JD/MBA
O
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(Monkey, 45
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on 1/6/10 at 2:07pm
I'm a junior finance major that works for the bank on the retail end but definitely looking to get into IB/M&A. I've always known I was going to B-school put recently with all thats been going on I've thought about attending law school as well. I would love to stay with the bank but who knows these days, but definitely want to stay within the financial sector. Can I get some thoughts, opinions, and experience?






A lot of people on this
A lot of people on this thread will probably advise to the contrary, but I think getting a JD is a lot more helpful than an MBA. I'm in grad school right now, and even as an UG i got to interact with a lot of MBAs and I must say the degree is entirely worthless. You are basically paying a ton of money to meet people and build your network...which is great, but can be done elsewhere for free. A decent amount of people do plain JD-->IB so if you don't mind saving yourself a year of agony, forgo the MBA. Finance is pretty easy and for the most part intuitive as long as you have the fundamentals down (and most of your learning is going to happen on the job anyways). I think its a better use of your time to develop soft skills like negotiating/deduction...things that Law school helps foster. If I could go back a few years I probably would have taken the LSAT and gone straight for a JD.
I would agree that a JD is
I would agree that a JD is more useful than an MBA; even factoring in networking, the network you make at Harvard Law is probably as good as the one you'll make at Harvard Business. That said, if you want to go in to business, the JD (by itself) may be looked askance at. If you want to go in to banking, the MBA makes sense. If you want to do M&A/finance, that's what 80% of lawyers in New York do. They are very different degrees though. It depends on what you want to do.
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Thanks for the thoughts. I
Thanks for the thoughts. I think short term analyst, long term VP/CFO or CEO. I'm 27, I feel that that I will still have time to pursue my law degree in the future if that desire is still there. Then part of me believes that if I'm doing my undergrad as business/finance and go into law, maybe I wil have the best of both worlds.
VP/CFO, CEO are not career
VP/CFO, CEO are not career goals, they are titles that can describe wildly different responsibilities within different contexts. Want to be CEO of a small, entrepreneurial company? You're wasting your time in grad school. Want to be CEO of GE? Go to GE FMP, not HBS. Want to be a VP and at some point CEO of some random fortune 500 company? Get an MBA. Want to be a CFO? Get your CPA. Also, the fact CFO is on your wish list and not GC, indicates you should avoid the JD; the MBA will serve you better, if you do go to grad school.
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Agree with drexel. I probably
Agree with drexel.
I probably know 10+ people who are currently in law school and let me tell you, it sucks. If you aren't 100% committed to studying law, you're going to struggle significantly in law school. Also, law school is very similar to b-school in that only very few are able to obtain elite positions coming out. If you aren't able to get into a top law program AND be at the top of your class in that law program, your odds are significantly diminished. So if you're lukewarm about obtaining a JD, which it sounds you are, I'd suggest you don't make the financial nor the time commitment.
CompBanker
Do any of you know anything
Do any of you know anything about MBA/MPP programs? Assuming you want to go into a more government-interactive role (top-level healthcare/aerospace/defense exec, etc.) would the MPP be a useful degree? Obviously it's extremely difficult to get into, but the HBS/HKS program seems like a great combo, and the degree might be a shorter (3 years) alternative to JD/MBA programs.
hungry wrote: A lot of people
A lot of people on this thread will probably advise to the contrary, but I think getting a JD is a lot more helpful than an MBA. I'm in grad school right now, and even as an UG i got to interact with a lot of MBAs and I must say the degree is entirely worthless. You are basically paying a ton of money to meet people and build your network...which is great, but can be done elsewhere for free. A decent amount of people do plain JD-->IB so if you don't mind saving yourself a year of agony, forgo the MBA. Finance is pretty easy and for the most part intuitive as long as you have the fundamentals down (and most of your learning is going to happen on the job anyways). I think its a better use of your time to develop soft skills like negotiating/deduction...things that Law school helps foster. If I could go back a few years I probably would have taken the LSAT and gone straight for a JD.
Agree about the MBA basically just good for networking. But the JD/MBA accelerated programs offer you an additional degree in the same time it would take to get a law degree, so why not aim for the JD/MBA?
To the OP, I say get into a good accelerated program where both the B-School and Law school are well respected.
UofHGirl wrote: hungry
A lot of people on this thread will probably advise to the contrary, but I think getting a JD is a lot more helpful than an MBA. I'm in grad school right now, and even as an UG i got to interact with a lot of MBAs and I must say the degree is entirely worthless. You are basically paying a ton of money to meet people and build your network...which is great, but can be done elsewhere for free. A decent amount of people do plain JD-->IB so if you don't mind saving yourself a year of agony, forgo the MBA. Finance is pretty easy and for the most part intuitive as long as you have the fundamentals down (and most of your learning is going to happen on the job anyways). I think its a better use of your time to develop soft skills like negotiating/deduction...things that Law school helps foster. If I could go back a few years I probably would have taken the LSAT and gone straight for a JD.
Agree about the MBA basically just good for networking. But the JD/MBA accelerated programs offer you an additional degree in the same time it would take to get a law degree, so why not aim for the JD/MBA?
To the OP, I say get into a good accelerated program where both the B-School and Law school are well respected.
More expensive, 66% higher workload, and a JD is only worth it if you make Law Review.
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sparticus wrote: Do any of
Do any of you know anything about MBA/MPP programs? Assuming you want to go into a more government-interactive role (top-level healthcare/aerospace/defense exec, etc.) would the MPP be a useful degree? Obviously it's extremely difficult to get into, but the HBS/HKS program seems like a great combo, and the degree might be a shorter (3 years) alternative to JD/MBA programs.
Yeah, it's a strong combination, I can tell you it will prepare you well for government/political consulting. Don't think it will do much for "government-interactive" industries - the last HKS alumni mag I leafed through (one of my parents went there), almost everyone was going to gov't/NGOs/IGOs/non-profits. HKS teaches you how to govern/save the world, not how to run a company or win gov't contracts.
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Thanks everyone, well
Thanks everyone, well appreciated!
Drexel, JD is not only worth
Drexel,
JD is not only worth it if you make the law review, that's complete garbage. In many cases, it's more valuable than an MBA - and definitely more prestigious.
Investin925,
Best of luck to you!
UofHgirl can you make some
UofHgirl can you make some sense please?
HaHa_You_Farted
UofHgirl can you make some sense please?
Sure, after you..
What doesn't make sense to you? Be more specific.
drexelalum11 wrote: UofHGirl
A lot of people on this thread will probably advise to the contrary, but I think getting a JD is a lot more helpful than an MBA. I'm in grad school right now, and even as an UG i got to interact with a lot of MBAs and I must say the degree is entirely worthless. You are basically paying a ton of money to meet people and build your network...which is great, but can be done elsewhere for free. A decent amount of people do plain JD-->IB so if you don't mind saving yourself a year of agony, forgo the MBA. Finance is pretty easy and for the most part intuitive as long as you have the fundamentals down (and most of your learning is going to happen on the job anyways). I think its a better use of your time to develop soft skills like negotiating/deduction...things that Law school helps foster. If I could go back a few years I probably would have taken the LSAT and gone straight for a JD.
Agree about the MBA basically just good for networking. But the JD/MBA accelerated programs offer you an additional degree in the same time it would take to get a law degree, so why not aim for the JD/MBA?
To the OP, I say get into a good accelerated program where both the B-School and Law school are well respected.
More expensive, 66% higher workload, and a JD is only worth it if you make Law Review.
if you want to work within a big law firm you will need to do very well and make review. Big law is even more crazy about lsat scores and gpas then banking so know this going in. the better school you go to the better chance you get of getting a better job but also fighting with better students for those jobs.
i think its a good combo and head of trading at bp is a jd grad from uh so tells you something but I would not fight the tide.
WSO Conf - June 29, 2013
That's not true totally true,
That's not true totally true, Monty90... Graduates from top law schools such as Columbia, Yale, Harvard, etc get plenty of great offers from top firms in the private sector. You don't need to be part of the law review. If you graduate from UT or UH, that's a different ball game, but your ivy law graduates still do very well post graduation (sans Law Review). And chances are if you went to a great law school, your grades and scores are up to par..
Well for my case I'm in
UofHGirl wrote: That's not
WSO Conf - June 29, 2013
I'll chime in since I'm a law
I would love to hear updated
don't know a whole lot about
If its something you want to
Unless you are going to
Alex Chu
www.mbaapply.com
MBAApply wrote: Unless you
looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
Don't confuse "JD" with
Alex Chu
www.mbaapply.com
The reason for wanting the JD
Sorry, no one is coming out a
No expectations to come out