<p>Hey im only a rising senior in high school but ive been reading up on Patent Prosecution and it really interests me. This, of course, means I would have to get a BS adn then go to law school. As ive already stated, I want to major in Mechanical Engineering. Now my question is this: knowing that engineering is considered one of the hardest majors, is it very difficult to maintain a GPA good enough for a top law school as an eng. major at a good school? What are the best ways to do so? I'm a little worried, based on what ive heard (which isnt much), that engineering kills gpa. any advice for a naive high schooler?</p>
<p>The mechancial engineering degree is a very challenging program. There is no doubt about that. But if you study hard and work hard, you can graduate with top scores (which you will need for law school). Incidentally, I think Mech E with Law is a great career goal and I wish you the best with it.</p>
<p>thanks...i didnt know anything about it until someone posted it as an option here. Looking into it, it seems perfect. You get to help inventors and deal with tons of cool new innovations and technologies, while making good money in a business environment. Sounds perfect for me :D Yet Im still worried, but you think if i work hard enough in college it is not so hard to maintain a high enough gpa for law school?</p>
<p>p.s. Is Mechanical engineering fine for finding jobs? It seems like a lot of jobs want Electrical Eng or Comp. Sci, but Id much rather do electrical</p>
<p>Andrassy,</p>
<pre><code>I've known several students who have gone from mechanical engineering to law school. They are all lawyers now and doing well. It can be done, but certainly your grades will be important. There are tons of jobs for mechanical engineers! It is a very broad field with lots of opportunities.
</code></pre>
<p>i read somewhere that you can become a patent agent just by taking an exam. In other words, you dont have to go to law school to become a patent agent. Can anyone confirm this?</p>
<p>Yes, it's true that patent agents do not need to be licensed attorneys. However, they are limited in what they can do. Patent agents prosecute patent applications that are filed with the patent office (ie help get patents issued) so an engineering background can be very helpful for this position; but they cannot act as an attorney or represent their clients in a court of law. Typically there is a huge salary difference in being an agent vs a lawyer and often patent agents will go on to get a law degree that will allow them to do more things in the area of patent law, and increase their salary potential. It would be a great job to start out in if you haven't decided on law school yet or while going to law school.</p>
<p>How big is that salary difference? How much would someone starting out as a patent agent make compared to someone starting out as a patent attorney?</p>
<p>My advice is that one should only study engineering (any engineering field) if one is interested in it enough to want to become an engineer. Engineering studies are difficult and strenuous; one should only take those courses if one likes the subject. Otherwise one would spend four years in an unhappy situation.</p>
<p>If you like the subject but after exposure to it, would rather write about it than practice it, then becoming a patent agent or a patent attorney is a path to look into. Patent agent is all right for a while or if you are much older, bit for a recent college graduate it quickly has its limits, which is why (as Scanmom said) many patent agents eventually try to go to law school. </p>
<p>If you are a good writer you might also look into becoming a science reporter or technical writer.</p>