<p>Hi. I am currently in high school and may be trying to figure myself out way too much ahead of time, but I have a question. I enjoy the thought of practicing non-criminal law and I have a passion for computers and technology. Because of this I thought to myself, "Why not bridge the gap between the two?" I want to go into intellectual property law specializing in computer engineering (or something very similar). </p>
<p>For this goal, along with a JD I want to get a PhD in computer science NOT because I think it will give me a leg up in the intellectual property law field, but because it is a personal desire of mine to research computer technology. Having looked at some JD/PhD programs, it appears that I could accomplish this in 5 years + however long it would take to write my dissertation.</p>
<p>In other words, I am looking at being 100% done with school around 2024/2025. My question is this: will getting a PhD as well as a JD NEGATIVELY affect my working (well, hiring mainly) circumstances/experience in the law profession? I hear that some people may think that someone with both degrees is either overqualified or should have spent their grad school years focusing only on law.</p>
<p>Just to reiterate: I don't want to get a Comp. Sci. PhD for any reasons pertaining to my practice. I just love the idea of researching them as a personal desire.</p>
<p>You’re 15. Don’t worry about any of this yet. You’re not even in college. You should look up what schools you want to apply to, get some great grades in AP classes and SAT scores, but that’s about it. </p>
<p>My jaw dropped when you said “2024/2025”. I’ll be 34 or 35 by then and I just turned 22, lol. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think getting a PhD will help or hurt you too much. It’ll probably help you understand the technical aspects of it. Personally, as someone who is also aspiring to be a patent lawyer, I am only getting (@ 20 currently) 24 credits in Physics to satisfy the requirement to take the Patent Bar Exam. </p>
<p>When I was your age I wanted to major in English. 3 years later I wanted to major in Physics. One semester into college I changed my major to Mathematics! Coming into college I was also doing pre-pharmacy and this past semester I decided it wasn’t for me after three years fulfilling the requirements! Keep your mind open and don’t limit yourself to computers because your interests might change. I took every computer class available at my high school, did hardware and software repair in high school for operating systems, etc. I liked computers a lot, but I don’t care for them anymore. Even after taking C and teaching myself C++. </p>
<p>Law school is three years. It is a HUGE investment of money and time. As far as I’ve heard you study all semester long and take exams that are worth 100% of your grade at the end for your classes. For PhD (I am also applying to grad school for math), it will be very stressful, boring, and hard from what people have told me. You must absolutely love what you’re doing to pursue that and it is not without sacrifices either. It’s a lot of time and a lot of money if you’re not fully funded (though if you’re the best of the best you’ll be good). Luckily, working with computers gets you money in this society.</p>
<p>Don’t try to plan your life out too hard. Just be aware that engineering is a GPA killer. For law school, GPA is extremely important as well as a very high LSAT score.</p>
<p>I would like to get a PhD in Math as a personal desire, but I am not made of money. You go where the money is because it can cost a pretty penny to pursue your dreams and you might come out empty handed. In two years, I’ll be choosing which law school or graduate school I’m going to. You have to weight the pros and cons of both because they are both significant investments of time and brainpower. I don’t know your personal goals, but I’ve had to factor in the fact that I want a family soon. And that after 30 my girlfriend and I will have more risks with having babies. There’s going to be a lot of debt that needs to be paid off after all this schooling (girlfriend is in debt and will be in more debt as well since she’s going to grad school) and I feel like a lot of personal things that might get pushed back. You should think about this but you should wait a couple years.</p>