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Very Long (sorry Scott) response .... Posted by MI-Roger [Email]  (#882) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from MI-Roger) on Tue, 9 Nov 2004 05:40:50
In Reply to: ot>law school applications...., kooch, Tue, 9 Nov 2004 03:51:06 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I sent the following information to my Boss after learing this his Son was also considering Law School for Patent Law specialization. This is from a parent's point of view after observing my son's applicaiton process. He is now a first year law student at the Univ of Florida. A few comments apply only to Michigan residents and I-P Law interests, but most would be valid for all.
"As a follow-up to our conversation yesterday, the points below are items I have learned or observed during my son's application process for Law School. His goal also is to practice Intellectual Property Law, formerly known as Patent Law or Trademark and Copyright Law.
Law Schools
I contacted a college friend who obtained his Law Degree from Detroit College of Law after finishing GMI and has worked in the Patent Law arena for 20 years. He initially worked for a Detroit Area firm then relocated to Houston to work for ARCO and then Occidental Petroleum & Plastics as their sole Patent Attorney. His advice to my son was to attend the highest rated Law School where you can get accepted and to not be too concerned with I-P Law specialization by the School. The reasons for this are: 1) a person first has to successfully pass the Bar Exam before they can practice any type of law. A "Boutique School" with too narrow of focus may not prepare the students with a sufficiently broad curriculum to allow them ease of passing the Bar; and 2) the reputation of a Law School is nearly paramount when finding employment after Law School. Graduates from best known schools and highest ranked schools (i.e. Harvard, Yale, etc.) have the greatest choice of employment and enjoy the highest salaries, for life!
His other caveat was to attend a school in a geographic area where you will want to live long after graduation. With the exceptions of Harvard, Yale and a few others, most graduates are pursued by firms in the local area of the school. Schools in California and Florida will have fantastic weather, schools in New England have beautiful vistas, schools in big cities have an energy level and excitement that must be experienced to be understood - but if you don't want to live in any of those after graduation (i.e. a die-hard mid-western farm kid) you shouldn't attend law school there either.
Law schools are ranked annually by a variety of sources. The best known - and most controversial - is probably U.S. News & World Report. Other ranking systems are quickly being developed in response to the criticims leveled at USN&WR which all vary slightly in their recommendations. The top 50 schools are referred to as "Tier 1 Law Schools", these are where your son should aspire to. Unfortunately, everyone in the country wants to attend these same 50 schools so competition is very tough. Michigan has one very good Law School (U of M is ranked in the Top 10) and a whole bunch of fair to poor schools (Tiers #3 and #4). Rumors are that the ABA is even threatening to revoke accredidation to Thomas Cooley because they have gotten so large (the ABA has thus far refused to issue accredidation to Cooley's planned expansion campus in Grand Rapids) and are dangerously close to becoming a "Diploma Mill".
Final Undergrad Semester / Courses
Students are eligible to take the Patent Bar prior to entering Law School and maybe as early as their final semester of Undergrad studies. Your son should go to the Patent and Trademark Office web site to view requirements for registering for this test. With a BSME he probably will automatically qualify as a "Category A" candidate but pay special attention to the science class requirements. Some engineering programs may allow their students to take science classes in a broad range of disciplines (biology, chemistry, geology, physics, etc.) and not require a minimum of "two consecutive courses with labs in the same discipline" which the Patent Office requires. Now is the time to take an extra science class to meet this requirement If necessary.
He should also take a law class such as Business Law or similar before deciding if Law School is definitelywhere he wants to go. Engineering is full of absolutes, Law is infinite shades of gray with almost no absolutes. Legend says this is the reason so few engineers have obtained law degrees in the past - differences in needed ways of reasoning are too great. I also suspect it has something to do with the historical employability of a BSME degree versus a BA in Classics or History.
Recommendation letters from Professors are required with the applicaiton process as well as essays. Now is the time to arrange face-to-face meetings with the Profs to request these recommendation letters, and also the time to utilize campus services to asist with essay preparations. Sad to say, but most engineers are lousy writers and they will be competing against English Majors for spots in the entering classes.
LSAT Preparation
The recent and lingering downturn in the economy has see a huge number of very bright individuals enter law school because they could not find employment after graduation. This has resulted in schools becoming very selective in their acceptance practices. My son graduated with a 3.75GPA in Music Enginering and minors in Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, and Legal Studies. These credentials resulted in only a fist-full of rejection letters with his first attempt to gain admission to a variety of schools because his LSAT score was not high enough. He enrolled in an LSAT Preparation Course, boosted his score to the 90th Percentile rank, and applied again. This time he applied to 11 schools, was rejected by 2, wait listed by 4, and accepted by 5. These preparation courses are not cheap - cost approaches $1,000 - but are becoming nearly indispensable as schools demand higher and higher test results from their applicants. In addition, some schools average test scores! Taking the LSAT once just to see how tough it is (and receiving a low score due to no or poor preparation) can result in nearly no chance to attend a highly ranked school later - regardless of how high the LSAT score is on the subsequent attempt.
Applications
Apply to a great number of schools, but try to visit them first so applicaiton fees are not wasted on a school which does not match with the student's needs. As a High School Senior your son was probably advised to apply to a range of schools; a top-notch reach school where he really wanted to go but might not get accepted, a safety school where admission was nearly guaranteed, and 3 to 4 others which offered strong academics and reasonable chances of acceptance based on his GPA and Test Scores. The same philosophy should be followed when applying to Law School but the number of applications will double or triple. Plan on submitting at least 10 to 12 applications; a couple of reach schools (credentials match the 25% rank of student body), a couple of safety schools (credentials exceed 75% of student body), abd the greatest nember should be in the 25% to 75% range. My son spent the past year working at a local Starbucks, saving money and preparing for Law School. Most of his fellow employees also applied for Law School. He and one other guy followed the plan of 10-12 applications, both were accepted by multiple schools. Their co-workers who applied to only 2 or 3 schools received no acceptances! The logic used by Schools when deciding acceptance is murky at best. My son was accepted to one of his reach schools but wait listed by schools he considered almost a sure thing. The more applications submitted, the better your chance of acceptance and scholarships!
Scholarships
Law School is very expensive. Costs also vary widely across the country, My son's fees as an Out-of-State student at Univ of Florida (a Tier 1 school) are substantially less than those charged by the Univ of Michigan for In-State students! He received scholarships from 4 of the 5 schools where he was accepted; Franklin Pierce in New Hampshire - $8,000 annually, Univ of Seattle - $9,000 annually, John Marshall in Chicago - $18,000 annually, Univ of Toledo - 100% tuition scholarship. Neglecting the Univ of Toledo option, all the other schools were approximately the same cost after deducting the scholarship from their cost of attendence. (I suspect John Marshall intentionally claims a very high tuition fee so they can "award" substantial scholarships to entice students). He opted for the Tier #1 school which was only slightly more expensive than the Franklin Pierce - Seattle - John Marshall cost. He had no interest in Toledo because it is too close to home. He applied there only because the application cost was free and to appease me, (I suspected he would receive a scholarship from them). This will be his debt so it was his decision. He will be applying for Florida Residency which will drop his tuition by 2/3's or more for the final two or three semesters of study. This residency change will make his choice the least expensive (neglecting Toledo) as well as the highest rated school on his list of options.
Look at the cost of housing in the various areas also. Chicago and Seattle are very expensive places to live, New Hampshire and Florida are relatively cheap.
I hope this helps with your son's decision. As a very interested outsider in my son's decision dilema, I view the Law School decision as harder than the Under-grad School decision."
posted by 198.208.22...
_______________________________________ Saabs owned: 2008 9-5 Aero Sedan, sold at 227K miles 2006 9-3SC 2.0T - Wife's daily driver 2000 Viggen Convertible - Sold May, 2022 1964 Quantum IV Formula Car - Retirement project 2000 9-5lpt Sedan, sold at 318K miles
, Tue, 9 Nov 2004 05:40:50 <-- Viewing This Message
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