# The Educated Doper **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275 "2011-03-02T23:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/21 "2011-03-03T02:27:17Z")
PhD / JD - I selected PhD. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/22 "2011-03-03T02:51:22Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I’d actually lump the JD in with the MA/MS rather than the doctorates, even though the name would suggest otherwise. The program is really structured more like a master’s program than a PhD, and lawyers in the US are _never_ addressed as “Doctor” on the strength of their JD. I see the JDs as more similar to those other professional doctorates, which are generally more structured like Master’s programs (like you described), compared to PhD programs. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/23 "2011-03-03T03:36:50Z")
I have a Bachelor of Music degree. Getting my MA this semester if nothing goes wrong, then starting on my PhD. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/24 "2011-03-03T03:59:04Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > :smack:oversight…should have said “doctorate”. or “doctoral equivalent” or something. I’d like to see “Professional Degree” meaning Med School or Law School or MBA or something, and then “Trade/apprenticeship” or something like that for people who learned a trade like a carpenter, machinist, etc. Finishing my M.A. in music by Easter (fingers crossed), then off to Law School in the fall. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/25 "2011-03-03T04:00:30Z")
JD (“ghetto doctorate”)/MBA-in-progress. I’m halfway through the MBA but now that I’m confident with quant subjects I wonder why I didn’t just sack up and go back for the MD, or study for it back in undergrand. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/26 "2011-03-03T04:03:54Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > I have a\*\* Bachelor of Music degree. Getting my MA this semester if nothing goes wrong,\*\* then starting on my PhD. Wow, twinsies! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/27 "2011-03-03T04:05:46Z")
Ph.D. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/28 "2011-03-03T04:29:15Z")
I dropped out of three different colleges. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/29 "2011-03-03T04:57:57Z")
Other. There isn’t an option for BA w/Teaching Credential and other graduate certifications. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/30 "2011-03-03T05:05:23Z")
I’ve been putting ‘some college’ on things for years, and I guess that’s what still fits best, but now, as of last May, I actually have an Associate Degree. I know, I know, it’s not as exciting to anybody else as it is to me, but I think it should be on the list. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/31 "2011-03-03T05:09:12Z")
I never finished my MA, I never know what to put on my resume or on this poll (I put BA). ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/32 "2011-03-03T06:49:47Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I have a Diploma but I’m not sure where it fits in with this poll - it’s from an “Institute of Technology”, it’s in Music (Business). It doesn’t sound like that would be a “trade school diploma” and I don’t know what a diploma mill is. > > As I always say, you can get a Diploma, but the doesn’t mean you’re smart enough to figure out what that means within the context of an internet poll. In addition to this I dropped out of university, I was half a year into a Bachelor of Creative Industries (Interdisciplinary). I was straight out of high school and the course was boring and it sucked and I hated it. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/33 "2011-03-03T11:12:08Z")
It would be interesting to see how long it took people to get those degrees. Me: HS grad in '75, BS in '85, MS in '05. Plotting this curve, I suppose my Doctorate will be completed in 2045. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/34 "2011-03-03T11:45:16Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > It would be interesting to see how long it took people to get those degrees. > > Me: HS grad in '75, BS in '85, MS in '05. Plotting this curve, I suppose my Doctorate will be completed in 2045. 🙂 High school '85 BA '89 PhD '94 ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/35 "2011-03-03T11:56:17Z")
Given that all the JDs are using different categories, I wonder how accurate this poll is. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/36 "2011-03-03T12:04:01Z")
High school 1972, AA 1988, BS 2007. I’m slow. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/37 "2011-03-03T12:57:49Z")
I once read a statistic that said 1 person in 400 (in the US) has a Ph.D. That’s only 0.25%. The poll currently shows 10.9%; it seems we overedumacated types are way, way overrepresented around here… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/38 "2011-03-03T13:13:33Z")
As an ignorant foreigner I am guessing that JD doesn’t mean Juvenile Delinquent, as it should. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/39 "2011-03-03T13:19:49Z")
In a doctoral program here. Finished all the coursework in December, and just finished a comprehensive exam two days ago. Week long comprehensive exam =/= fun. I still have another couple of years to go for the dissertation, but I went ahead and chose Ph.D anyway because I want some recognition for writing that damn exam! ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275/40 "2011-03-03T13:21:08Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I once read a statistic that said 1 person in 400 (in the US) has a Ph.D. That’s only 0.25%. The poll currently shows 10.9%; it seems we overedumacated types are way, way overrepresented around here… Perhaps I should hold off pursuing my PhD then - in the name of balance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-educated-doper/573275.md?page=3)