Several questions

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I’m interested (as interested as a rising high school junior can be) in attending law school. I could work a lot harder and try to get into an ivy, stay 4 years with one–possibly 2 majors or I could (most likely) go to UNC (Top 30 school) and do 2 majors, a minor, and a masters with a graduate minor in 3 years OR 2 majors, a minor, and 2 masters in 4 years.</p>

<p>(Majors: Philosophy, Public Policy Minor: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Masters degrees: Philosophy with minor in Public Policy, or Philosophy and Public Policy)</p>

<p>After that I’m considering one of the following: PhD (Philosophy)/JD, EdD/JD, or EdD/PhD (Philosophy). </p>

<li>Should I stay 3 years and do 1 masters or 4 years and do 2?</li>
<li>Do the advanced degrees outweigh going to a more prestigious school for undergrad?</li>
</ol>

2

<p>Outweigh in what sense?</p>

3

<p>So are a rising high school senior who plan on doing 2 majors, 1 minor, 2 masters, one PhD, and finally one JD?</p>

<p>Interesting</p>

4

<p>OK…hold up. You need to take a huge chill pill, and then do some research.</p>

<p>I go to UNC, and I can definitively tell you that there is no way you can graduate with 2 Majors, 1 minor, and a masters in 3 years.</p>

<p>There’s just no way.</p>

5

<p>Go for it! have fun being in school until your 35</p>

6

<p>Prestige of the school apparently matters very little, if at all. Get a very high GPA and very high LSAT, and you will have all your options open.
No need for Masters degree, but graduating in 3 years will put you at disadvantage for top law schools.</p>

7

<p>I knew a guy with seven advanced degrees. He was Transylvanian so maybe it was a vampire thing*. You should add in an MBA and an MD. Might take an extra year but if you buckle down.</p>

<p>Seriously though, you need to stop fantasizing. Focus on doing well in school, apply to schools that interest you, that have the programs you want and go on from there.</p>

<p>*I’m kidding. Not making fun of Romanians.</p>

8

<p>Umm…I guess I’m piling it on, but you really do need a reality check. </p>

<p>Currently, the MEDIAN amount of time it takes to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy in the US is seven years. The best advice I can give you if you really want to do this is to start working on your foreign languages now. Many top Ph.D. programs in philosophy require that you reach at least intermediate fluency levels in two foreign languages.Some require greater fluency in at least one language. Not all foreign languages are acceptable at all programs. My knowledge is very limited, but I do know that at least some of the top programs don’t accept Spanish. I’ve no idea what UNC’s requirements are, but at least some master’s degree programs in philosophy require intermediate mastery of at least one foreign language, and, again, many do not accept Spanish. </p>

<p>It may sound silly to even mention this…but a remarkable percentage of the young people I personally know who considered getting a Ph.D. in philosophy couldn’t pass the language hurdle.Years ago, I knew someone who was really an extraordinarily gifted student in philosophy. He had a high level understanding of Latin, but that wasn’t acceptable either. He got into what was then the top philosophy program in the US and left with a master’s because he couldn’t meet the foreign language requirements. (If my recollection is correct, he had to reach intermediate level mastery in at least one foreign language within the first 2 years of the Ph.D. program. He didn’t and despite the fact that he was really a star in philosophy, thus ended his academic career. )</p>

<p>You might want to take a look at the graduate board and check out the posts about philosophy Ph.Ds and EdD. </p>

<p>Next point, I’m not an academic, but I’ve never heard of a “graduate minor.” Unless it’s something unique to UNC, I doubt it exists. </p>

<p>Final point–go on-line. Look at UNC’s course catalogue. See if you can actually do what you plan. Among other things, you may discover that upper level courses in different fields meet at the same time or have the final at the same date and time. When my own kid would try to plan out courses (at a different college) it ALWAYS happened that at least two of those kid wanted to register for met at the same tive. Once you’d chosen a course that met at.eg., Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11 am, you’d ruled out taking hundreds of other courses that met at the same time.That made it hard to meet the requirements for different majors.</p>

<p>It’s fine to dream big. Maybe you’ll prove us all wrong and accomplish what you’ve planned. However, take it one day at a time. Figure out what you need to do NOW to keep your options open. If you think you might want to get a Ph.D. in philosophy, check out the admissions requirements for Ph.D. programs–including the acceptance rates. Do yuo need to prove competency in foreign languages? Then start working on that little piece of the puzzle now. What are the requirements to get into an EdD program–what do you need to do to make sure you can meet them, if that turns out to be an option you want to pursue? </p>

<p>Look at the UNC catalogue, as I’ve already said, and figure out what courses you have to take freshamn year to complete each of the majors you are interested in. Can you do it? </p>

<p>In other words, while we may all chuckle, don’t let us rain on your parade, but instead of asking what course is better among two courses that .00000000000001 of all college students could possibly pull off, focus on what you need to keep your options open right now. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

9

<p>There are exellent choices available for JD/PhD Philosophy candidates. You do have to have very strong credentials to get in (PhD admissions can be harder than JD, even at the very top schools). Harvard has a special loan forgiveness program for JD/PhD, which makes their Law school much more affordable for future academics. By the time you get there, Yale will probably have one as well…</p>

<p>Concentrate on your undergrad for now. Philosophy major is a good choice, btw.</p>

10

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<p>I’m doing 64 hours of credit in high school in addition to a summer session at UNC and a total of 2 online UNC courses, that’s 76 hours. I can use 20% of graduate classes taken for undergrad toward my master’s degree. I can also use a few philosophy courses toward my public policy major and my minor. That leaves me with the following requirements: 6 hours in general education, 18 hours in Public Policy, 9 hours in Graduate Public Policy, 6 hours in PPE, 21 hours Philosophy, 24 hours in Graduate Philosophy. That’s 84 hours, which I can do in 3 years, particularly if I attend an additional summer session the summer before starting UNC (assuming I get in).</p>

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<p>There are some schools that offer them, I knew of a math teacher with an MA in Chemistry and a minor in math. A graduate minor in public policy is 9 hours.</p>

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<p>I can have a PhD and JD in 6-7 years, which would make me 27-28 when I finish with school. </p>

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<p>It would be fine with me to wait until a PhD program to do my foreign language, I don’t see any additional foreign language requirements for an MA from UNC</p>

11

<p>Sure. Go ahead. Prove me wrong. But I’ll tell you this: If you call an advisor at UNC, and say what you just posted, I’m pretty sure they will give you the same answer I gave you above: there is no way. I came in with 70+ hours too, and it’s still not feasible to do what you suggested. </p>

<p>When you actually get to college, and try to accomplish what you set out to do, you’ll get that reality check you so desperately need.</p>

<p>But for now, I’ll just sit back and say, “Good Luck!”</p>

12

<p>You’ve helped me realize two things: I’m taking more hours than I can transfer (So I’ll replace those courses with online UNC courses I can apply to my majors), and I need to call UNC advising.</p>

13

<p>I actually sat down and planned out a possible schedule for the next 5 years (did I mention I’m bona fide crazy?) and if I give up the graduate minor in Public Policy I can do what I’d like to.</p>

14

<p>I think you should open yourself to the option of learning more about your likes, dislikes, talents and interests as you work your way through an academic program.</p>

<p>I changed my mind about my major twice between the first and last day of my freshman year in college.</p>