Legal Sociologist

I honestly doubt they'd care. It's just additional coursework.

If only 18% find tenure track jobs then what becomes of the other 82%?

I'm focusing on a program in my geographic area of preference that has my research interest so I'm not aiming that high so I can't really answer that.

That's why I imagine a lot of programs interview or at least heavily weigh the statement of purpose and recommendations. In a graduate program, you'll have a lot of contact with the faculty and after a couple of years will become almost a co-worker. I can see why faculty want to ensure that you'll fit into the culture of their program. I like to contrast with law school where I literally could have gone all 3 years without ever going to office hours or engaging with a professor outside of class. Since professional programs rely more on "rankings" than anything else to get you through the door, they have to admit a certain numerical profile of applicants. There's no such pressure for grad schools because they're under no requirement to release the GRE/GPA makeup of their classes. In a way, this is better because it at least helps to ensure that you end up in an environment where YOU will feel comfortable but it of course makes the process chaotic and unpredictable.

That's the thing too, grad school admissions are more political than professional school admissions. The admitted pools are so small that professors may advocate for someone with subpar numbers because the APPLICANT is someone that they want to work with and because something stands out to them. In a professional program (JD/MPA/MD/MBA/etc.), you're admitting a large "class" without regard for how they fit into the culture of the program. Applying to grad school reminds me a lot of applying for a job. It's not enough to just be qualified, you have to also bring something to the table that the school can benefit from or that will enrich their product.

The biggest problem is that we don't have access to complete data regarding admissions. Outside of the few schools that release it, we don't know the admit rate for programs. If you're applying to 7 programs with a >50% acceptance then your odds are higher than the guy who applied to programs with <10% acceptance rates. The thing is though, we have no way of knowing which camp you'd fall in. We also don't know the popularity of certain subfields and the acceptance rates for those. If I have a super specific interest that is shared by one faculty member at the school then my odds of getting in may be higher. However, if I have an interest that while shared by a professor is common in the applicant pool, my odds decrease.

That's not a bad idea. I did see that some programs (usually policy oriented though) will treat a JD as a "relevant Master's" and give you 10-15 course credits, which amounts to a semester. Any little bit DOES help though.

I think the only way you win with app fees is if you apply to only one program, get in AND get funded.

How many sociology grad students are there? I imagine that there are literally hundreds of programs, all with at least 10-20 students. There are probably thousands of people pursuing a Masters or Ph.D in sociology right now. In my observation though, most people just attend a local university and commute from home. This goes for undergrad and grad actually.

Your advice was really helpful. I'm prepping for the bar exam this summer and have a one year fellowship that will keep me busy while I apply for graduate programs so I'll have at least a year of post-graduate legal experience. In most of my legal academic writing though, I've tried to weave in sociological literature. I usually take a case and piece of literature that I really like and relate the two. It's probably good practice and it gives me a solid writing sample. My target school does not accept students directly into the Ph.D and requires an MA first so I'll likely apply there for that. It's not an elite program but they have faculty that I like and are doing research that I would really like to be apart of. I've also been studying for the GRE off and on since the summer. I'm excited to start the application process.

When I applied to law schools, I noticed that a lot of forums in THAT field also had the same inclination. It seems that people who go to online communities have (or at least state a) preference for more competitive programs. You raise a good point though, where are the applicants (for any program) who aren't going for the gold (so to speak)?

I just wanted to bump this up with an update. Since the post, I've been working as an RA with a professor who lets me do research in my subfield and with whom I have a good personal relationship. I have also taken multiple classes that have allowed me to conduct research that is relevant to my interests. A couple of professors have told me that my interests will lead me to academia with one directly pushing me towards a Ph.D. I've also used the past year to refine my research interests. As for grades? My grades in "legal doctrine" classes are average at best but I get As in classes that allow me to conduct research in what I'm interested in. I'm a terrible exam taker and the whole "your entire grade depends on one exam" thing really screws with me. I'll need to explain this somehow I assume.

Thanks everyone for the help! (And sorry for it taking 3 months for me to post in here again) My eventual hope is to work for a policy think tank or research institute. I am working on a sociological issue for my upper level legal writing requirement so it has helped me refine my research interests substantially. I am interested in how rural poverty affects access to government sponsored institutions and how policy can be used to shape that. For example, impoverished rural people may have a more difficult time acquiring IDs for voting purposes in states that have passed statutes requiring them. The courts have held that this passes strict scrutiny because states have a compelling interest in preventing voter fraud, but they haven't addressed how to ensure that people who often live 45 minutes to an hour away from a DMV can get one. People in impoverished rural areas also often have to learn in substandard educational facilities and unlike their urban peers, often do not have culturally enriching activities nearby. A disadvantaged school in New York or Boston can take field trips to museums, whereas a disadvantaged school in Mississippi cannot. How can policy be used to address this disparity? Some courts (ex. the New Hampshire Supreme Court) have held that education funding should be equitable throughout the state, while others have held that the local property tax funding model is fine. I find the interplay between poverty and governmental institutions and policies to be interesting. My best grades 1L year were in Con Law and a class where we look at the structure of regulatory agencies and I'm currently in Con Law II and Legislation. Now that I'm done with the 1L required curriculum, I am focusing on taking classes that allow me to gain knowledge that will be useful in my later research. I am also getting mixed reviews from friends when I pitch the idea. A lot of people think that it'd be a waste to spend another 5+ years in school, but I would only be 30-31 when I get my Ph.D.

Hi everyone, I am currently a second year law student and am interested in possibility getting a Ph.D after finishing my JD. In undergrad, my sociology major concentration was in social inequality and the effects that the legal system can have on class mobility. When I began law school, I wanted to pursue this interest by working as a public interest attorney after graduation. This summer, I am doing a public interest internship in an impoverished area and have noticed certain trends that I would like to research and learn more about. My tentative plan would be to apply to grad school, get in and then take the bar exam the following year in the state where I'm going to grad school so I can take cases pro-bono as time allows (or if there are gaps in my funding and I need to supplement my income somehow). My eventual hope would be to use my JD to influence my research and also broaden my ability to make a difference in the field (since I could actually represent clients). My question however is how law school grades would factor into the process. My 1L grades weren't particularly high but my undergrad grades (particularly in my major area) were very strong. I'm much better at researching and not as good at the "one exam and you're done" format of law school. My best grades in undergrad were in research and project heavy courses. Thank you for your help