Science, technology, engineering, and math majors interested in law school are few and far between. This is partly due to a booming job market with lucrative salaries for these grads, which makes law school that much less attractive.

For some STEM grads, the idea of going into patent law can be rather attractive, and can be extraordinarily lucrative. For others, it may be that they missed their calling completely, or maybe they’re looking to change the legal tech landscape. Regardless, it is rather clear from the law school admissions criteria that STEM grads may be at a disadvantage, on paper.

Below are a few tips on making your science background pay off when applying to law schools.

Write an Addendum

STEM courses tend to be graded more rigorously than other fields which results in lower average GPAs compared to non-STEM grads, and STEM grads don’t develop the same critical reading skills taught in other fields more well known for feeding law schools. Most law schools will allow you to submit additional information, such as a diversity statement or addendum. In this, you can address the fact that your prior coursework included primarily STEM courses. If you have a lower than average GPA for the university, you may want to consider specifically addressing this as not all admissions departments know that they should adjust STEM GPAs up.

Alternatively, in your personal statement, you should definitely highlight what your STEM background brings to the table (such as your desire to go into patent law or use tech to innovate in the legal sector or both).

Patent Law or Bust

Regardless of whether or not you want to go into patent law, expressing a strong interest in it will surely pay off during the application process. Law schools are hyper concerned with post graduate employment numbers and patent law grads have consistently been one of the most employable group of law grads in recent years.

Legal Innovation

Many school are actively seeking STEM grads not just to boost their employment numbers, but also because they see the law is becoming increasingly driven by technology. STEM grads who go to law school and become lawyers are uniquely positioned to innovate and potentially change the entire legal industry.