Joint MA/JD for 45 year old returning student

[Bobnoxious]

I got tired of cleaning carpets and in 2010 I decided to go to college and major in political science. Since I started I've been in the honors program and have a 3.95 gpa, and was approached by the chair of the department and asked if I'd considered the accelerated BA/MA program. I hadn't, but considering I'm looking at the joint JD/MA program I figured it would be a great way to more efficiently and cheaply get both degrees, since this way it will cost me one extra semester at most. My reasoning for both is that by the time I finish I'll be 50 years old and I want to be able to maximize my already limited career options. I've been told that an MA/JD is just fine for teaching (as faculty - not adjunct) if I'm willing to teach at non-research universities. While I plan on hanging out a shingle immediately after passing the bar, I do want more options available just to cover my tail if necessary.

I'm wondering...have I heard correctly when it comes to the usefulness of the joint JD/MA when it comes to teaching? I've already got a great rapport with a couple of the tenured professors in the political science department (they have been and will remain my mentors) with Ivy League Ph.D.s who I'm sure will be putting in good words for me if I need it, and I'm pretty sure I will at some point. I say this only to acknowledge that it's important to have some good people backing you when it comes to getting hired into a decent position anywhere, and that I have a couple now and plan on hopefully having more by the time it's all said in done.

Thanks!

[integritywallpanel]

Have you checked out the job market for JDs right now? Its horrendous. Don't pay for one.

[adaptations]

Are you hoping to teach political science? If so, I don't believe you are likely to be offered a tenure track position, or anything higher than lecturer or visiting assistant professor without a PhD at a University or the majority of Liberal Arts Colleges. You are more likely to find a teaching position at a community college. Given the number of PhDs on the job market, even non-research colleges and universities can have their pick of well qualified PhD candidates, so a MA/JD is unlikely to make you competitive for such positions.

If you want to get a better idea of where you would be competitive with a MA/JD look at the schools you'd be interested in working at and see where their faculty earned degrees and whether any of them have just MAs or JDs or if they all have PhDs. Good luck.

[SOG25]

Consider this discussion on this topic. There's no substantive reason why you shouldn't be able to teach with a MA/JD:

[kaykaykay]

New people: Don't feed the troll. please.please.

[Max Power]

I remain oddly impressed by SOG's multi-year commitment to being so insanely wrong