Law school with a lowish engineering GPA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

DP. LSATs are standardizing measure across candidates. Extremely high performance clearly identifies what talent level you have, just like getting 1580-1600 on the SATs

Just like the SAT, a school won’t attribute more weight to a standardized test than to a four year record. They look at it all, including jobs, internships, essays, etc.

[Anonymous]

It will hurt him even if his LSAT is high. Work experience will help for sure.

[Anonymous]

Definitely work for 2-5 years. He won’t get t 14 with that gpa. But he will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Sh*t op. 3.5 gpa in engineering is pretty dang good. I barely hit 3.0 in college and I studied pretty hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

Yes, LSAT is more important than grades. LSAT is the best predictor of success in law school, and law school grades are the best predictor of success on the bar.

OP -- many people on this thread do not know what they are talking about. If your kid's degree is in ME/EE and they can write and communicate well, they will have very good job prospects as long as they do well in law school. It doesn't have to be at a top law school either. There's a market for people like this in the patent world. But your kid should understand that patent law (which is just one area of IP) isn't the only place a tech background can be useful for lawyers. Law & tech is a huge field with many possibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

DP. LSATs are standardizing measure across candidates. Extremely high performance clearly identifies what talent level you have, just like getting 1580-1600 on the SATs

Just like the SAT, a school won’t attribute more weight to a standardized test than to a four year record. They look at it all, including jobs, internships, essays, etc.

LSAT gets far more weight in law school admissions than the SAT currently gets in undergrad admissions. Law admission and undergrad admission are completely different animals.

[Anonymous]

The biggest issue to consider for possible future lawyers is AI. My guess is that AI will substantially reduce the need for entry level lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

Yes, LSAT is more important than grades. LSAT is the best predictor of success in law school, and law school grades are the best predictor of success on the bar.

OP -- many people on this thread do not know what they are talking about. If your kid's degree is in ME/EE and they can write and communicate well, they will have very good job prospects as long as they do well in law school. It doesn't have to be at a top law school either. There's a market for people like this in the patent world. But your kid should understand that patent law (which is just one area of IP) isn't the only place a tech background can be useful for lawyers. Law & tech is a huge field with many possibilities.

Have you been paying attention to law school admissions this year?

Yes, job prospects will be great but getting into the schools of choice/and or financial aid from the schools is the bigger issue. My KJD dc has a 3.8 and 170s LSAT and is waitlisted everywhere. He is not alone. Work experience will definitely counter this.

[Anonymous]

Dh had 3.1 in engineering in a competitive program, did well on lsat and ended up at a t14. Didn’t end up practicing and works at uspto. Has # of friends at pto who did practice but went to pto anyway for better work life balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look into whether IP law makes money.

I've known people who went into that (not from top law schools) and it's not big money.

Also...being a US Patent Office Examiner has issues.

Be sure the ecosystem is healthy before investing in law achool to join it.

IP law at good, elite firms is very lucrative. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Also in large entertainment in house departments:

[Anonymous]

Depending on the undergraduate institution, a 3.5 gpa in engineering combined with a high lsat score can gain admission to a t5 law school. Full stop. Tell your kid to study for the lsat.

[Anonymous]

Law schools don’t care about your major. A mediocre GPA will be seen as mediocre

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into whether IP law makes money.

I've known people who went into that (not from top law schools) and it's not big money.

Also...being a US Patent Office Examiner has issues.

Be sure the ecosystem is healthy before investing in law achool to join it.

IP law at good, elite firms is very lucrative. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Also in large entertainment in house departments:

PP. My point was...not everyone makes it to the top of the food chain. Maybe you are there but a lot of people don't make it. OP's kid has a good GPA for an engineer to get an engineering job but it doesn't look like a top GPA. So if OP's kid doesn't get into a top law school and has to pay full tuition at a second-tier school, it might have been better to stick with engineering. That's my point.

I have a friend who went to Harvard Law and got stuck in a smaller metro due to divorce and it's been very hard for her to get work and pay befitting her talents. Once upon a time, she had a prestigious job in NYC and had also interned at the most prestigious firm in the small metro while at Harvard. I also know people in the IP area who've had mediocre luck and mediocre jobs.

I agree with those (as I linked to above) that find Law very hierarchical and rigid. If you don't end up on the lucrative side with ease then you might not like how things work out. DMV obviously has a good share of highly-paid lawyers. But suppose this kid wants to move to Peoria to follow a spouse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

Yes, LSAT is more important than grades. LSAT is the best predictor of success in law school, and law school grades are the best predictor of success on the bar.

OP -- many people on this thread do not know what they are talking about. If your kid's degree is in ME/EE and they can write and communicate well, they will have very good job prospects as long as they do well in law school. It doesn't have to be at a top law school either. There's a market for people like this in the patent world. But your kid should understand that patent law (which is just one area of IP) isn't the only place a tech background can be useful for lawyers. Law & tech is a huge field with many possibilities.

Have you been paying attention to law school admissions this year?

Yes, job prospects will be great but getting into the schools of choice/and or financial aid from the schools is the bigger issue. My KJD dc has a 3.8 and 170s LSAT and is waitlisted everywhere. He is not alone. Work experience will definitely counter this.

That's because your kid and so many others are believing the people who say you can only be successful if you go to a T14 law schoool. That is not true. Tell your kid to get over that, and he will be just fine. And, yes, I promise you I know more about law school admissions than you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Law schools don’t care about your major. A mediocre GPA will be seen as mediocre

They do if it's engineering. They know GPAs are lower.