Engineering student worried about law school acceptance

Hi,

I’m in community college (save money) and I am going to start taking my electrical engineering courses. I have completed my core classes and my gpa is 3.43. It was 3.56, until my French class took care of that. I have less than 30 credits, so it would be easy for me to get my gpa up, IF I was taking a liberal arts degree, not engineering.

If I did take the easier route, what if I don’t get into law school after all that work? That is why I picked engineering. I can at least get stable, well payed work if I don’t get into law school. This was a rational decision I made, but I still would love to go to law school. I will do my best in my engineering classes, but I know it won’t be as high as it could in another degree. If anyone has any advice or wisdom it will be immensely appreciated.

That’s a good engineering gpa. But geez, whenever the end goal is professional school (law, medicine, etc), most people think it’s best to stay away from majors with really low average gpas (like engineering). That’s because these schools put alotttttt of emphasis on exam scores and grades.

However I think you still have a shot because adcoms will know that engineering is a hard major.

Are you interested in patent law? If so engineering is a great choice.

I haven’t chosen a specific field of law, but I did read that an engineering background is great for patent law. If/when I I go to law school I will definitely explore that option.

An engineering degree automatically qualifies a person to sit the USPTO exam. (You’ll still have to take a prep course and study to pass it.) Various science degrees also qualify a person (physics, chemistry, computer science programs if properly accredited, but generally NOT biology, zoology, psychology, etc.). There are also some alternative paths to establish eligibility to take the exam (pass the Functional Engineering exam, take enough credits of “hard” science courses without regard to your degree, etc.). The vast majority of lawyers do not have a science/engineering background and are not eligible to sit the exam. I repeat: most lawyers are not allowed to even attempt the exam.

Patent law is the only specialty that has its own licensing/registration requirements. Any J.D. can hang out his shingle and call himself a tax attorney or Supreme Court specialist or whatever. Only those with a registration number from the USPTO can call themselves Patent Attorneys.

Patent prosecution is basically the only field of law that has significant present and projected future unmet demand. That means you are likely to be able to find work, period, if you have your PTO registration. I cannot say the same for any other new law graduate.

It is my opinion that studying the sciences (including engineering) much better prepares a person for the LSAT than a liberal arts education does, and the LSAT score is the single most significant factor considered in law school admissions. Most law schools will take a lower GPA applicant if they bring a high LSAT score, but won’t take a sub-par LSAT score regardless of GPA.

I am a registered practicing Patent Attorney. I went to an ordinary public university where I earned a cumulative GPA below 3.0 in a science major, and then went to an Ivy League law school where I graduated in the middle of my class. I love my work and cannot overstate how great I think this field is, for people who like science and technology.

Thank you for such a detailed response. I have read that engineers tend to do very well on the lsat. i was mainly worried that even with a high score, my gpa would disqualify me.