I am studying engineering because of my parents, and I am scared that I’m not going to meet my goals in terms of GPA because its even hard for people who care about this stuff to get a high GPA and I hate it. Apparently a great GPA for engineering is 3.0 and a 3.5 is a mark of excellence. But that is only for people who want to continue with engineering. I know that top law schools expect a higher GPA and I am afraid that I will not be able to achieve this.
I have read a lot of conflicting things about how law schools look at GPA. I read that they don’t care about your major and just your GPA, and I also read that they will understand that it is difficult to get as high a GPA in engineering and will consider that. Does anyone know if this is true?
Correct.
Of course, its true. Everyone “understands” that Engineering is a rigorous major with respect to grades. But Adcoms don’t care, since USNews does not care. USNews’ ranking is based on LSAT+GPA. (Major is not a factor in the national ratings.)
That being said, do the best you can and ace the LSAT (17x), and you’ll do well in law school admissions. Good luck.
I know a few lawyers who did engineering for undergrad.
However, if you don’t want to study engineering, then it is hard to imagine you doing well enough as an engineering undergrad to get into law school.
Unfortunately, @bluebayou is correct. They know engineering students tend to have lower GPAs, but they don’t care… They have to report your overall GPA to US News, so that’s what they will be looking for.
That said, if you score well on the LSAT (and many engineering students do), it can definitely balance out a lower GPA.
My understanding is a bit different than the above posters. Law schools are very aware of the deflated GPAs of engineering majors. But don’t take it from me, several former law school admissions deans have written books & all deal with the topic of schools known for grade deflation. Engineering major’s low GPAs are discussed in these books.
P.S. After all, where do you think that patent attorneys come from ?
Employers are often willing to reach deeper into the law school ranks to find people who can take the patent bar. That doesn’t mean the top law schools are overlooking GPAs.
Law schools understand engineering GPAs. Please, read the books by well known former law school admissions deans.
Among the top 13 law schools, in the not too distant past, Northwestern University Law was the most understanding og low GPAs for engineers.
Deans say lots of things matter. Show me data that engineering majors do better than similarly situated students in other majors.
Read the books.
@Demosthenes49: Also, I am not sure what you are writing about. Are you a law school graduate ?
Okay, I read in one of your earlier posts that you practice in California. Regardless, your above post is confusing & I urge you to read Anna Ivey’s book as well as others that should enlighten you.
@Demosthenes49 : I do not mean to be impolite, but you are unaware of the realities of law school admissions with respect to engineering GPAs.
You know you can edit your posts, right?
In any event, saying the word “books” does not impress me. I’d like to see actual numbers. That is, I want a comparison showing a statistically viable sampling of engineering applicants and their median GPA/LSAT as compared to a sample of non-engineering students with results showing that the engineering students outperformed their GPAs. What we in the litigation business call “evidence.” No, the word of a dean with a direct, personal financial interest in student applications doesn’t cut it.
All the [url=<a href=“http://lawschoolnumbers.com/%5Dnumbers%5B/url”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com/]numbers[/url] I’ve seen show that engineers perform no better than anyone else with respect to admissions. Employment is a different question. If you want to prove me wrong, by all means please do. But you have to actually show something.
What in the world are you talking about ?
They’re just asking for proof of your claims.
My claim is that law school deans of admission are aware of grade deflation at most engineering schools & take that into consideration when evaluating those candidates. CMU is a university that is mentioned in the books written by law school deans of admission. If the other poster won’t trust their assertions in those books, then I cannot help him. He will just have to read them for himself–something we all learned in law school.
The other poster is also free to research Northwestern University School of Law regarding their handling of apps from engineering students who have a strong LSAT & subpar GPA. He can venture over to the most prominent law school website about top law schools & use the research function if he is in need of actual cases.
Otherwise, just buy Anna Ivey’s book or any of the other law school admissions books written by former top 6 law school deans of admission.
Was I not clear? I don’t care about self-serving statements by deans. I only care about their actions. If they really provide an effective GPA boost to engineering majors, that will be reflected in admissions data. You will see outliers on the admissions graphs that share engineering as a characteristic. But you don’t actually see that. The shared factor is URM status, not undergrad major. No amount of posturing by people trying to sell books changes the numbers.