Master degree before Law School ? Forum

[mrshibis]

I have recently graduated with Political Science degree from state University. My GPA is 3.63. I would like to go Law school but first I want to get my master. I am currently working and saving money. I have applied and got accepted to a few different programs as followed. Ma in Public Administration, Master of Urban Planning, Master of Public Relation and Corporate Communication.



1) Would an MA help or hinder my application?

2) Which subject would be most advantageous?
Choices are:
Ma in Public Administration
Master of Urban Planning
Master of Public Relation and Corporate Communication.


Thanks for your feedback and help!

[BVest]

IME, they don't care.

[twenty]

As someone who did this, terrible, terrible idea for so many reasons. At the very least, do a joint JD/MA which will shave a year of costs/time off your two degrees. But also, don't do an MPA, and DEFINITELY don't do a professional masters or MUP unless you have substantial work experience in those fields.

[mrshibis]

As someone who did this, terrible, terrible idea for so many reasons. At the very least, do a joint JD/MA which will shave a year of costs/time off your two degrees. But also, don't do an MPA, and DEFINITELY don't do a professional masters or MUP unless you have substantial work experience in those fields.

How about The Public Relation and Corporate communication degree ?

[justonemoregame]

All of those MAs are worthless unless you get an arbitrary raise for having a graduate degree in a currently-held job.

[twenty]

As someone who did this, terrible, terrible idea for so many reasons. At the very least, do a joint JD/MA which will shave a year of costs/time off your two degrees. But also, don't do an MPA, and DEFINITELY don't do a professional masters or MUP unless you have substantial work experience in those fields.

How about The Public Relation and Corporate communication degree ?

That's a professional masters. Unless you're a senior level PR employee that must complete a masters degree in order to move into management, don't do this. And even if you were in this position, part time MBA > this masters degree.

[sparty99]

I have recently graduated with Political Science degree from state University. My GPA is 3.63. I would like to go Law school but first I want to get my master. I am currently working and saving money. I have applied and got accepted to a few different programs as followed. Ma in Public Administration, Master of Urban Planning, Master of Public Relation and Corporate Communication.



1) Would an MA help or hinder my application?

2) Which subject would be most advantageous?
Choices are:
Ma in Public Administration
Master of Urban Planning
Master of Public Relation and Corporate Communication.

You are a degree whore. Do you want to be a lawyer or not? If so, then you don't get a Masters and THEN go to law school. You work, then go get a law degree. There is no reason to get a masters degree then a law degree. Additionally, there is no reason to get a law degree then another masters degree unless you actually realize that you don't want to be a lawyer.

Thanks for your feedback and help!

[jarofsoup]

Only thing useful is a hard science or finance/accounting masters. The latter is less useful, but some employers like it.

[mrshibis]

I am very interested and fallen in love with Master of Professional Studies in MURP /and PR and corporate communication degree (I am not in a senior level PR or planning position).

I still want to go to law school afterwards.

I am just not sure if it would help or hurt me after law school.

Would it be insane to pursue it?
In addition, I am not sure it would really help me get employed in the long run.

Thanks

[sparty99]

I am very interested and fallen in love with Master of Professional Studies in MURP /and PR and corporate communication degree (I am not in a senior level PR or planning position).

I still want to go to law school afterwards.

I am just not sure if it would help or hurt me after law school.

Would it be insane to pursue it?
In addition, I am not sure it would really help me get employed in the long run.

Thanks

DON'T GET THOSE DEGREES AND THEN GO TO LAW SCHOOL. PR & CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DEGREE LIKE THE PROGRAMS AT NORTHWESTERN ARE HIGH CALIBER AND FOR PEOPLE WHO GO TO PR AND HAVE HAD 2-3 YEARS OF WORK IN THAT FIELD. PR AND LAW ARE NOT EVEN RELATED. THIS WOULDN'T EVEN BE USEFUL IF YOU DID SOFT TRADEMARK LAW. STOP BEING A DEGREE WHORE. THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA. AMERICANS THINK DEGREES WILL OPEN DOORS AND THEY JUST GET THEM LIKE ITS NOTHING. LIKE YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY BACK LOANS.

[Colonel_funkadunk]

i mean why do you want the masters before law school. it just seems very very very pointless.

do you want to be a lawyer?

or are you just looking for a lil preftige viz a viz a ton of useless degrees?

eta: sup dude above me who is on point af?

[twenty]

Yes, you would be insane to pursue it. I did, under the best circumstances possible, and I still regret it. My program was cheaper than your program will be, because mine was mostly subsidized. My masters program not only got me a very substantial promotion at my job, it also directly coincides with what field of law I'm interested in. The amount of writing I had to do in my masters program makes my LRW class (mostly) a cakewalk, and I sincerely enjoyed learning things while in the program.

I would never, ever make the same choice again.

What you're saying is pretty much exactly what was going through my mind at the time, except (to be honest), my reasons were a lot more substantiated. That said, the biggest difference between you and I is that no one told me what a huge mistake I would be making, whereas you do have someone telling you that. If you want to be an attorney, go to law school. If you want to be an urban planner, go to urban planning school (etc. for all the other degrees you are thinking about that have no relation to each other).

If you're going to fall in love with an incredibly expensive and costly ordeal with no real tangible benefit, fall in love with a Tesla Model S.

[Mal Reynolds]

If you're gonna get one masters degree, you might as well get three, I always say.

[skri65]

I had an undergrad background in the social sciences. I took a risk and spent two years getting a MS in an engineering field after undergrad, and will be doing IP work in biglaw next summer. I would not have been able to get this job without my additional degree. If you are going to get a masters degree, make it something that employers care about. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

[BVest]

Yeah... it's not that employers give a crap that you have a Masters in engineering, it's that you have ANY degree in engineering. You could have gotten the job with a BS in a hard science as well.

[twenty]

I had an undergrad background in the social sciences. I took a risk and spent two years getting a MS in an engineering field after undergrad, and will be doing IP work in biglaw next summer. I would not have been able to get this job without my additional degree. If you are going to get a masters degree, make it something that employers care about. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

The bigger question I have is how the hell did you get into an engineering program without a STEM background?

[TheSpanishMain]

It would not help you in any way. It would be a lot of time, money, and effort that could be better spent on the LSAT if you're convinced you want to be a lawyer. No one is ever going to care about your MURP or whatever it is.

[skri65]

I had an undergrad background in the social sciences. I took a risk and spent two years getting a MS in an engineering field after undergrad, and will be doing IP work in biglaw next summer. I would not have been able to get this job without my additional degree. If you are going to get a masters degree, make it something that employers care about. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

The bigger question I have is how the hell did you get into an engineering program without a STEM background?

I took the prerequisites, did well in them, and applied. It helps that the degree wasn't from the most prestigious program, but the employers didn't seem to care too much...was able to play it off that I was adept at picking up challenging things quickly, was motivated, blah blah. I'm in debt hell now, but that was just part of my decision to increase my marketability.

[skri65]

Yeah... it's not that employers give a crap that you have a Masters in engineering, it's that you have ANY degree in engineering. You could have gotten the job with a BS in a hard science as well.

The point was that it is not per se a bad idea to get a masters degree. Although, I admit I can't think of too many situations in which it would be a good idea.

[jbagelboy]

I had an undergrad background in the social sciences. I took a risk and spent two years getting a MS in an engineering field after undergrad, and will be doing IP work in biglaw next summer. I would not have been able to get this job without my additional degree. If you are going to get a masters degree, make it something that employers care about. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

The bigger question I have is how the hell did you get into an engineering program without a STEM background?

I took the prerequisites, did well in them, and applied. It helps that the degree wasn't from the most prestigious program, but the employers didn't seem to care too much...was able to play it off that I was adept at picking up challenging things quickly, was motivated, blah blah. I'm in debt hell now, but that was just part of my decision to increase my marketability.

at the risk of sounding like a dick, and without full information on your individual choices and debt levels, you could probably have just paid $160 to retake the LSAT and "increase[d] your marketability" to large law firms just as well if not better by skipping the MA and going to a law school with stronger placement.

The above advise should hold in 98% of circumstances unless you were seriously considering becoming an engineer or you absolutely love and had to become a patent litigator.

[skri65]

I had an undergrad background in the social sciences. I took a risk and spent two years getting a MS in an engineering field after undergrad, and will be doing IP work in biglaw next summer. I would not have been able to get this job without my additional degree. If you are going to get a masters degree, make it something that employers care about. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

The bigger question I have is how the hell did you get into an engineering program without a STEM background?

I took the prerequisites, did well in them, and applied. It helps that the degree wasn't from the most prestigious program, but the employers didn't seem to care too much...was able to play it off that I was adept at picking up challenging things quickly, was motivated, blah blah. I'm in debt hell now, but that was just part of my decision to increase my marketability.

at the risk of sounding like a dick, and without full information on your individual choices and debt levels, you could probably have just paid $160 to retake the LSAT and "increase[d] your marketability" to large law firms just as well if not better by skipping the MA and going to a law school with stronger placement.

The above advise should hold in 98% of circumstances unless you were seriously considering becoming an engineer or you absolutely love and had to become a patent litigator.

You don't sound like a dick. I had little interest in doing general corporate and specifically wanted to work in IP, so my situation was unusual. it wasnt purely about marketability as much as it was marketability in the area of law I wanted to work in.

[mwallace930]

Speaking as someone who has gotten a master's degree and is now applying to law school, don't listen to the people who are telling you not to go, insofar as you have a genuine interest in the master's programs you're applying to, and you're not just doing it to boost your application status to law school. If the latter is the case, then just work on improving your LSAT score.

Throughout my years as an undergraduate, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that I was going to law school immediately after. I summer interned at a prestigious Biglaw firm and worked as a file clerk at another after graduation. In one of my smartest decisions ever, I realized about that time that the only thing guiding my decision to go to law school was a desire for $$$, a certain skill set I had, and some loosely defined interests. Instead of law, I applied to a PhD program in history, and entered that.

I hated the PhD program, leaving shortly after my master's, but the time spent there was well worth it. It changed my way of interpreting the world, gave me time to mature, and led to amazing career opportunities overseas. Although I never thought I would apply to law school, seven years later, I'm doing exactly that with a much more focused idea of what I want to do. I'm also mature enough to view with skepticism people's advice of telling you "this is the way it should be done, and you're stupid otherwise."

So if you have a real passion for urban planning or public administration, go ahead and do it. At the very least, you'll have time to develop yourself and your understanding of the world. You may decide in the end that you never want to do law school. Or you may apply to law school with a very focused idea of what you want to accomplish there.

Live life a little. Experience makes you a better person. Release yourself from all pre-set expectations of "this is my five-year plan" and just apply yourself to something you enjoy and decide along the way where that will take you.

[sparty99]

Speaking as someone who has gotten a master's degree and is now applying to law school, don't listen to the people who are telling you not to go, insofar as you have a genuine interest in the master's programs you're applying to, and you're not just doing it to boost your application status to law school. If the latter is the case, then just work on improving your LSAT score.

Throughout my years as an undergraduate, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that I was going to law school immediately after. I summer interned at a prestigious Biglaw firm and worked as a file clerk at another after graduation. In one of my smartest decisions ever, I realized about that time that the only thing guiding my decision to go to law school was a desire for $$$, a certain skill set I had, and some loosely defined interests. Instead of law, I applied to a PhD program in history, and entered that.

I hated the PhD program, leaving shortly after my master's, but the time spent there was well worth it. It changed my way of interpreting the world, gave me time to mature, and led to amazing career opportunities overseas. Although I never thought I would apply to law school, seven years later, I'm doing exactly that with a much more focused idea of what I want to do. I'm also mature enough to view with skepticism people's advice of telling you "this is the way it should be done, and you're stupid otherwise."

So if you have a real passion for urban planning or public administration, go ahead and do it. At the very least, you'll have time to develop yourself and your understanding of the world. You may decide in the end that you never want to do law school. Or you may apply to law school with a very focused idea of what you want to accomplish there.

Live life a little. Experience makes you a better person. Release yourself from all pre-set expectations of "this is my five-year plan" and just apply yourself to something you enjoy and decide along the way where that will take you.

"At the very least, you'll have time to develop yourself and your understanding of the world." The fuck? How does urban planning achieve this? Unless he is going to practice urban planning in Tokyo, Japan his understanding of the world will hardly change. A masters degree will be additional dischargeable debt. Graduate school is not for people to go "find themselves."

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/us/cnn-film-ivory-tower

[mwallace930]

Learning new paradigms, finding a personal philosophy, and discovering what your specific interests are. Most 21 year olds don't know shit about themselves. He has to make the decision about his financial situation and whether it's worth it or not.

Graduate school is about discovering yourself. That's all that life is about. It ain't about making $150k/year. You'll be miserable unless you're pursuing the goal you set for yourself--not what twits on this message board tell you you should do. Otherwise, you'll be another of the many stunted individuals who populate these message boards.

[BVest]

Walt: Daddy what's gradual school?
Garp: What?
Walt: Gradual school. Mommy say's she teaches at gradual school.
Garp: Oh Gradual school is where you go to school and you gradually find out you don't want to go to school anymore.