Hi,
I’m thinking about majoring in ChemE at Cornell for prelaw, but I’m a bit worried about the low average GPAs I see in Cornell’s COE. Is it possible to maintain a 3.7-3.8 w/o drowning in work at Cornell Engr. or is that truly a rarity? Are there many prelaw majors in engineering?
I would think hard about being an engineering major and going to law school. Law school admission is all about GPA and LSAT.
My D has a friend in COE who is pre-law. It’s a tough road…but it can be done. Lots of work.
@oldfort it definitely is going to be a lot of work no matter what but I’d like to have a strong career backup option f I decide not to pursue law school and Engineering is what intrese me as a backup. That being said, some schools (e.g. Harvey Mudd ) have grading on such a difficult scale that professional programs would definitely be wary. In choosing between UIUC and Cornell i feel as though my GPA might be a bit higher at UIUC so I’m trying to decide if that’s the case.
@TiggyB62 is she a rarity or does she have others in her same position?
@oldfort is that really true? All of those patent attorneys have to come from somewhere, and most of them are engineers. I graduated from Cornell as a chemistry major with a dismal GPA and still got into a top law school. Law students with technical backgrounds are highly employable and the law schools must take that into account, at least a little, in determining admissions. @Blackdog, don’t choose your major or your college based on law school plans, I know so many people who thought they wanted law school only to change their minds later. If you can ace the LSAT though, you’ll probably be fine.
@blackdog23 I really don’t know. Her friend is mechanical eng. and wants to do patent law. The thing about Cornell is “any person any study” is so true. Students have many many different paths.
@patatty see that is what i thought! Thank you. And yes, making a decision solely for law school definitely isn’t the plan
@patatty - when did you graduate? What is dismal grade and which top law school (top 14)?
@oldfort Admittedly I graduated quite a while ago -1991. I had a 3.2 which I only achieved by loading up on 100 level electives, and I went to NYU (also accepted to UPenn). I am a practicing patent attorney and am involved in hiring at my firm - our main focus for job candidates is their undergraduate training - mechanical and electrical engineers are the most desired at my firm. Law school prestige and performance is a secondary consideration. In order to practice before the USPTO, you need a hard science or engineering degree, or enough classes in those subjects to qualify to take the patent bar. I recently spoke to a Cornell grad who was a neuroscience major that qualified for the patent bar by loading up on the extra classes. Unfortunately, she was having a very tough time finding employment in the patent field due to her undergraduate major, as it wasn’t “technical” enough, even though her undergraduate GPA was great, and she went to a decent law school and made law review.
I’m not really up on things these days, but my guess is that kind of GPA will be tough in engineering. It depends partly, of course, on how good you are at it.
But FWIW, if you do well enough on your LSATs that can compensate a good bit vs GPA. Someone of my acquaintance did not have that kind of GPA and still got in to very good law schools, quite recently.
A patent attorney with an engineering background will be highly employable from most law schools.