<p>I am currently enrolled at Rutgers in their Advanced Standing MSW program. I am interested in getting my JD after graduation but have no idea where to even begin. Do you need a degree in law to obtain a JD? Should I have gone to Law School first? What are the basic requirements of JD programs? If any one can give me any direction, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!</p>
<p>A J.D. *is *the degree you get when you graduate from law school.</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor</a></p>
<p>I thought that the degree was separate from one you would get from going to law school, to become a lawyer. A professor of mine told me that the two were different programs; he said that if you got a JD it was different from essentially becoming a lawyer and being able to practice law in that capacity. Am I completely off? Im starting to think so. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Yeah, I think there are two possibilities here: either you misunderstood what your professor was saying, or your professor was totally talking through his hat.</p>
<p>Perhaps the prof was referring to passing the Bar examination – state exams which license you to practice law. There are many lawyers (holding JD degrees) who use their skills/knowledge w/o actually “practicing” law.</p>
<p>The JD is the degree you get upon successful completion of law school. However, in order to represent clients and actually work as a lawyer, you must then pass the bar exam of the particular state you are going to work in.</p>