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I am close to the end of my second of five years of funded PhD in philosophy. Because of personal interest, I would like to start a part-time BA in Law on the side, which is tailored to people who have a job, thus it only has non-mandatory evening classes. I want to talk about this with my supervisor because I don't want to hide this from him, but at the same time I fear he might think that I don't take the PhD seriously or that I am a fool for trying to do to much.

Long story short, I would like to be honest without giving him the impression that I don't know what I am doing with myself. Any suggestions on how to approach this? Any similar experiences?

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    Why do you want a BA when a few courses might be enough. If this is the US, there are a lot of other non-law courses you would need for a degree.
    – Buffy
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 12:04
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    If I was the PI, I would not be concerned that you're not taking your PhD serious or that you're a fool. I would be concerned that you underestimate the effort and how much focus an additional BSc would take away from your thesis. Many people struggle with completing just their PhD, and a BSc on top seems a huge additional workload.
    – lighthouse keeper
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 12:50
  • Perhaps you should say which country. Undergrad degrees differ quite a lot from place to place.
    – Buffy
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 14:00
  • I am in Belgium
    – fioc
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 14:05
  • You only comment about the class commitment in your question. Law degrees have huge reading requirements. As a philosopher, you are used to reading, synthesising and arguing so it is likely that your workload requirements would be lower than the average hours quoted by the university, but it's important to understand that the research and writing times are considerable.
    – JenB
    Commented Aug 26, 2021 at 0:51

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Not enough reputation to comment, so have to paste this as an answer. I did actually start an Open University (part time, evening classes) BSc alongside my PhD. I didn't tell a soul. Well I guess I just did! There was no problem. That said, it was masses of work but I considered the OU degree was giving me skills complementary to my PhD.

So my short answer: if you feel you must confess... can you sell it as complementary? Will it boost your skills for the current PhD and bring skills and knowledge to the PI's group?

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    Thank you so much for this reply. I do not know anyone else who is doing the same so it feels a bit strange, but I am really committed to doing this. Can I ask you in which country was this? I think it can be seen as complimentary indeed.
    – fioc
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 13:29
  • OU normally implies UK. It is a very high quality distance learning university. I don't believe it is open to everyone world wide, though. They tried and failed to establish a base in US. I don't know the EU status. And a UK degree is quite different from a US one.
    – Buffy
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 13:56
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    Do the skis taste better after you brine them? :) (Please edit your post for typos!)
    – Pete L. Clark
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 14:13
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    Sorry about typos, on my iPAD in a busy environment, but no excuse. I think some kind soul has already corrected them? This was UK. I wasn't suggesting the OP enrol in OU, but just giving an example that I did do this. I hope it wasn't naughty. Genuinely felt the need for more training! ...and it has served me well.
    – Richard BJ
    Commented Aug 25, 2021 at 14:29

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