From engineering undergrad to History Ph.D

Hello everyone,
I have been on here a lot over the last three years - you all helped me pick my mech. E. major. Now as I am considered a sophomore (by credits) I have a good feeling for what I really love to learn about. I got into engineering not because I want to be an engineer, but because I want to understand how things work. The problem with me is that I am curious about every stinkin thing. From psychology to history to engineering. Most everyone I’ve met is interested in one area and hates most others (“I’m a math major, but I can’t stand biology” etc.). I am a musician and love the arts but I have a very analytical mind. I was a 4.0 hs grad and am now a 3.75 engineering student. Yes, I can do the work and it is interesting to me, but no I never want to have to work with it because it really bores me. I aced all of my excelled math in hs but loved history. I find the same happening now - I excel in engineering but I love history and political science. So, since an engineering degree opens many doors(though I’d be dissatisfied with most of them) and mostly because I want to know as much as possible about the world, I am thinking to stick with my major.

Is it possible to get a Ph.D in history and then a JD from an undergrad in engineering?

My polisci professor was telling me it would be virtually impossible but I want to hear from students to see if anyone has done it. Is there a major where I could use my curiosity and not get so bored? English is like too dull - I feel like I’m not learning from it, but math is so dull - I feel like I’m learning a lot but I don’t want to do it. Is there a middle ground? So, a grad degree in something else is what I am hoping for. Help would be appreciated.

What type of career to you intend to pursue?

A JD after an undergrad major in engineering is certainly possible. Engineering majors (and majors in other quantitative fields) tend to do well on the LSAT. Law school admission is primarily a matter of LSAT score + GPA.
Engineering majors also are well-suited for certain areas of law, such as patent law and intellectual property law.

A history PhD after an undergrad engineering major is more difficult. It would be easier for a program in an area such as the history of science and technology. Still, you’d probably need at least a strong minor in history, which might be difficult depending on how many non-engineering electives your engineering program permits. Entry into an MA program in history would be easier than direct admission to a PhD program.

It’s not impossible, no, but it will take some legwork and may not be what you’re looking for.

Graduate school is not a chance to explore topics you didn’t get a chance to learn about in undergrad or basically continue taking classes just for fun (unless you’re independently wealthy, in which case rock on). Graduate school is for professional credentials: You get a degree that you need to enter some career field. A JD is obviously a law degree, intended to prepare you to pursue work as an attorney. And a PhD is a research degree, intended to prepare you for a career as a scholar in a particular area of inquiry. PhD students in history are almost always aspiring professors of history (and occasionally want to do non-academic work as a historian for, say, a museum or cultural institution).

Here’s the thing: many people are curious about many things. I majored in psychology and made my career (so far) in the field, but I am also fascinated by history, love music, am interested in languages and international affairs, and like physics and computer science. At some point you do have to make choices - you can’t pursue everything all at once. And it’s simply not practical to rack up degrees in a variety of fields and choose later. There are many different ways to pursue lifelong learning in other fields - you can live nearby universities and attend lectures in history and psychology, read books, join discussion groups, even audit classes. You can join professional groups in that area.

But you have to pick something. That doesn’t mean that you can never change careers or even blend two or three areas together (my current career is a blend of psychology and tech). But settle with something for a while.

That said, you said you’re a sophomore by credits but presumably it’s your first year in college. If you already know that you are disinterested in engineering careers, why major in it? Yes, an engineering degree can open doors, but the quantity of doors is not as important as the quality and nature of those opportunities. It doesn’t matter if there are dozens of jobs open to you if you don’t actually want to do any of them!

You can get a JD with any major (and in fact, patent and IP law is a lucrative area for a lawyer with an engineering background). However, for a history PhD you would need to take at least a minor in history and would be more competitive with something approaching a major (so 7-10 courses in the area).

That said, do realize that

-The academic job market in history (to be a history professor) is abysmal and only going to get worse. Many tenure-track, permanent full time positions as professors are being replaced by temporary professor positions without benefits or offices or job security. Good jobs - heck, even mediocre jobs - are getting 300-400+ applications for one job.
-There are limited jobs that are directly for PhDs in history. While PhDs in history can get lots of different jobs, the PhD in history only prepares you directly for a few of them.
-A history PhD takes on average 10 years to complete. You can probably do it in 6-8, but I’m just sharing the average. Then the JD takes an additional 3 years. So that’s a minimum of 9 additional years beyond college - being 32 before you can even start to think of turning outwards to career and saving for retirement.

And more importantly: Why on earth would you need a PhD in history and a JD? The only job that would necessitate the two would be to be a law professor, which is quite possibly even more competitive than history. You’d have to get both JD and PhD in history from very elite places to even have a shot.

Juillet brings up some very good points. Something I’d recommend for you to look into is the field of History of Science. Having valid interest in general history is one thing, but having interests in the ways of knowing about the world through scientific inquiry lends itself to something unique all its own. I think if you’re in college and know you wouldn’t want to pursue a career in a given field, why take courses in it when you could use that time to gain beginning levels of mastery in another field? This doesn’t completely apply to history of science because graduate programs actually do like students who have previous degrees in the sciences (or other fields whose methods can be applied to studying the history of science [e.g., english rhetoric as language as applied to organic chemical nomenclature, film analysis for scientific documentary as a couple of ideas). A science degree for grad school might not be 100% requisite but it won’t hurt you. I think if you majored in engineering with intent to apply for grad school for history of science, all you’d need are a couple of history courses to prove your competency in historical research methods.

You can pretty much get a JD any time in life you want, there are very reputable institutions offering nighttime course options and online credit. Studying the history of science will likely give you more to think about as you consider the role of law in society and vice versa. I will say, if you purport to enjoy history you do have to have a knack for writing and consuming historical text, both primary and secondary. Ability to navigate the literature will prove itself essential as you develop skills for your career and writing well will distinguish your voice from the many others in the field.

Thank you all for your replies. I am currently sticking with engineering and looking into history of science programs and patent law programs. They both are very interesting areas of study I could see myself working in the future.

Great! If you are interested in history of science, make sure that you take some classwork in history in college - you may even want to minor in it.

Yes! I just declared a history minor back in March. It may push my graduation back a semester, but I think the experience is worth it whether I do law or history.