<p>Hi all, </p>
<p>I'm new on here and signed up mainly to get some advice on a dilemma that I am currently in. I'm a recent UK graduate with a a legal background, I have an LLB and LLM from top ranked universitites. After completing my studies, I returned to my country (Djibouti) and have had a tough time finding work as the country is poor and corrupt. I see little hope in finding work here and this has made me rethink my future, and now I am considering going back to school for a Phd in the US Where I am also a permanent resident.</p>
<p>a PhD has become very enticing to me there as there is funding and I enjoy studying and have a knack for research and writing. I have pretty good grades from my previous degrees, a bit of teaching experience at a university here ( my contract ended with no chance of renewal), and am currently working on articles to be published in legal journals with ex-classmates and professors from uni. All thats left is the GRE and im set to apply</p>
<p>Naturally, a PhD seems like a good next step and in the meantime i'll volunteer at a law firm here for the year and get some experience that may help me come up possible research topics related to law and development or islamic law, etc. Do you guys thinks this is wise? I'm also not sure what I want to do in the future but I'd be happy with anything (teaching, private sector, etc) as the situation in my country is terrible and doing nothing for so long and having little hope of a productive future here has got be feeling down, bored and frustrated. </p>
<p>If you guys could share any advice that might help me make a decision, that would be great.</p>
<p>Thanks all!</p>
<p>What kinds of PhD programs are you looking at?</p>
<p>In the US, the professional (terminal) legal degree is a JD (Juris Doctor), not a PhD. JD degrees are not funded in the US, but paid for by the student. And unfortunately, there is a huge oversupply of lawyers in the US currently.</p>
<p>There are a few joint JD/PhD programs (like the ones at Berkeley or Indiana), but those programs have very limited funding and generally do not offer funding to international students.</p>
<p>Generally the only graduate programs that guarantee funding to PhD students are those in disciplines like the biological and physical sciences, mathematics, computer science and engineering</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I’m actually looking at a PhD related to law, but not actually within law schools ( im avoiding the SJD for reputational and funding reasons as you mentioned). I’ll most likely be applying for PhD’s in political science where my options of doing something related to islam, development, and/or international law (my areas of interest) are best accomodated.</p>
<p>Oh and please note, as I am a permanent resident so I am technically not an international student.</p>
<p>If you don’t know what you want to do, getting a Ph.D is a very bad idea.</p>
<p>Doctoral programs are very specific training for research and teaching. If you aren’t absolutely sure you want to pursue those fields as a career, you need to think harder about what comes next. You’re talking about spending four to five years of your life pursuing one particular track, and there is an opportunity cost along with the financial cost.</p>
<p>If you end up deciding that research/teaching are not for you, that Ph.D will not necessarily help you get a job anywhere else - and it may even hurt you.</p>
<p>Good point polarscribe, that’s what I worry about too. However, I feel like my options are very limited at this point. With a PhD at least im working towards something, which is far superior than working towards nothing at all.</p>
<p>Except that is a fallacy. It really isn’t. Investing lots of money and time toward a research degree only pays off if you use that training in your career. Getting work experience will serve you better for just about any career track other than research/teaching.</p>
<p>But finding proper work experience is the problem. As I mentioned our country is very poor, unemployment is at more than 50%, after a year of searching, Im hard out of luck (i’ve exhausted all the companies here, only offers of internships with little chance of employment areavailable), and many of my friends relatives have been unemployed for 2-5 years!</p>
<p>So I dont see things coming together anytime soon. My other option is to go back to the states and job hunt, however thats another few months (at least) of searching. So I was thinking instead wasting more time, why not go for something that I’m good at (PhD)? In the meantime, I boost my chances by getting experience here ( by volunteering at a law firm), and study for the GRE. In the long run, I would like to work in an international institutions like the UN,IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank and the like. What would you do if you were in my shoes?</p>
<p>anyone?? need some more opinions as I have to make my decision by next week : /</p>
<p>Being from Djibouti, I imagine it would be a relatively easy transition for you to attend a Grand Ecole in France somewhere. Perhaps there is an area of law which appeals to you and you can work towards that end as a Doctor of Laws. Depending on what aspect of Law appeals to you, you can find lots of flexibility in such a field, after all, Adam Smith the father of Economics’ degree was a Doctor of Laws.</p>
<p>Thanks XaviFM…I considered that as well, however I lived in France for a few years and did not like it. So for me my options are either US (where i can work towards citizenship) or Djibouti.</p>
<p>Why do you have to make a decision by next week? Applications for fall 2013 doctoral admissions won’t even start being accepted for months. You can start looking for jobs now and take time this summer and fall to consider your interest in a Ph.D further.</p>
<p>Thats true, but I need to decide next week, I will leave Djibouti and go to the US, so I forfeit valuable experience here ( I guess for politics/IR PhD’s they value developing world experience) and i’d be more focused on looking for work.</p>
<p>
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<p>A JD is a first professional degree and is not terminal.</p>
<p>You know what else you can do with US permanent residency?</p>
<p>Work in the us.</p>
<p>/hint hint</p>
<p>lol I know. But thats easier said than done. That’s another few month (at least) of applying. Theres more jobs than here, but I feel like maybe my calling is a PhD … for which I can stay here, study for the GRE and get valuable experience . I worry that in the states i’ll just waste more precious time.</p>
<p>I would agree with what polarscribe has written, if you were a citizen of an OECD-type nation. People fortunate enough to be citizens of developed countries with market economies who also possess the capacity to gain acceptance to decent PhD programs almost always have a better outside option. Most would be well advised to limit their applications to programs that are clearly in the top 10 or maybe top 15 of their chosen discipline as a PhD is likely to be a waste of time and money otherwise. In a few disciplines, such as business or a few of the STEM fields, the reasonable to consider list might expand as far as the top 25.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think this is true for people in situations similar to yours. For many non-OECD nation students, <em>any</em> funded PhD program could make sense whether you are truly passionate about it or not. The truth of this is reflected in the national background of students in most tier-two PhD programs (outside of the humanities anyway).</p>
<p>The program that I attended has a long established record of nearly 100% research tenure-track faculty placement. Occasionally a graduate has gone to a non-R1 faculty position, but usually by choice rather than lack of R1 options. Even so, I knew a few students, all non-OECD nationals, who chose the discipline and to pursue the PhD strictly for the career prospects and not because of any deep passion for the subject. They are all now successful tenure-track research faculty.</p>
<p>Grad school certainly sucks less if you’re in love with what you’re doing, but if you’re mature enough to treat it like a job and you have no more attractive outside options, there is no reason why you can’t just work it like any other career. The truth is that very few people find their work especially fulfilling, yet they manage to show up everyday and do a good job. Having done plenty of both, I can tell you that academics has its own quirks, but ultimately it’s a career much like any other. A lot of academics think that it is special because it boosts their self image and they have little if anything else with which to compare it.</p>
<p>DrExPat, could you elaborate on this OECD thing? Why would being an OECD country citizen give one more exit oops, especially with a US JD?</p>
<p>‘if you’re mature enough to treat it like a job and you have no more attractive outside options, there is no reason why you can’t just work it like any other career.’</p>
<p>^ you hit the nail on the head with this as this expresses my feelings EXACTLY. However, since I am a permanent resident of the US , it adds complication to my case. I’m just not sure if I should go back to the USA and job hunt and work towards citizenship, or if the job market there is still poor enough so that going for a PhD in 2013 (staying in Djibouti in the meantime, getting work experience and applying) would be the sounder option.</p>
<p>@vienneselights</p>
<p>Re: OECD: Terms like first-world/third-world, developed/developing, western etc. are losing their descriptive relevance. OECD is the best proxy that I know for the more well developed market economies. </p>
<p>PhD education is lengthy and risky (a large proportion of people who start fail to finish). Academics is more competitive and risky than most people understand. In most fields only a fraction of PhDs ever get tenure-track positions. Of those who do, half or less are ultimately granted tenure and more than half of those who do earn tenure do so at their second or third school. So while being a tenured professor is not a bad gig, when you account for the 6 years or more of doctoral education and the 10+ years of pre-tenured work required to get the job together with the high chance of failing to get there, it is clear (to me) that most people with reasonable outside options would be well advised to pursue another career track.</p>
<p>But, if you come from a country where the per capita GDP is a tenth of the average PhD student stipend, the PhD route makes a lot more sense.</p>