I-banking before Law School good WE? Forum

[Veyron]

Law schools value work experience but it won't matter whether you were an I-banker or a garbage collector.

Law firms will eat that shit up.

[terrybhs06]

Seems like a pretty good idea to me to do the I-banking gig for a couple years. Sock away as much money as you can to pay for law school up front so you can save on interest and not get destroyed by debt if you miss BigLaw. Plus, the experience certainly wouldn't hurt if you were looking to do corporate. Don't think it's a huge boost as far as law school admission is concerned, but I think it's a pretty smart move overall, and will probably be a boost for post law school employment.

In reference to the actual question.. Yes, banking is an excellent idea for a few years. I have a friend at HLS about to graduate with pretty much no debt because he saved up money from banking and payed tuition out of savings. In addition, at the top schools banks are known to offer summer positions to former bankers grades unseen and if you have an undergrad degree in engineering, math or the like you have a pretty big boost when it comes to consulting recruiting. Im not 100% sure how it would help you for biglaw but no way can it hurt.

[icpb]

tbf, dealbreaker seems to only be reporting "Top tier" which is only a small percentage at the top. If top tier first years at BB made 65 bonus i'd expect the median BB to be closer to 40.

In addition, 2010 has been a decently good year. You also have to consider the rainy days, which may well be on the way.

[Patriot1208]

tbf, dealbreaker seems to only be reporting "Top tier" which is only a small percentage at the top. If top tier first years at BB made 65 bonus i'd expect the median BB to be closer to 40.

In addition, 2010 has been a decently good year. You also have to consider the rainy days, which may well be on the way.

Ya, it seems '09 and '10 were both a decent bit lower. That said I don't expect too many years like '09. It would seem from fishing around that in an average year 70k base plus ~30K bonus is reasonable to expect as a first year analyst. Could be lower or higher.

[bdubs]

Did I miss something? ...Why would you start a career down one career path knowing you plan on switching in the future?

+1

This board is called Top Law Schools, not Top I-Banking... schools.

Banks like people with HYS type credentials, if you can get HYS right out of undergrad just do it. Law is a terminal degree for most people, so there is no point delaying the inevitable. The earlier you start, the earlier you end up at your final destination.

If for some reason you managed to get a BB analyst position without HYS type credentials (great engineering background or something), then I would take the position. It's good pay and will open up some other career opportunities that may ultimately be more appealing than law school.

[instra:mental]

Did I miss something? ...Why would you start a career down one career path knowing you plan on switching in the future?

+1

This board is called Top Law Schools, not Top I-Banking... schools.

This board is called top law schools, not comedy central.

In all seriousness, I think from posts from other people and from what I've gathered, I-banking would benefit your legal career by:
1. Allowing you to save up a bunch of money for law school.
2. Give you a unique perspective on m&a, which would be useful if you want to take the transactional law route.
3. Provide and excellent plan B. Or maybe even a plan A if you like it enough.
4. It would provide "substantial" WE for those LS adcoms.

[Patriot1208]

Did I miss something? ...Why would you start a career down one career path knowing you plan on switching in the future?

+1
This board is called Top Law Schools, not Top I-Banking... schools.

This board is called top law schools, not comedy central.

In all seriousness, I think from posts from other people and from what I've gathered, I-banking would benefit your legal career by:
1. Allowing you to save up a bunch of money for law school.
2. Give you a unique perspective on m&a, which would be useful if you want to take the transactional law route.
3. Provide and excellent plan B. Or maybe even a plan A if you like it enough.
4. It would provide "substantial" WE for those LS adcoms.

It's unlikely to help you much in admissions. But it should help you with employment.

[instra:mental]

Law schools value work experience but it won't matter whether you were an I-banker or a garbage collector.

Law firms will eat that shit up.

Don't they kind of want your WE to be office related (so you can learn office ettiquette and those types of things) or did I just totally make that up?

What other types of WE would be considered "substantial"?

And what do you guys think of consulting instead? Less pay, less stress, less hours, but more interesting I think. Don't you just sit around and think up with solutions for corps?

[instra:mental]

It's unlikely to help you much in admissions. But it should help you with employment.[/quote]

Cool beans. It's a plus either way.

[Patriot1208]

Law schools value work experience but it won't matter whether you were an I-banker or a garbage collector.

Law firms will eat that shit up.

Don't they kind of want your WE to be office related (so you can learn office ettiquette and those types of things) or did I just totally make that up?

What other types of WE would be considered "substantial"?

And what do you guys think of consulting instead? Less pay, less stress, less hours, but more interesting I think. Don't you just sit around and think up with solutions for corps?

At the analyst level the work is boring for the most part. Also is 70 hours that much better than 90 if you are traveling and living out of a suitcase?

[Odd Future Wolf Gang]

.

[Patriot1208]

What do I-Bankers actually do that they work such crazy hours?

http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/w ... recession/

[Veyron]

Law schools value work experience but it won't matter whether you were an I-banker or a garbage collector.

Law firms will eat that shit up.

Don't they kind of want your WE to be office related (so you can learn office ettiquette and those types of things) or did I just totally make that up?

What other types of WE would be considered "substantial"?

And what do you guys think of consulting instead? Less pay, less stress, less hours, but more interesting I think. Don't you just sit around and think up with solutions for corps?

You just totally made it up.

Edit: NU excepted

[dkt4]

You just totally made it up.

Edit: NU excepted

NU doesn't play by anybodies rules but their own.

[instra:mental]

You just totally made it up.

Edit: NU excepted

NU doesn't play by anybodies rules but their own.

Hahaha.

Anybody have any thoughts on doing financial consulting instead of I-banking? Same advice I'm guessing. It's solid WE. Will only help marginally with LS adcoms, a little more with law firms though?

[sparty99]

I would do I-Banking. It is a demanding field and if you do well in-it, that can help your law school applications. Additionally, it will probably make you attractive during on-campus interviews. Lastly, you will make decent money ($80-120k) and can save for law school.

Do not be stupid and tell people you are going to do I-Banking for 2 years then leave. DON'T TELL ANY EMPLOYER THAT. I worked in a high-powered industry prior to law school and without question it helped me get into law schools with scholarships despite having a LSAT score in the 30 percentile.

[instra:mental]

I would do I-Banking. It is a demanding field and if you do well in-it, that can help your law school applications. Additionally, it will probably make you attractive during on-campus interviews. Lastly, you will make decent money ($80-120k) and can save for law school.

Do not be stupid and tell people you are going to do I-Banking for 2 years then leave. DON'T TELL ANY EMPLOYER THAT. I worked in a high-powered industry prior to law school and without question it helped me get into law schools with scholarships despite having a LSAT score in the 30 percentile.

Thanks for sharing your exp. Yeah, I Think it will be difficult to avoid talking about your plan to pull a fast one to LS, but it will have to be done. However, I don't want to blatantly lie. So how do you avoid it, just being overly broad with your future plans?

[sparty99]

Uh, if you are going into corporate america, you better learn how "to play the game." YOU DO NOT STATE YOUR INTENTIONS IF IT DOES NOT SUPPORT THE GOALS (I.E. FINANCIAL GOALS) OF THE ORGANIZATION.

When they ask what you want to do the next five years, all you have to say is, "Grow with your organization...blah, blah, blah." If they ask if you want a MBA, say, "I am not sure what the path in your organization, but according to my research, getting a MBA is common in I-banking and I am always interested in furthering my development so that is something that I would have to discuss with my manager to see if a MBA makes sense for me and the organization. Is it expected that I will get a MBA?"

[dkt4]

working on wall street is one of the stronger WEs you can have and has some added value for OCI, from my understanding. if you don't really want to do ibanking though, why not doing something less intense? there's certainly other ways to get WE that will look good.

if you can deal with it for 2 years, more power to you. it's not a bad way to get some $, and if you decide you like it and are good at it there's some serious earning potential there