Interested in both finance and law!
I am currently in college (business major) and after doing lots of research on possible career paths, I have decided that I would be happy in pursuing a career of either finance or law.
Therefore, I have decided to begin networking for finance internships to prepare myself for a finance career. But I have also decided to begin preparing for law school admission by studying for the LSAT.
Anyone got any comments or any advice for me taking this path? I don't think it is a very common one...
Uncommon? Not really.
Many undergrads think "hey I'd like the huge pay that comes with investment banking but I also really like the prestige and wow factor of telling someone I went to Harvard Law...I'll do both!"
So, insip...intrepid students march on taking undergrad business courses and try to land top summer finance internships while studying away (often on their parents' dime put toward some crappy - i.e. non-Power Score - LSAT prep service).
Then they get to school and see that law school is hypercompetitive and it's basically adding another year to their banking dreams (when most of their classmates in the MBA program are done in 2 years and off to work). From my own experience, the average student doing this falls into one of three camps:
1) They end up chasing BigLaw anyway because of the $160k salary and (relatively) higher number of jobs vis a vis i-banking/buy side research. They end up with a year of lost salary and a degree that means little to them in the MBA.
2) They drop out of law school and just finish their MBA realizing that the final year of law school is really just taking a year's (or two if they realize it early enough) salary out of their pocket and that a JD-MBA doesn't mean much more than an MBA to finance firms.
3) They stick with both but realize they don't like either and end up with 250k in debt and a job at an NGO or in a different graduate degree program. I've seen more fall into this camp than the other two and it's by far the worst place to be from a financial perspective.
If you want to be a lawyer, get a JD (and realize the law market is shit now - it's not 2007 anymore where being in the top 50% of your class at GULC meant biglaw if you wanted it). If you want i-banking, try to do the analyst-to-MBA-to-associate method. If you don't get an analyst job, try to do something you like for a few years, and something where you can demonstrate career progression, and then get the MBA that way.
Just my thoughts (from a guy who wanted a JD and an MBA).
get a combo MBA/JD
Why?
And only takes four years...
Lots of schools offer JD/MBA combos :P
What kind of law? In my opinion, there is absolutely no point in going to law school unless...
A. Your father is a lawyer and you plan to join his firm. B. You plan to eventually branch out on your own and start you own firm. C. You can get into a top 10 program and plan to do B., above.
I find it amusing how so many people are "interested" in law (I myself was as an undergrad, I have to admit) - but they don't realize that unless you fall into one of the 3 categories above ( or have some political ambitions or are one of the ppl who want to "save" the world) going into law is a lot less glamourous than the lifestyle that most have in their head.
If you go to a decent or even good law school and don't graduate at the tip top of your class, your options are going to be extremely limited and you will probably wind up doing bullshit work that will make you want to blow your brains out.
I'm following a similar career path. Finance Undergrad, hopefully JD in 4 years..then in the legal dept at a BB hopefully
If you want to be in any type of corporate practice like M&A or capital markets, then shoot for an actual firm. The legal departments at a bank aren't going to be handling actual deals, just support work.
The thing is, right now I attend a non-target, so it's going to be hard for me to score a full-time job with a BB, so I think attending a good law school is the next best thing at expanding my career options.
M&A law is a common career path.
M&A law is a common career path.
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