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Does anyone have any experience (or know anyone else with experience) with admissions into Northwestern's formal JD-PhD program? I have a 171 LSAT, and I'm trying to decide if I need to retake it. I figure a 171 is good enough for admission as a normal law student, but because the JD-PhD program is fully funded I'm wondering if their standards are significantly higher.

If it matters to your response, I'm planning to do a PhD in finance, GRE %ile Q95 V97. I am currently completing a double masters in finance and economics. UG GPA 3.2 in political science and history (although without my first semester it's a 3.5), Grad GPA 3.5. Work experience as a HS chemistry teacher, and database manager for a tech company.

Additionally, here is Northwestern's JD-PhD page http://www.law.northwestern.edu/academi ... jds/jdphd/

I'd also be open to info about other schools' JD-PhD programs.

The page with information about applying seems to clear this up:

Applicants to Northwestern's JD-PhD program must meet the admission requirements of both the Law School and The Graduate School to gain admittance into the program.

So it seems like any other joint-degree program. Your candidacy will be evaluated by both the graduate school and the law school, which means your LSAT should only be considered by the law school's committee, while your GRE score will be evaluated by whoever oversees PhD admissions.

I'd call NU to double-check, but I think admission is a two-pronged process. You can be denied admission as a PhD student but granted admission as a JD, even if you apply for the joint program. Or at least that's how I read it.