Drastic Career Pivot: Is it Possible?

[SortOfOld]

Age: 31

Undergrad: BS Nuclear Engineering

Grad: JD

Experience: 5 years in patent litigation at a large law firm and 1 year as associate general counsel at a midsize manufacturing company

GRE: 164Q, 168V, 4.5W

Previous Research: 1 year at a nanophysics lab 

GOAL: I want to abandon being a lawyer and pursue a fully-funded doctorate in engineering policy, public policy, or political science, with a focus on renewable energy and the policy related to its growth.

Does anyone know of someone who’s succeeded in making a similar career pivot? How’ve others legitimized efforts to change careers when previous work experience doesn’t logically connect well with desired academic pursuits?

Thank you for any insight you can offer.

[unipathfinder]

On 9/4/2018 at 11:02 AM, SortOfOld said:

How’ve others legitimized efforts to change careers when previous work experience doesn’t logically connect well with desired academic pursuits?

Career pivots are common enough, and I can see a fairly "logical" shift in your interests.  

You have enough experience to prove an understanding of the "real world" and have two relevant degrees; all the important pieces to tell your story are there.  

Do you have any specific programs in mind?

[SortOfOld]

On 9/8/2018 at 3:23 PM, unipathfinder said:

Career pivots are common enough, and I can see a fairly "logical" shift in your interests.  

You have enough experience to prove an understanding of the "real world" and have two relevant degrees; all the important pieces to tell your story are there.  

Do you have any specific programs in mind?

I was thinking of programs like Carnegie Mellon’s Energy and Public Policy. As I’ve researched, I’ve struggled to gauge how much programs weigh different parts of a person’s experience and numbers. Given the oddness of my background, I’ve tried to find more open-minded programs.