Professor of Law Howell E. Jackson, a joint JD/MBA recipient, says he remembered doing "a lot of walking back and forth across the river."

Profiles: Who, Why, and What Next?

Students say the extra trials were ultimately worth it.

Tolsma says his joint JD/MBA program has enriched his Harvard experience immeasurably, allowing him to take full advantage of the numerous opportunities available at Harvard.

"The greatest benefit of it all is that you realize that Harvard as an entire university is so much more rich when you're able to take advantage of all of the different parts of it," he says.

After graduation, Tolsma plans to work for a video-production firm in Tennessee, where he says, happily, "I'm going to be allowed to straddle the fence between law and business a little while longer."

Doak, another joint JD/MBA candidate, reiterates the benefits of this multi-disciplinary approach.

"Most of us find something that is able to mix our interests," he says. "These days that means...entrepreneurs, business development at Internet companies."

Doak says he is going into financial re-structuring work, a law-heavy business field, while classmates of his are already running Internet startups in California and Hong Kong.

Grossman, who will graduate in the spring with KSG and HLS degrees, plans to work for a prominent law firm in Washington D.C. where one-third of the work is governmental.

Butler, who is pursuing a concurrent degree with GSE and HBS, says of the program, "It's been great for what I want to do."

She is considering careers in corporate training or K-12 education reform.

The Process

Pursuing degrees in different graduate and professional schools often means unofficially enrolling in both. Students say school administrations often do not recognize their dual status and count them as just one of the masses. There are often two applications to fill out and two tuitions to pay.

Gayle Merrithew, the registrar at GSE, says students can be discouraged by the fact that they must be admitted to each school separately before they can pursue a concurrent degree.