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.

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. [/quote

]

Except it’s not. I had a mediocre LSAT an finished 7th in my class of 250. Law school just made sense to me in a way nothing else ever had. I just got it. I have since successfully passed the bar in more than one state (and in a “hard” state). Personally, I think extreme focus on lsat is stupid but I get it. They need something standard and grades are subjective and heavily inflated these days.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree that attending a T14 isn’t a necessity. More than 90% of practicing lawyers didn’t go to a T14. If it helps I got into a T14 off the WL. Law schools have relatively small classes and may need to use WLs fairly extensively to manage enrollments.

[Anonymous]

Definitely there’s law schools for that normal GPA. Take practice tests for LSATs. If he has common sense, logic, good reading skills he should be fine.

[Anonymous]

I think that law schools focus so much on LSAT scores because of ratings and public perceptions. When applicants think about the quality of schools, median LSAT scores are a big factor IMO. Nothing is easier to point to than high median LSAT scores. To a lesser degree the same thing goes on with undergraduate schools and SAT scores. Stupid but true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that law schools focus so much on LSAT scores because of ratings and public perceptions. When applicants think about the quality of schools, median LSAT scores are a big factor IMO. Nothing is easier to point to than high median LSAT scores. To a lesser degree the same thing goes on with undergraduate schools and SAT scores. Stupid but true.

It's all about US News Rankings. That's the whole reason.

[Anonymous]

US News rankings are fairly ridiculous but they changed the factor weightings. Now, the bigger factors are on outcomes—bar passage rates and employment stats.

[Anonymous]

This was years ago, but I had a not-so-high gpa and everyone wanted me anyway when my LSAT score was 95th percentile. And then I did really well in a fairly highly ranked law school, and got a pretty great job after that.

Has he taken a practice LSAT to get an idea of where he falls? I taught for Kaplan and so I have a bit of experience with the likelihood of getting scores up with prep, and now that the logic games section is gone, the likelihood of getting scores up significantly is lower (the games were the most coachable section).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree that attending a T14 isn’t a necessity. More than 90% of practicing lawyers didn’t go to a T14. If it helps I got into a T14 off the WL. Law schools have relatively small classes and may need to use WLs fairly extensively to manage enrollments.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree that attending a T14 isn’t a necessity. More than 90% of practicing lawyers didn’t go to a T14. If it helps I got into a T14 off the WL. Law schools have relatively small classes and may need to use WLs fairly extensively to manage enrollments.

Is what you did in the past applicable to today's job market?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree that attending a T14 isn’t a necessity. More than 90% of practicing lawyers didn’t go to a T14. If it helps I got into a T14 off the WL. Law schools have relatively small classes and may need to use WLs fairly extensively to manage enrollments.

Is what you did in the past applicable to today's job market?

Yes. Nothing’s changed from what’s said above.

[Anonymous]

They care about LSAT because it's highly correlated with bar passage rate. Bar passage is the single most important statistic for a law school.

[Anonymous]

Law school is definitely an option, but that GPA will certainly impact the admissions process, given the importance of the medians (Spivey and 7Sage have helpful median trackers). Good full-time work experience and a great LSAT should make a difference. One can also apply to certain schools with a redacted review (e.g., Wash U), choosing not to report the GPA, which would really help this candidate, assuming a strong LSAT. There is a lot of information out there for candidates on reddit lawschooladmissions, lsd.law, and the amazing "Admissions A2Z" podcasts/videos by Michigan's Dean Sarah Zearfoss that will give a sense of the recent, highly competitive cycles.

[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.

Would be patent lawyers don't need T14 or bust, so it's a lot easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree that attending a T14 isn’t a necessity. More than 90% of practicing lawyers didn’t go to a T14. If it helps I got into a T14 off the WL. Law schools have relatively small classes and may need to use WLs fairly extensively to manage enrollments.

Is what you did in the past applicable to today's job market?

Yes. Nothing’s changed from what’s said above.

+1

-- a lawyer who does hiring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Would be patent lawyers don't need T14 or bust, so it's a lot easier.

Nobody needs "T14 or bust."