DD just completed her sophomore year at top ranked but notoriously known for GPA deflation engineering school. She came home with new thoughts about her professional trajectory few years after graduation. She is interested in patent law. When she was choosing undergrad school to attend as a CS major, the grad school was not considered or absolutely needed for her major and grades deflation was not something she considered. Now this can be something that might prevent her from getting to law school. That is probably the main concern at the moment. On a positive side she is attending very prestigious university, had multiple internships at well known companies, have high leadership roles on campus related to innovations and education of new inventors and makers and involved in international level social entrepreneurship efforts. I would appreciate any thoughts and guidance.
Thank you.
If she is happy where she is I’d have her stay. I’d recommend she study hard and do her best when it comes time to take the LSAT. My guess is that with an engineering background she should be fine for patent law even if she doesn’t get into a tippy top law school – it will be a good combination.
The patent lawyer I know didn’t go to a T-14 law school. In fact, she went to a night school while raising 4 kids as a single mother. She’s very smart.
Most patent attorneys that I know (and I know plenty because I am one) did not graduate from a top law school, generally for several reasons: (1) engineers generally have lower GPAs and (2) many attended law school later in life, where geographical concerns and family responsibilities may dictate where and when they can do it. Example: My dad (another patent attorney) was accepted at NYU but couldn’t go because he needed to go to law school at night and work full time during the day, and NYU didn’t have a night school. If your D is looking at getting a job at one of the top litigation firms in a big city, then a top law school may be needed, but if her goal is patent prosecution, there are plenty of jobs out there for good engineers with legal writing skills. Most big patent litigation these days is done at the big general practice firms, not at patent boutiques.
On another note, the analytical skills your D probably has as an engineer may lead to a very high LSAT score, so don’t count out admission to top schools yet. I had a pretty bad GPA as a chemistry major, but aced the LSAT and did very well in law school admissions (accepted at two T14 schools).
Finally, your D should look and see if she is even eligible for the patent bar - some CS degrees are not qualified by the USPTO and unless she has enough credits in other science courses, she may not be eligible. This could hinder her job choices, as she would be limited to doing patent litigation, not prosecution.