Among the joint degree programs law schools offer, the J.D-MBA generally gets the most attention from potential applicants. Law schools are, however, increasingly pairing with other schools within their university to offer joint degrees such as J.D.-Master of Public Policy, J.D.-Master of Public Administration or a dual J.D. andmaster’s degree in international relations. Many law schools also offer joint degrees with master’s and doctoral degrees in academic subjects such as economics and philosophy.
Time and career options are the two main advantages to pursuing a joint degree. Almost all joint degrees will take at least one year less to complete than would completing each of the degrees individually.
With respect to career options, adding a degree will open doors both to specific practice areas and to career options that don’t involve the practice of law but still place a high value on a legal education.
[Check out three nonlegal careers for law school graduates.]
This week’s post will discuss three things you should know if you are considering a joint degree other than a joint J.D.-MBA.
1. You may need to submit two or three applications: Joint degree programs that contain a J.D. usually require you to be admitted to the law school independent of your pursuit of the joint degree. This means that in order to apply to a joint degree program, you will have to submit an application to the law school and to either the other degree-granting school or to the joint program itself.
Some programs may even require you to submit three applications: one for each school and one for the program itself. For example, I’ve worked with clients on applications for Harvard Law School’s J.D.-Master of Urban Planning joint degree. This degree, in particular, requires students to be admitted to both the law school and the graduate school of design independently, as well as to the joint program.
Note that in this respect, J.D.-MBA applications are similar. Some schools require you to submit applications to the law school, the business school and the J.D.-MBA program itself.
Applying to each school individually will likely require you to take both the LSAT and the GRE, as opposed to J.D.-MBA programs which generally require the LSAT and the GMAT. If you do have to take both tests, I recommend that you tackle the LSAT first. I feel it’s the hardest standardized test offered in the country, which will make preparing for the GRE seem much easier. In addition, most schools that require the GRE give much less weight to it than law schools do the LSAT, so knowing your LSAT score early will give you a clearer sense of where you should apply.
When putting together multiple applications, do not shy away from your aspiration to attend the joint program, but be sure to focus on the qualifications most relevant to the school to which that application will be sent.
[Learn about why to attend law school for a policy career.]
2. Know the common career paths for graduates of your target program: To make sure that the extra year or more and the tuition associated with the second degree are worth it, I encourage students considering a joint degree to educate themselves about common career paths for program graduates.
If your career goals are similar to the careers of those who have completed the degree you plan on applying for, then the extra year and tuition money is likely worth it.
Within the practice of law, pursuing a joint degree will give you additional expertise in a certain area, making you a more compelling candidate to practice at firms or in government agencies that value that expertise. Other than practicing law, joint degrees often open doors in legal and non-legal academia and careers focused on government and public policy.
Knowing common career paths is more important with specialized joint degrees than it is with J.D.-MBA degrees. Although J.D.-MBA graduates often have plans for how to combine the degrees before they complete the program, the degree is generally a much more versatile and broadly application pairing than a specialized joint degree.
[See how to decide which area of law fits your career goals.]
3. You should have a specific purpose for pursuing the joint degree: An important distinction between a J.D. or a J.D.-MBA program and other joint degree programs is the specificity of the degree. Both a J.D. and a J.D.-MBA are broadly applicable degrees that can be used in many different ways, but by pursuing a joint degree you are essentially committing yourself to a certain sector or subject matter.
Even if you are applying for a job at a firm that has many different practice areas, for example, you should be prepared to discuss your joint degree in an interview and you should expect to be assigned to a practice area that best uses the knowledge and expertise you have gained from your joint degree.
Are you planning to apply to a joint program? Let me know in an email or tweet me./p>
More from U.S. News
Balance the Pros, Cons of Enrolling in an Accelerated J.D. Program
Know How Law Schools Weigh Undergraduate, Transfer GPAs
Interact With Professors, Students to Strengthen Law School Applications
3 Things to Know About Non J.D.-MBA Joint Degrees originally appeared on usnews.com
