Struggling between applying to t14 law schools and t15 mBA Programs

Hey guys,

Ever since I was 7, it was my dream of becoming a lawyer. My uncle and aunt work in biglaw, and I always felt it was a natural path as I am super strong in writing, reading, being logical/analytical. I graduated from a T25 undergrad with a 3.75 GPA in History, and got a 171 on my LSAT. The past 3.5 years, I've been working in commercial real estate, and because of that, the MBA option has also opened up. I was initially interested in a dual JD/MPP, so I took the GRE and have a score of 163Q and 169V.

I'm pretty sure I will be competitive for T14 law schools and have a good chance at T15 MBA programs. Hopefully with law schools at least I could get a better scholly at the lower T14s. That said, law school is an additional year (not to mention the opportunity cost), and the more I've learned, the more crazy it sounds. For biglaw, you need to got a T14, and there you need to get into the top halfish of the class in terms of grades (although to be fair you do get more leeway the higher up you go in the T14). And being in the top half is no assured thing - grading is harsh - for most classes, your entire grade is determined by the end of the semester final exam which is curved, meaning you can't be good in the absolute but must beat your peers. And that it's extremely grueling. And then you have to take the bar and go through that whole rigorous certification process. And while the actual work of biglaw litigation sounds interesting to me, and biglaw in NYC pays $190k out of law school, you'll spend the first years in biglaw doing monkey work basically, including dreaded "doc review." All while working pretty damn long hours. And you have to pay off $300k in loans if you pay sticker. And law school is bimodal where if you strike out of Biglaw either due to poor grades or shitty interviewing, you could likely end up with a $50k or $60k jo. In-house corporate law jobs that pay six figs with better work/life balance are usually for ex-BigLaw associates who got burned out. BigFed also pays lower with better work life balance but hard to crack straight out of law school. And prestigious public interest law jobs don't pay well.

Meanwhile, with an MBA, you have a much broader range of options. Yes, you have management consulting and investment banking with insane hours (especially IB, more so than biglaw, and consulting has draining travel), but both have exit opps into in house options like biglaw (corp strat and corp dev respectively) with good pay and better work life balance. At H/S (maybe Wharton) cool VC/PE/HF type jobs also open to you.

But an MBA opens doors to many six fig jobs with great relative work life balance like CPG brand management, tech product management, PMM in tech, general management/rotational programs/LDPs at f500 companies, potentially corporate strat type jobs, HR LDPs, etc. MBA programs in the T15 are hard to get into, but once you're there, grades don't matter with grade non disclosure so the environment is a lot more lovey dovey let's have fun and party rather than law school where everyone is crazy serious. Recruiting at MBA programs can be quite intense though, but a lot of people call the MBA one of the best times of their lives and a two year paid vacation. And it's one year less than law school so less debt + lower opportunity cost + more versatility in terms of job options including ones that pay six figs while maintaining good work life balance.

I just wanted to get your guyses thoughts, because for so long, I thought my skillset of being good at liberal arts and being logical/analytical lent itself well to being a biglaw corporate lawyer. But now I'm seriously consider the MBA route. Thanks!

PS: I've considered the MBA/JD dual degree route, but most people say it's a waste of time and money as 99.9% of the time you'll end up only utilizing one degree. And if you're say a corporate lawyer wanting to learn more about business you can learn everything yourself or just take MBA classes, and if you're an MBA, a JD won't help with anything.

 

You seem like the rare person that could be a good fit for a JD/MBA program. There are a few programs (Northwestern, Penn, Columbia) that offer a three-year program with fairly generous financial aid. The four year programs are way too expensive with the extra year of tuition + opportunity cost, but a three year program lets you hedge against bad grades your 1L year while giving you more time to explore careers in both law and business. Anecdotally, the people I know who pursued law out of JD/MBA programs outperformed their grades when it came to recruiting (not sure how much was the MBA itself vs. self selection of more polished people in MBA programs).

 

it sounds to me like your heart is no longer in law.

However, have you considered working or interning in either field to figure out if one appeals to you or not? Either conclusion would be valuable.

I know someone who was considering Big Law or another field. After graduating she got a job with Big Law. she absolutely hated it. Left after 6 weeks, went into the other field, and never looked back. And there are also stories where that kind of work experience confirmed that law (or business or whatever) is the right field for the intern or young professional.

Law school is superb preparation for a career in law. It an expensive, time-consuming education if you don't want law. B-school is less expensive and does provide a broader and more general skill set. However it too is preparation for a career in management. There is some overlap and the 3-year JD/MBA mentioned by the other poster in this thread is a good option, but the best option is having a clearer idea of the career you want to pursue. Then go get the education that best prepares you for it.

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting
 

What you laid out in your post seems like a pretty compelling case for bschool for me. Like others have said, law school is very focused on preparing you for a job in law, unlike bschool where you can really end up in any business function. I feel like every time I get the urge to reconsider law school, I read up about how dismal the job market is and how difficult and grueling school/first few years of the job is and I'm dissuaded pretty quickly.

I think you're correct on the JD/MBA - the two educations don't really complement each other except in specific cases. You're going to have to go into one or the other, and the other degree you got will be kind of pointless. It's an expensive way to figure out what you do or don't like.

MBA recruiting is intense, but it's still probably easier than suffering through the intensity of law school! And I think your liberal arts background and logical/analytical skillset will definitely be appreciated in a business role.

 
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