Current PhD Student considering adding a JD

Graduate School Law School
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<p>I'm currently a PhD Student (w/ about 3-4 years remaining) at Georgia Tech (a top engineering program with no law school), and I have been involved in various inventions and patents. I've become very interested in obtaining a JD along with my Doctorate in (aerospace) Engineering. Obviously, feasibility becomes the main question. </p>

<p>When considering the law schools in Atlanta, I would prefer to attend Emory one year from now. However, I am currently a PhD candidate and will remain one for 3-4 years. Clearly my situation is unique when compared to the standard BA-to-JD route. So my questions are below:</p>

<p>1) Do law schools allow you to enroll in a demanding JD program (like Emory) when you're already committed as a full-time student elsewhere? </p>

<p>2) Do I provide my undergrad GPA (3.65 at a lowly state school), my MS GPA (3.71 at an elite engineering school), or my current GPA (3.8-ish at the same engineering school)? Obviously I would really like to provide one of the latter two, and leave out the undergrad one.</p>

<p>3) JDs are demanding. Is this plan feasible? I'm pretty smart and have free time, but I do not want to overestimate. I know a few Patent Attorneys in this city with both PhDs and JDs, but I do not know if they did it simultaneously. For me, doing the degrees simultaneously would be my only option. Emory only allows a full-time student track.</p>

<p>4) How does one get funded for a Law program? For STEM doctoral programs, funding is relatively easy to obtain. This is not the case for law. Do you guys have any suggestions on ways I could play my PhD/Engineering story to get some sort of fellowship/scholarship? Also, unfortunately I'm a white male. </p>

<p>5) After doing some research, statistics reveal that my GPA is below average for Emory. Is it feasible for me to apply? It would be a huge waste of time for me to study for the LSAT and apply only to get rejected. I do not want the application process to be an uphill battle. Emory is really my only option, given I'm bounded to Atlanta.</p>

<p>Note: I know a lot of you will be tempted to suggest that I walk out of the doctoral program with the MS and solely enroll in the JD program. However, my research is going in the direction where I could put together a dissertation, so I really would like to get the PhD. Also, as a funded PhD student, the research is giving me some side income.</p>

<p>Thanks! </p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>I think if you tried to do a full-time JD at the same time as a PhD that you could actually die. I don’t know if they’d let you, but you’d be crazy to try. </p></li>
<li><p>Only your undergraduate GPA counts. That is, any college-level grades you obtained prior to receiving your bachelor’s degree. The post-graduate degrees don’t count, unfortunately. </p></li>
<li><p>The plan is not feasible. Going into IP with a PhD in engineering could work out. IP is much in demand generally. However, I don’t know how much IP employers are looking for aerospace engineering degrees. That’s definitely something to investigate before you start looking at law school, assuming you’re interested in IP work. Doing both a PhD and a JD at the same time, however, would likely devastate your grades. Plus, you’d entirely miss the law hiring schedule, since after law school you’d still be in grad school.</p></li>
<li><p>Most people get funded with student loans. With a good enough LSAT score you can also look at merit scholarships. A 3.6 with a high enough LSAT could get you a decent amount of money at a school worth attending. Unlike PhD programs, there really isn’t outside funding around for students to get JDs.</p></li>
<li><p>The LSAT is about 65-75% of the value of your admission. if your GPA is below their 25th percentile but your LSAT is above their 75th, you’re probably getting in. A better question is whether Emory is right for you. [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/emory/2013/]Emory[/url”&gt;http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/emory/2013/]Emory[/url</a>] isn’t terrible if you can go for free, but neither are its employment numbers particularly impressive. I would first finish the PhD, then take the LSAT if you’re still interested in law, and then come back here with an LSAT score. </p></li>
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<p>Demothenes49: Thanks, I appreciate it. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that a PhD in engineering simultaneously with a JD would be crazy. I see many ppl with both degrees, but I suppose they do one after the other. Would it make any difference to note that GaTech and Emory have a strong working relationship? Many of their academic programs are coupled together. </p></li>
<li><p>Well, it is what it is. I can’t change the rules. I suppose it could be more damning for me than a 3.6. Although I’d rather use my post-grad GPA, I’ll count the 3.6 undergrad GPA as a win, considering it could be a lot worse. I’ll have to really pull myself together for the LSAT.</p></li>
<li><p>Great point on the aerospace part. I will add that my actual research is a bit more broad than just aerospace. In fact, I have added two Electrical Engineering profs to my PhD committee. So, I’m aerospace in name only - really my work applies to mechanical, aerospace, and electrical. Also, that’s a very helpful point on the hiring schedule. Alternatively, maybe if I plan well, I can begin law school in the final year of my PhD (after I’ve finished all my classes, and I’m solely writing/defending my dissertation). Would this be more feasible? </p></li>
<li><p>Noted. Thanks!</p></li>
<li><p>Noted, and very informative. Thanks!</p></li>
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<p>Out of curiousity, why would you want to obtain a phd in engineering and then switch to law school? It seems like two different directions and it seems like it would lead to many more years of schooling and a higher cost of education</p>

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<p>@shawnspencer‌ </p>

<p>Fair question. </p>

<p>Like many people, I do not know explicitly what my ‘passion’ is, and that is how I ended up in a PhD program. I was originally a fully funded MS student. However, I was offered to be funded for the PhD in the final year of the Masters. So, without much time to decide, I hopped on the bandwagon. I wish I had a more profound reason for you (like “I just LOVE research”). I’m funded and it seems to be going well so far. </p>

<p>I agree with you, it is two very different directions. A PhD is a research/academic degree, and a JD is a professional degree. It seems that the majority of prestigious patent attorneys have no more than an MS in a STEM field plus a JD. However, I do consistently see JD/PhD attorneys in the IP law firms I look up (indeed they are a minority though).</p>

<p>So it’s less logic and more circumstance that brought me to the PhD. Having said that, I would like to finish what I started, so dropping the PhD is not negotiable for me right now. </p>

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<p>@AnythingGoes3243:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The nature of your first year of law school is such that it makes no difference how good their relationship is. 1L is incredibly full of work, of a new and uncertain kind, that is graded on a curve. Some schools offer night classes and chop the first year into 2 years. That could work, academically with a concurrent PhD, but you’d still have the problem of missing the hiring schedule. Unlike in most grad programs, where you work up towards something (like a dissertation), in law school the first year actually matters the most. You don’t want to do anything that could compromise that year.</p></li>
<li><p>Electrical engineering is very much in demand in IP circles. I would be sure to investigate what IP lawyers do though, before you commit. Law is one of those fields with a lot of misinformation on how it’s actually practiced.</p></li>
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<p>@Demosthenes49‌ </p>

<p>You’re throwing a bunch of good info at me. Since the 1st year of Law School is rigorous, overlapping the 2 degrees just cannot be done, outside of some insane stunt. I guess I could take a sabbatical (from GaTech) for the 1st year, but I would seriously jeopardize my funding by doing that, and would still get tangled into two demanding programs. </p>

<p>Perhaps I could get my foot in the backdoor of an IP Firm by working as a technical adviser and get my JD on the side? </p>

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<p>Getting the PhD sorted and then working at an IP firm as an adviser is a great idea. That would let you decide if you actually want to pursue law. Plus, they might even agree to help pay for law school if you come back to work for them.</p>

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<p>Emory law doesn’t allow part-time law students. If you’re just a little interested in law, they have a JM (Juris Master) program, but it won’t allow you to practice law and it won’t shave any time off a JD if you pursue on later. I think Georgia State is the only real school with a part-time legal program in Georgia.</p>

<p>Unlike PhD programs, you’re looking at loans, a lot of them, unless you’re in the top fourth of the incoming class. And 60k a year for Emory law is a lot of money, especially if your not sure what you’re doing.</p>