# Does anyone here have two degrees?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 16, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246 "2009-07-16T18:28:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/21 "2009-07-16T20:18:35Z")

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BS Mechanical Engineering  
BA History

(2 years of grad work in Early American History, but no degree)

Done sequentially, with a 2-year gap between work on the two bachelor’s degrees.

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**Author:** ![Anise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anise/32/21721_2.png) [@Anise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anise)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/22 "2009-07-16T20:34:03Z")

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Well, it depends on what you mean. This isn’t the same, and yet in a way it is… I was just thinking about it today… I do have two certifications with the state Board of Health, and it does kind of boil down to two degrees, actually. I’m an LMT (licensed massage therapist) and an LMSW (licensed master’s level social worker.) I had to have 500 hours of classes and 500 hours of clinical experience to get the LMT license, and the LMSW, of course, was a regular MSW post-graduate program, so I obviously have a BFA as well. It gets better: within about 2 months, I’ll have yet ANOTHER cert: CNA (certified nursing assistant.) And that’s how it is in today’s economy… (juggles a whole bunch of plates at once… WHOOPS! there goes one. Crash.)

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**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/23 "2009-07-16T21:01:33Z")

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I have **ninety-eight** , baby.

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/24 "2009-07-16T21:05:34Z")

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> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> I have **ninety-eight** , baby.

And you’re six-tenths of the way through another one? 😃

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**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/25 "2009-07-16T21:07:59Z")

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> [@Spoons](#):
>
> And you’re six-tenths of the way through another one? 😃

Actually closer to two-tenths, even though most people think I’d be six-tenths through. 😛

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**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/26 "2009-07-16T21:13:35Z")

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BA, Classics, BA Literae Humaniores (which is just the Latin for ‘Classics’) \<-- two degrees in the same exact field, but two very different courses. The first BA is the standard American four-year degree, and the second is the second-half of the Classics undergraduate course here (which is really more equivalent to a US Master’s in amount of reading and writing required).

Master’s in Greek and Roman History.

Working on my PhD in Ancient History.

From this list, you wouldn’t be really inaccurate to say my career is ‘professional student’, but I am aiming to be a professor one day (hopefully soonisher rather than later).

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**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/27 "2009-07-16T21:24:32Z")

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I have BAs in Classical Languages and History. I went back a few years later for an MA in Politics with a decidedly quantitative bent. I’m heading back to finish my PhD in about six weeks in a new institute devoted to multi-disciplinary research in ancient topics. I live in the interstices between philology, history, and quantitative political science.

I’ve been a political activist, corporate finance flunky, and statistician/consultant in the meantime. It’s been a strange trip.

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**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/28 "2009-07-16T21:28:44Z")

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Maeglin, your PhD sounds really cool! It fills my heart with joy when I see Classics people doing amazing things in the world. It gives me some hope if academia doesn’t work out…

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**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/29 "2009-07-16T21:32:31Z")

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Four degrees in three different (but somewhat related) fields.

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**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/30 "2009-07-16T21:37:18Z")

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I have a BS, MS and Ph.D. in engineering. Yes, I am a total fucking genius. Thank you for asking.

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**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/31 "2009-07-16T21:39:54Z")

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> [@DaphneBlack](#):
>
> Maeglin, your PhD sounds really cool! It fills my heart with joy when I see Classics people doing amazing things in the world. It gives me some hope if academia doesn’t work out…

Thank you, that is very kind of you to say. It’s funny, I tend to feel the reverse. I took great comfort in the fact that, amidst all of my corporate bullshit, there are people out there digging up papyri and giving Vergil the attention he deserves.

I had planned on going to grad school in classics right out of college, but I had a bit of a crisis of confidence and changed my mind at the last minute. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I think I have ever made. I am going back nearly ten years later with a _very_ different attitude and set of skills. I don’t think I really had anything to contribute back then save enthusiasm. Now I feel like my research practically writes itself.

There really is opportunity outside academia. One of my colleagues has a PhD in chemistry that he was never able to parley into an academic position. What he does now has nothing whatsoever to do with chemistry.

I just can’t wait to start. I have been working towards this goal for the past two years or so. The planets finally aligned.

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**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/32 "2009-07-16T22:01:12Z")

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Bachelor of Commerce, currently studying for a Masters in Business Administration.

I’ve also got a Ph.D. that cost me $9.98 plus shipping from an American online university - does that count?

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**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/33 "2009-07-16T22:14:35Z")

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I have degrees in Economics and Law.

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**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/34 "2009-07-16T22:17:05Z")

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Bachelor of Liberal Arts (History) and Masters of Library and Information Science. I work as a librarian, yes.

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/35 "2009-07-16T22:24:07Z")

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Bull Shit (mechanical engineering)

More Shit (mechanical Engineering)

Piled higher & Deeper (mechanical engineering)

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/36 "2009-07-17T01:31:04Z")

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BA in something or other, I forget exactly what. Then I added an MD, which made me more marketable.

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**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/37 "2009-07-17T01:38:04Z")

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Does a double major (BA in Film & English) count?

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**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/38 "2009-07-17T02:16:05Z")

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One B.Sc. in Physiology, and one in Medical Lab Technology\*.

I’m working in a blood bank now, so I’d say they’re relevant to my job.  
\*In Quebec, it’s technically a “Diplome d’Etudes Collegiales” and not a “Bachelor’s Degree” but it’s considered equivalent.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/39 "2009-07-17T02:16:37Z")

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Four degrees, three in my field, one in my old field.

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**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-have-two-degrees/503246/40 "2009-07-17T02:39:56Z")

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BSc in Biology  
MA in Musicology  
PhD in Musicology

I told my partner, “If I ever consider getting another degree, please smack me until I snap out of it. Thanksverymuch.”

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