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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The big difference in kind of course is the dissertation.  And grades don't really matter in grad school, while in law school they do.

But I'm curious if anyone can speak to the experience of both law and grad school in say, political science or history.

What's the difference in reading load like in the courses?  And is law school as conceptually difficult as grad school?  Law is interesting in that it is a first degree in the subject, not advanced study, but the learning curve is obviously higher than in undergrad.

Is it fair to say the knowledge base of the law degree and bar exam is similar to the PhD student up to the level of qualifying exams and without the dissertation?[/quote]
Reading load is high in both, but the variety of reading done for the PhD is tremendously varied. If you are pursuing a PhD in PS or Hist, you are going to read law cases, but also a ton of other materials and texts from different time periods. In History, there's a good chance you'll need to master reading in a foreign language or two.
Law school is conceptually specific. It's mastering an elite trade. The PhD is conceptually varied and more creative. To successfully defend your dissertation, you need to have generated original research. 
Knowledge base of the law degree is more than an MA but less than qualifying exams.
[/quote]

I'd say the first year of law school is kind of like a 30-credit undergraduate major in one year that brings everybody up to speed.  The third year of law school is like maybe the second year of graduate school where the student is just barely beginning to learn how to do meaningful research.  Legal education stops there, so 3L is at the level of the masters' student.

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