Top Law Schools

Hi, I’ve posted on here a few times but now I have some concrete stats.

Had a ~3.82ish LSAC GPA from a top 20 school. Just took lsat, got a 171.

I’m currently working as engineer in a well known oil and gas company and don’t love my job - I’m really starting to consider law now.

My problem is I’ve only been working a few months, but if I apply to law school I should do it soon.

Here are my questions:
- what are my fair chance and my reach schools?
- what kind of money am I looking at getting from schools?
- how should I go about applying to schools when I’m not 100% sure I want to leave my job? Ideally I’d save a little more to pay off undergrad loans and save for law school, but part of me wants to go to law school next year.

Basically can’t decide if I should work 1 or 2 years. But I don’t wanna apply this year and change my mind and ruin my chances for next cycle.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Interested in doing patent law.

1-2) You have a decent shot at the whole T14, although you're on the soft side for HYS, and you should apply to all of them. With your numbers you can expect substantial scholarship money from a few places. Might want to pick out a couple strong regionals too (e.g., UCLA/USC if you want to work in southern California).

3) Reapplying won't "ruin your chances for next cycle", although personally I would wait until you're 100% ready (including finances) and resolved to go. Keeps things simpler, and you'll build a relatively solid resume too.