<p>Is this a good idea? I was originally considering law school, but the idea of a JD-PhD program in Government or History is really appealing to me. Is this a good idea, though? Should I go for just one? Or for both, but one at a time? Any help here would be great.</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to do when you finish school. If you desire to teach at the college level a PhD is required. A JD will MAYBE get you a teaching job in a law school, but they are hard to come by. </p>
<p>If you desire to work in the government, one queries whether a JD is even worth the time and expense, if you intend on being, e.g., an area studies expert, such as Middle East expert. </p>
<p>Does the JD-PhD program allow you to complete both degrees in a shorter timespan than doing them separately? That may provide you some incentive. </p>
<p>Some people want to hit the ground running and rubber burning and dont have time for more academia and credentialism. They enter the workforce, even in government, at modest levels but make a lot of hay by hard work, focus, determination and opportunism. I know several, even in government, who have risen very high in their positions without a graduate degree of any kind. I know some with lots of degrees but are otherwise not very productive. </p>
<p>If you want to practice law, the PhD is utterly useless for the most part. What you see most often in law practice is a JD-MBA, or JD-MD. You may see a PhD in Economics or Engineering once in a blue moon in law practice. But very rare. </p>
<p>The State Department takes people with undergraduate degrees and some with multiple graduate degrees. Depends on the area of work.</p>
<p>That is so weird that you created this thread. I just made a thread about JD/PhD yesterday on the Law school forum. I take it you are talking about the program at Georgetown? I know that Duke, Northwestern, and Cornell offer the combined program as well. It sounds fabulous to me, but who knows what I will end up attaining?!</p>
<p>How is the PhD portion funded. Most top PhD programs are fully funded by the University (i.e., tuition waiver plus living stipend–usually in exchange for teaching or research duties) On the other hand, law students usually pay their own way (with or without loans). If you have to pay tuition to get the PhD–then it definitely is not worth it. It can take a long time to earn a PhD.</p>
<p>Well, I’d like to teach Government or History, and I feel like law school will give me more practical knowledge about those subjects. I definitely don’t want to teach Law. And, yes, the dual program is completable within six or seven years, as opposed to eight or nine separately.</p>
<p>Going to law school to teach history doesn’t make any sense to me…</p>
<p>Okay, maybe I said that wrong. I meant legal history, governmental history, etc. Things like that. But mainly government. I’m especially interested in US-Middle Eastern relations.</p>
<p>Bump! fafassdfaf</p>