They are offering my daughter 50K a year in scholarships. She wants to study intellectual property. She also has been admitted to University of Buffalo school of law with an 11K per year scholarship. Still waiting on replies from Fordam,Drexel,St John’s, Seton Hall and Rutgers. Would like some opinions on these schools, is Hofstra worth attending?
numbers? GPA? LSAT?
Does she have a physical science back ground?
Rochester Institute of Technology- BS Degree in Physics, Minor in Math 157 LSAT, GPA 3.04
Most students only take a few courses in a specialty like IP. It’s nice when a school offers those, but most classes fall into general law - torts, civil pro, contracts, etc. A school might become known for a good criminal clinic program or environmental law, but most of the grads will be able to practice any type of law upon graduation.
$50k is a lot in aid. Does it require a certain GPA to keep that scholarship for all 3 years? What has been the experience of others retaining that scholarship? Some schools give out a lot of money to first years, but if 1/2 or more of the class is losing the funding for the 2nd and 3rd years, is it really worth it?
She is only applying to schools that have an IP concentration, she wants to be a patent lawyer.
Hofstra’s policy:
Students ranked in the top 50 percent of their class after each academic year will retain 100 percent of their award.
Students ranked greater than 50 percent up to 65 percent of their class after each academic year will retain 50 percent of their scholarship.
Students ranked greater than 65 percent up to 80 percent of their class after each academic year will retain 25 percent of their scholarship.
We were just wondering if Hofstra/ Buffalo are decent schools. I believe they are lower tier schools but what is the likelihood of getting a job after graduation from these two schools as a patent attorney. I see the posted stats but would like to get some other opinions other than the schools and other rating sites.
If I’m reading that policy correctly, the better you do at Hofstra the less scholarship money you get? Why on earth would you do that?
Tell your daughter that no one cares about IP concentrations. Lots of schools market things like that, but it’s just an ad for students, not reflecting a preference of employers. She should definitely retake the LSAT and turn that 157 into a 160+. Then she should apply to schools that don’t take aid away if you do better.
Neither Hofstra nor Buffalo has great employment prospects. She should probably look to some better schools, which will be easier with a better LSAT score. The good news is that, as someone qualified to take the patent bar, she will have a leg up in employment prospects. Does she want to do IP litigation or prosecution? Has she interned or otherwise informed herself of what the job she wants entails? Also, why are you here instead of her?
She needs to retake the LSAT for at least 160+. Also, those stipulations are bad. You can’t count on being in the top 50% of your law school class due to the nature of law school exams.
For all those schools I ask the same question I always ask…where (geographically) does she want to practice? With the possible exception of Fordham, I consider all those schools “local” law schools. Especially for Buffalo (where she will not be trying to find a job in a market (NYC) that draws top law school grads), her best post-grad options will be in upstate NY.
She want to work close to home. NYC/Long Island area.
I had to go to the website and read it about 3 times. The top 50% of the class keeps their full scholarships, the next 15%(35-49% of the class) keeps 50% and the next 15% (20-34%) keeps 1/4 of their scholarships; the lowest 20% of the class loses their scholarships entirerly. There were some charts about the numbers of students who have had their scholarships reduced/eliminated in the past few years, and it is over 50%. THIS IS NOT GOOD! If you are choosing the school because of the merit scholarship, calculate that you are as likely to lose the money as to keep it.
Most patent attorneys are (well) employed. Every law student who has a STEM undergrad degree does not become a patent attorney. My brother’s girlfriend is a patent attorney, has a B.S., M.A., and PhD in bio/micro/chem/smartypants stuff. She’s a genius and works really really hard.
Patent Attorney chiming in here. My firm is in the NY area, and while we don’t look down on Hofstra grads, there is a general sense that Fordham and St. John’s grads are preferred. We don’t care about the IP programs at the law schools and don’t really care what classes the applicant took while there (although a basic patent law class is helpful). What we do look for is technical expertise, undergrad GPA, writing ability, and passing the patent bar.
I would strongly suggest that your D take the patent bar ASAP. It is hugely helpful in getting summer internships and later full time employment. I took it during the summer between college and law school and I know that it was the reason I landed a good law firm summer job as a 1L. Also, you don’t want to study for the patent bar while working full time or while studying for law school exams.
Most patent prosecution firms are pretty small and don’t have huge hiring programs, so many times getting a job at one of them just comes down to being in the right place at the right time. If your D wants to get a job at one of the NYC firms that do big-time patent litigation, that will be tougher unless she is at the tippy top of her class at Hofstra or comes from a higher-ranked law school. I worked at one of those firms right after law school, and they only interviewed at the top schools. You don’t need the patent bar to do patent litigation, so there is a lot more competition out there. Good luck!