Comments on: Which diploma goes on top?

Question: Which diploma goes on top?

Saucy Intruder — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:28:54 -0800

[My-copy-of-Emily-Post-is-in-the-shop-Filter:] I have two diplomas, a JD and a BA, and I want to hang them in my office, one above the other. Which one goes on top?

By: monju_bosatsu

monju_bosatsu — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:39:23 -0800

JD on top. I don't even have my undergrad diploma up.

By: cribcage

cribcage — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 08:15:40 -0800

Yeah. The better, the higher.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 08:21:36 -0800

Makes sense - the wall should look like my resume. Thanks.

By: nimsey lou

nimsey lou — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:38:27 -0800

Good info... M.Ed. then B.F.A. Now where does my teaching certification go? Or is it not worth it?

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 10:05:14 -0800

On the other hand, if your BA is from Haaaah-vaaaahd and your JD is from UF and you live in Illinois, you might think about making the Haaaaah-vaaaahd one more prominent.

By: CRS

CRS — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 10:24:43 -0800

I've got a JD, BA, and MBA. La Patrona came by my office and hung them side by side, with the JD in the middle. I go the BA and MBA from the same school and the JD from an in-state rival.

By: dmt

dmt — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 10:31:56 -0800

where does my teaching certification go

Right at the top. It's an extant professional qualification and of more immediate relevance to you doing your job than the academic qualifications which enabled you to get it.

By: littlelebowskiurbanachiever

littlelebowskiurbanachiever — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 10:49:40 -0800

I say put up the undergrad diploma only if it meets one of these criterions:

1) it is related to what you do - securities law, BA in managerial economics would qualify; environmental law, BA in political science doesn't.

2) BA is from local college - if your office is in the Bay Area, and you got your BA from Cal (better if #1 above is still fulfilled)

3) Ivy - if you have a true Ivy, put it up. Following #2 above, if you're in the south and you have a southern ivy degree (and if you buy into the Southern Ivy concept), put it up.

If none of the 3 above apply, I say leave the BA for the home office.

By: cribcage

cribcage — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 11:14:18 -0800

4) Or if it's cool. My undergrad major was Jazz Composition, and you can bet I'll hang that in my law office someday. If there's one thing I've learned working in politics, it's that you never know what you'll have in common with the next fellow you meet. Never underestimate the value of a good icebreaker.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 11:33:31 -0800

Do undergraduate diplomas commonly list majors? I went to a college (Ivy, natch) where people just kind of majored in whatever.

By: cribcage

cribcage — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:03:44 -0800

Mine does. My fiancée's BS doesn't, but her Associate's does.

Dunno what's common.

By: Sprout the Vulgarian

Sprout the Vulgarian — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:19:22 -0800

OMG *I* majored in whatever!

My understanding is that in law, you put up your Bachelor's regardless of where you went.
Example 1: My boss went to Ohio State and she keeps hers up in her surburban MA office. Or, she did 'til we switched offices; now nothing's up, so I can't report re: whether it includes her major.

By: raf

raf — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:59:28 -0800

Saucy Intruder: My undergrad puts majors on some diplomas and not on others. It depends on what the precise degree awarded by the department is. For instance, I have a "Bachelor of Science in Chemistry," but some majors just award a "Bachelor of Science." (And some majors offer both kinds of degrees: the wimpier physics degree is a "Bachelor of Science," while the hard-core one is a "Bachelor of Science in Physics.") (For what it's worth, this is MIT.)

Oddly enough, my law degree doesn't say "Juris Doctor"; it says "Doctor of Law."

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By: Not in my backyard

Not in my backyard — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:46:23 -0800

I have my JD on the same level and next to my bar certificate (license) in my office, and I have my BBA (which is applicable to my work and is from a better school than my JD) at home. I'm working on my MBA and I will hang that on the same level and next to the bar certificate.

By: oxford blue

oxford blue — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:30:56 -0800

Why not put them next to each, as a kind of academic time line?

By: birdsquared

birdsquared — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:40:51 -0800

I have my bar certificate up. Both law degrees (LL.B. and B.C.L.) and my B.Sc. are rolled up at home. But then again, I work in a government office, so I am never trying to impress clients or shmooze with them.

By: patricio

patricio — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 04:07:52 -0800

How common is it in US law firms to put your JD/BA/whatever up on your wall? I have never (ever) seen this in a English firm.