<p>Hey, I was admitted to the 6 year PharmD program almost awhile back, and I was wondering if it was possible to do something like finish the PharmD and then apply and gain admission to a to law school. Would this give me a leg-up in the admissions process? Also, would it be possible to bail on the PharmD program 2 years early if I get into a top law school then? Would I still get a bachelors?</p>
<p>If I do decide to do PharmD AND JD, would that give me a significant advantage in my professional career?</p>
<p>By "top law school", I mean Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, or UChicago.</p>
<p>Bailing on a program is not going to get you in anywhere. Just the mere fact that you are contemplating this says a lot. Please give that spot in the pharmacy school to someone who actually wants it.</p>
<p>Ignoring the weird guilting from someone who doesn’t understand sunk costs, I can’t really see how having a PharmD would give you an advantage in legal hiring. If you’re eligible to sit the patent bar that might help, but I honestly don’t know if you would be. That would be something to research.</p>
<p>Thanks for the identical insight, proudfather. Please take the time and add it to every thread on this forum.
OP: With some very limited exceptions, having both a PharmD and a JD-even from top schools-will not be particularly helpful. The number of jobs available requiring-or even preferring both-can be counted on one hand. And I’d suggest that starting a PharmD then applying to law school after two years would be a waste of your time and a lot of money, and possibly make you look like nothing more than a dilettante-and what would bailing get you?
And what’s your $$ situation; if you’re independently wealthy, it would be interesting to get both degrees-are you? If not, you’re looking at debt of over a quarter million dollars.</p>
<p>No I am not wealthy, but I do not expect the total bill from RU to be any more than 80k (6 years), I am not sure how much Law School costs though…</p>
<p>@proudfather: How would a pharmD help with any of that? FDA work is administrative law work, which doesn’t depend on having a background. I guess it might be helpful in distinguishing drugs and devices? I can’t really see how though, since again that’s more statutory interpretation than anything else. </p>
<p>Would PharmD help get into a top law school in the first place? Would it help me be distinguished from the rest of my Law School Class when recruiters come along?</p>
<p>I am unsure to the second. I haven’t heard of anyone else with a PharmD degree going through legal recruiting. I think PharmD allows you to sit for the patent bar, which if you want to do intellectual property law would make you somewhat more marketable. The bio fields generally require fairly advanced degrees or experience before employers look at you for patent work. I am unsure on whether PharmD would fall under that category. Your best bet for finding out is to do some research and find practicing lawyers with PharmD degrees. Send them an email and ask. </p>
<p>I don’t think it would set you apart much from other patent bar eligible people though. The in-demand fields are CS/EE. Less so the others. That said, PharmD is rare enough that there may be specialties attached to it. That’s something to look into.</p>
<p>I would think FDA hires tons of pharmacists. Pharmacists know more about drugs than doctors, if you want to know the awful truth. PHarmacologist MDs do know about drugs, but that’s an M.D I think it would be very novel to do a pharmacy or engineering or other practical degree and work a few years,and then do law school. I think a lot of companies and agencies (like FDA) would be extremely impressed. But demosthenes49 is correct that the biotech fields probably require something more intense than being a pharmacist. </p>
<p>@proudfather: The language “I would think” leads me to believe you are just guessing. I know lawyers who practice primarily Food & Drug law. They, as I said earlier, mostly use administrative law and statutory interpretation (to follow the regs). I don’t know of any with a PharmD and I don’t see how that would help any. That is not to say it could not help–at the very least it would make a person eligible to sit the patent bar–but rather that I have no reason to think it particularly valuable when practicing before the FDA.</p>
First question is - exactly what is it that you want to do - or not do? Have you changed your mind about wanting to get the PharmD? If so - why? If not, why think of bailing out? Have you decided that you don’t want to do pharm research? If not, don’t bail out.
Second question is - why do you want to go to law school. If it’s for any reason other than you want to become a lawyer (for example, you think it might help you in some other career) - then don’t even think about it. Law school is expensive and will put you through a wringer for 3 years.
Would a PharmD degree help you in getting admitted to a law school? Probably not much in and of itself.
Would a PharmD degree in combination with a JD help you in becoming an attorney? Depends on what you plan to do with that combination. It could be helpful in becoming a patent attorney - if that’s what you want to do! It might be helpful if you want to do FDA litigation - but I would follow Demosthenes’ advice and ask some lawyers practicing in the field about that.
I am truly very confused on what to do. The thing is at Rutgers it is very easy to transfer out of the Pharmacy School, but not so so easy to transfer in.
OP: It appears that you are considering whether or not to apply to the Rutgers PharmD program right out of HS; as I read it that’s a six year program which will get you your PharmD. The first question you need to ask yourself: do you want to do this? If you are uncertain about pharmacy as a career, it seems to be a bad idea to apply to a PharmD program. If you do want to be a pharmacist, I’d suggest you follow cbreeze’s advice; get your degree, practice pharmacy for a few years, then see if you still have an interest in going to law school. The work and life experience you will have gained will be a big help in making a decision at that point.
If you’re utterly baffled about what to do, it may be best to go to college as an undeclared. Do you know any pharmacists? Could you talk to them/intern for them to see what a pharmacist does? There’s also a pharmacist thread on CC; you may want to visit there. I would point out that you ought to see what would happen, in terms of using the credits for other degrees, should you begin the PharmD program and then decide it wasn’t what you wanted.
It’d be a huge waste of time. You can sit for the patent bar with an undergrad degree alone or a certain number of science classes.
And the only things that matter in law school admissions are first and foremost, your LSAT score, and then second, your GPA. I still have friends who got into T-14 law schools with a sub 3.0 GPA and a 175 LSAT score though. But if you have a good GPA and a shitty LSAT score, you aren’t getting in anywhere good.
I would think that having a pharmacy degree might help your career in that (1) if you want to do IP/biotech law, it would show an interest in the field, and (2) it might give you some practical knowledge that would be beneficial. It wouldn’t be a huge benefit, though. Sometimes having too many degrees can be detrimental in that it can show a lack of focus on being a lawyer.
FYI, just another piece of information for you to consider.
According to USnews.com,the median annual salary for a pharmacist was $116,670, or $56.09 per hour, in 2012.
Lawyers earned a median salary of $113,530 in 2012
A PharmD degree would not be relevant to working in biotech IP law. You would need a Ph.D. in some biotech subject for that. In IP law a PharmD degree would be relevant only for chemical or pharmaceutical-related work
Some of the leading firms in Washington DC have foundational practices in food and drug law–Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling among the best. I would not discount the fact that someone with a background in drugs and drug manufacturing would be immensely helpful to a firm in this area. Now, I can’t say I know exactly what a PharmD is exactly, but FDA lawyers are integral to the drawn out process of getting drug and medical device approvals from the FDA. This is not simple “follow the administrative regulation” hoop-jumping that a previous poster states; it’s a complex presentation of drug trial data and proving the efficacy of the drug or device. It’s not something non-technically oriented lawyers are adept at. I agree that the OP would be stupid to go into a PharmD program with no intention of finishing it, but someone armed with both degrees could easily find work.