will my law degree help me get into any graduate programs Forum

[pointnlaugh7]

will a law degree from boston university help me get into any graduate programs? namely, philosophy phd programs. yes, i am already pursuing the jd/ma in philosophy, but i want to know if my JD in and of itself will help me get in. (i know that getting a philosophy phd will help one get into law school but i dont know about the other way around.)

i would like a better answer than 'it couldnt hurt.'

[Iconoclast]

Seems kinda like using a sledgehammer to put a tack in a corkboard...

[Discipulus Iustitiae]

If your areas of interest are in political and legal philosophy, and perhaps ethics, you should get a good admissions boost. But if you want to do, say, metaphysics, then I don't think it will help much. The single most important factor in applying to philosophy graduate programs is the writing sample, followed by letters of recommendation and statement of intent. Bear in mind, too, that competition to the top 50 philosophy grad programs is more fierce than that of law school admissions. Typically, the very top programs accept between 3-5% of their applicants (e.g., Cornell gets 300+ applications for 4-5 spots each year).

[Blindmelon]

will a law degree from boston university help me get into any graduate programs? namely, philosophy phd programs. yes, i am already pursuing the jd/ma in philosophy, but i want to know if my JD in and of itself will help me get in. (i know that getting a philosophy phd will help one get into law school but i dont know about the other way around.)

i would like a better answer than 'it couldnt hurt.'

Its getting easier and easier to figure out who is posting on these forums from my school.

[General Tso]

*points and laughs* at pointnlaugh7

[homestyle28]

Just wrapped up an MA in phil at a program that sends folks to PhD's regularly. Since you're already studying Phil you should know the answer is "it depends". You studies should naturally boost your GRE score so that helps, they should help you get better recommendations so that helps, and they should also help you produce a better writing sample so that helps. But if your philosophical interests are in metaphysics or epistemology then I doubt it helps that much as another poster already said if you want to do legal or political phil your JD probably helps.

It does make me wonder why you are on this path though. You realize that top notch phil PHDs don't get jobs right? There's a lot of talk on TLS about how bad the legal job market is, but in comparison to trying to land a tenure track job in the humanities it's still a job orgy.

[notanumber]

I've sat on humanities graduate admissions committees. In descending order of importance, the following factors seem to be involved. 1, 2, and 3 are about 95% of it.

1. Connections - Do you know anybody in the department who will argue for you in committee? Does somebody at the school owe your current adviser a favor?

2. Publications - Have you written anything (pref. in a peer-reviewed journal) on your proposed topic?

3. Proposed research design - Does it 'make sense' in the context of what the department does.

4. Previous research.

5. Previous degrees - grades, where you went to school (some top programs are very elitist about UG education), your advanced degrees.

6. GRE scores - but IMHO these are overblown and not nearly as important/dispositive as they are in law school. You want to be able to jump over the hurdle, but small differences in scores won't make or break an application.

A J.D. will help you insofar as it allows you to network with people in the profession, publish in cognate fields, and write a convincing research statement. If its disconnected from what you want to study then it will be a negative (the committee will wonder if you're just floundering around and feeling directionless).

But:

It does make me wonder why you are on this path though. You realize that top notch phil PHDs don't get jobs right? There's a lot of talk on TLS about how bad the legal job market is, but in comparison to trying to land a tenure track job in the humanities it's still a job orgy.

[pointnlaugh7]

will a law degree from boston university help me get into any graduate programs? namely, philosophy phd programs. yes, i am already pursuing the jd/ma in philosophy, but i want to know if my JD in and of itself will help me get in. (i know that getting a philosophy phd will help one get into law school but i dont know about the other way around.)

i would like a better answer than 'it couldnt hurt.'

Its getting easier and easier to figure out who is posting on these forums from my school.

K hi. And SHEESH guys I was just curious.

[pointnlaugh7]

Thanks to the helpful responses

[BigDreamah]

Hey Point and Laugh,

I've just starting thinking about the same option as you. I was wondering if you had taken any action on it or learned anything more about it. Thanks.

[pedror414]

SPAM

[3ThrowAway99]

SPAM

IBB

[shoeshine]

*points and laughs* at pointnlaugh7

When random threads get bumped I see General TSO and I get sort of excited for a moment. Then I realize he posted this before his permanent ban and I get sad again.

[lisjjen]

*points and laughs* at pointnlaugh7

When random threads get bumped I see General TSO and I get sort of excited for a moment. Then I realize he posted this before his permanent ban and I get sad again.

Permanent ban? Whaaaaat?

What happened?

[TTH]

*points and laughs* at pointnlaugh7

When random threads get bumped I see General TSO and I get sort of excited for a moment. Then I realize he posted this before his permanent ban and I get sad again.

Permanent ban? Whaaaaat?

What happened?

He fought the law, and the law won.