Patent and Commercialized tech device: IMPACT ON TOP 5 COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

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I have made 2 inventions (personal devices that have never been made before ) that I'm strongly considering patenting. However, I do not have the money to properly do this with a lawyer and spend 5,000 dollars on him. So I must do it myself, which is definitely very challenging, but in fact possible if you put in enough time and diligence.

I can make a "Provisional Patent", which is the "temporary" patent that holds your rights for one year. Within that year, you have the right to file the "full" patent (usually done with a lawyer). However, in a year, the "provisional patent" completely loses its value unless a person filed a full patent. People do "provisional" patents without a lawyer, and it takes only a few hours.

Now, I also contacted some people from the tech industry and they said that they could help me file the REAL patent as long as their name would also be in there (as if they were also the inventors. In reality, I invented the device 100% myself). They also offered an opportunity that they could work with me to commercialize my invention (with their company. In this case the patent will be owned by their company, but will have my name in it) and make a modern technological product that can be advertised and sold to the public.

Now, my questions:

1)How much weight does a patent play in a high-schooler's college app?

2)Do admission officers distinguish between "provisional" and "full/real" patents?

3)Would the fact that some other people have their name in my patent make it look less impressive?

4)How much would it help that I am the "inventor" of a novel, commercialized technological device?

I just need to find out what is the best option to take for me: File a "provisional" patent, try to file a "real" patent, or let a tech company own the intellectual property but then help me commercialize the product which I am the inventor of.

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Having a patent filed with your name on it is likely to have a positive affect on your application, especially if you've consistently built up your expertise in this area; admissions officers will likely see this as a spike. It's impossible to say how much weight it will have on the rest of your application without knowing what the rest of your application is, but it will undoubtedly have an impact.

Admissions officers may distinguish between full patents and provisional patents - because full patents are harder to get, having one will be more impressive - but having a provisional patent is still far better than not having one at all. Particularly if you explain your reason for only having a provisional patent (you can't afford the legal fees at this time), I don't think that colleges will penalize you for not getting a full patent, as long as you indicate your intent of following through.

Similarly, having other people's names on your patent will look less impressive than just having your name on it; however, the fact that you're a high school student and the inventor of the technology will go a long way towards helping you. If the only reason other people's names are on the patent is because that was a condition of your being able to commercialize and further develop your invention, colleges will not look down on you for that. In fact, colleges may be more impressed to see that your invention has moved from the idea and prototyping stage into manufacturing and distribution.

Basically, from the point of view of a colleges admissions officer, whether you get a full patent, provisional patent, or give up the intellectual property to your invention will not make as much of a difference to college admissions officers as the fact that you came up with an invention and took the step to get some kind of patent.