So employment is more focused on where you went to school, where you graduated in your class, etc. Whereas in science, your employment prospects come from your research experience and publications. Some may argue, that in law, it's tough to distinguish yourself since your in an entire professional industry.
Second, the admissions process is also different. Graduate school admissions is more holistic and focused on individual interests and general fit with departments and professors. If your research experiences are stellar, your GPA/GRE scores are forgiven. This is because graduate schools are ranked on their research prospects and the grants they receive to conduct it. So, in their eyes, excellent research skills will yield more successful graduate researchers, rather than people with high numbers. In law school, there are more applicants than there are for specific graduate programs, so the schools cannot adopt a holistic admissions process to evaluate over 7,000 applicants. Second, the schools are ranked only on undergraduate GPA and LSAT score, so their biggest motivation is to make sure their numbers are high.
The overall difference between science and law is that science is driven by research, law is driven by prestige. As a researcher, the school you went to is less important than your actual experience in the field. In the law field, your employment after school is directly related to a combination of where you went to school and where you graduated in your class.
Good news is that with your experience and your background, you are patent-bar eligible, which gives you a competitive advantage looking for legal jobs in patent prosecution
after law school. Your graduate degree also makes you more competitive because you can justify higher billable hours and IP firms love to advertise the number of lawyers they have with advanced degrees.
Hope this helps you out!
) I have worked for one year as a faculty member at a well-known private university in the Midwest (once again, big deal in the science world...). 
