3.3/163, non URM, ED at Davis? Forum

[gmerch15]

UC Davis is my top school and as of now I'm right at their 25th GPA percentile (3.3) and right at their Median/75th LSAT percentile (163/164). Softs include several strong letters of recommendation and 2 years out of school working in tech sales. I studied History undergrad from a respected state school very similar to Davis and also born and raised 100 miles from Davis.

Which brings me to my question, how much of an edge would applying Binding Early Decision give me? Do I have a reasonable shot at getting in without ED? Like I said they're my top school, but I do have some marginal interest elsewhere so I would prefer to keep my options open unless ED would give me a reasonable advantage.

Tangential to that, what kind of $ can I expect with these numbers? I realize that retaking would boost chances at all the above, but right now I'm just interested in these numbers.

Thank you!

[cavalier1138]

Is Davis offering a guaranteed scholarship for ED acceptances? If not, don't do it.

With your numbers, you have a good shot at getting in, but I doubt you'd get a significant scholarship offer. Why is Davis your top school, and what do you want to do with your degree?

[gmerch15]

Davis is my top school because it places well in the region I want to practice, the Bay Area, and I have a reasonable shot at getting in with low GPA. I want to work in high tech Intellectual Property, not sure yet on transactional or litigation and I also have some interest in Privacy Law/CIPP certification. My bachelors is liberal arts, but I have some experience coding and like I said originally I have been working in tech sales for 2+ years and have worked with my company's legal team.

I know on TLS many go Biglaw or bust, but I would be happy working Midlaw.

Davis does not offer guaranteed scholarships for ED. Obviously the risk here is that I apply and get in early decision, but end up getting little to nothing is scholarship and being forced to pay close to if not sticker, right?

Another factor is that my parents are willing to pay an undetermined amount, I'm guessing about half.

For arguments sake, a 20% scholarship would cost 110k, reducing my personal student loan debt to 55k. I think that's pretty fair, or am I overlooking something? I've been able to put away nearly 50k in the bank by living at home since graduation to take care of living expenses.

[cavalier1138]

Davis is my top school because it places well in the region I want to practice, the Bay Area, and I have a reasonable shot at getting in with low GPA. I want to work in high tech Intellectual Property, not sure yet on transactional or litigation and I also have some interest in Privacy Law/CIPP certification. My bachelors is liberal arts, but I have some experience coding and like I said originally I have been working in tech sales for 2+ years and have worked with my company's legal team.

You are not qualified for patent law. Soft IP (unicorn field that it is) may be possible, but patent law requires a degree (usually graduate) in the field.

Would you be happy working in a smaller firm in some other kind of practice?

[gmerch15]

My intent all along has been soft IP work. Why do you say it's a unicorn field? The Bay Area is the tech hub of the the US and likely the world, not to say it's easy to get soft IP work, but there is certainly a need for it.

The discussion in the post below indicates that a STEM background is necessary only for patent work. Admittedly a STEM background would be beneficial in non-patent IP work, but it seems that it's not necessary. Are they wrong?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... hp?t=64668

[Jmart082]

In order to gain patent bar eligibility, you need to get at least 40 credits of hard science, or have a degree in such a field. If you're set on patent as opposed to so-called "soft IP," (eg: copyright and trademark), I'd enroll at the local community college until I've accrued enough credits (almost all of the patent attorneys I know have done this to fulfill the requirements), and then apply to your school of choice. I do think that you'd be competitive if you're going early decision, but at the same time, you must consider the fact that you cannot practice patent law without further study before proceeding.

[xjustyoursmile]

As a privacy attorney, and having gone to Davis in undergrad, it is my understanding that Davis isn't the best school to go to for privacy law for the Bay Area. Not sure about soft IP, but if you're considering privacy, it may be best to consider other schools with better privacy programs, despite their rankings. UC Hastings for example is well renowned in the privacy law field. So is Santa Clara law (more than Hastings). If UCLA, Berk, USC, or Stanford won't take you, consider applying to out of state schools with transferrable privacy programs. I went to T14 with great privacy program and got offered several internships and jobs back in Cali because of the privacy program the school offered.

Look into what classes Davis offers, what clinics they have, what journals they have, and where privacy attorneys at various forms went to if recently graduated. If privacy is not prevelant, consider another school.

Edit//

I also do soft IP, and the reason why it's a unicorn field is because there is not much demand for newly minted IP lawyers. You can certainly find a job in it, but you would need to intern at all IP jobs and get good grades to have your pick at a firm. Especially for mid law firms, they don't really have availability for IP work for new associates so it's an incredibly difficult field to get into, even in the non profit world.

You'll find an easier time finding a privacy law job, but you'd really need to focus on it at school, and you'd have to make sure Davis is the right choice for you in that field. You may change your mind halfway through law school, like most people do, so really consider the various program strengths of each law school youre thinking of going to. I went from IP to privacy halfway through because IP is difficult to crack into in terms of job availability.