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I want to be able to get a bachelors in chemistry to practice intellectual property law. Will I be able to get a chem degree at the school I attend at the same time?

While you are in law school, it would be impossible.

You want to do patent law in chemistry? Your best bet is to get at least a masters. You can do a dual degree JD/M.S. in Chemistry but you must already have a BS or BA in order to gain admittance to a law school.

Nice flame, I like it. Can I get a BS with my JD, even though I need a BS as a pre-requisite for getting a JD....

Nice flame, I like it. Can I get a BS with my JD, even though I need a BS as a prequiste for getting a JD....

Or OP wants another BS?

dissonance1848 wrote:Nice flame, I like it. Can I get a BS with my JD, even though I need a BS as a prequiste for getting a JD....

Yea, I have a math and English degree, but i need a different degree to practice intellectual property law, also prerequisite*

You can do a six-year BS/JD program at Suffolk. I'd assume that the first 3 years are BS and second 3 are JD. Maybe you can look into it though.

If I was in your position, I would ask myself whether I know enough about intellectual property law to justify pursuing another bachelors degree. If law is the right path, I'm sure you can find another focus that you enjoy.

From what I've researched it seems like its the kind of law I want to get into and I plan on going to BU which has a good program. It seems like, credit wise, I could get it done by taking one chem course per semester and one course in the summers with maybe an additional semester after my three years as a JD student.

But would my JD school allow me to take chem courses? I feel like if people have the time to complete masters programs then one additional undergrad course per semester will be doable.

And if I find out IP is not where I belong then I could just not pursue the chem degree any further.

Yeah, need to use spell check more. Since you've got the math background, I'd say go for a MS in engineering, sounds like a good idea, unless you really want something specific in IP?

Are you trying to earn an additional B.S. while in law school ? If so, law schools are quite specific regarding how many credits law students can take outside of the law school that will count toward the JD degree. You probably will not have enough time to earn another BA or BS degree unless you already have substantial credit hours and are willing to attend summer school.
A few JD degree granting programs accept law students with just three years of undergraduate credits and award the BA/BS after completing the first year of law school. Valpo in Indiana is one that comes to mind.

One particular law school, Trinity Law School, does not require applicants to hold a bachelor's degree upon entering the law school; the minimum requirement for them is an associate's degree.

ComatoseClown wrote:One particular law school, Trinity Law School, does not require applicants to hold a bachelor's degree upon entering the law school; the minimum requirement for them is an associate's degree.

Then they are not ABA accredited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Lu

This guy got a simultaneous JD/MBA/BA.

UnitarySpace wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Lu

This guy got a simultaneous JD/MBA/BA.

True, but that guy's baller enough to have his own Wikipedia page, let alone somehow get Columbia to give him three degrees at the same time.
So I guess technically it is POSSIBLE, but very obviously a rare exception.

A BS in Chemistry is only useful for technically qualifying you to sit for the Patent Bar. It's not at all useful for actually doing chemistry patent work. People expect at least a master's and they're not being overly demanding there.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:A BS in Chemistry is only useful for technically qualifying you to sit for the Patent Bar. It's not at all useful for actually doing chemistry patent work. People expect at least a master's and they're not being overly demanding there.

At the school I plan on attending there seems to be a BA/MA program that can be completed in 37 credits which I think would be doable with an additional semester after my JD and doing 1 chem course each semester. Would a MA be looked down upon versus an MS? I really wish I had known what I'd wanted to do before starting undergrad then I could have had all this worked out by majoring in chem now.

This question is specific enough that it should really be posed to a counselor at BU rather than a bunch of randoms on a forum.

Z3RO wrote:This question is specific enough that it should really be posed to a counselor at BU rather than a bunch of randoms on a forum.

I will eventually do that (I'm going to wait until I'm going to wait until I'm officially accepted). I just sort of wanted to see the general consensus of the community. Just to see if it was even feasible and worth approaching a counselor about.