u/Careless-Position352

I’m currently a first-year EE major and I’m interested in becoming a patent lawyer as I don't feel like industry is for me. I'm good at STEM but I love the humanities more, so patent law seems pretty exciting.

The only thing is I don't know what I should be focusing on right now other than GPA.

How would you rank things like:

• EE technical knowledge
• Industry experience (working as an engineer)
• Research experience
• Internships/co-ops
• Undergraduate GPA
• Getting a master’s or PhD
• Law school prestige
• Undergraduate school prestige
• Law school GPA/class rank
• Networking/connections
• Writing and communication skills
• Patent prosecution experience / internships at firms

Also, is it generally better to go straight from EE undergrad to law school, or work in industry first and then transition into patent law later?

I'd appreciate any advice you guys might have. Thank you.