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augusta1985

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MBA after JD

Post by augusta1985 » Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:41 pm

Need some advice: I've been out of law school for about 2 years. Graduated from a T2 school (top in region) with so-so grades, and am now clerking for a federal mag judge. I have a gig lined up with a solid mid-sized firm after my term is up. After meeting and talking with as many lawyers and business people as possible over the past couple of years, however, I've realized that I don't want to practice law.

Last month I took the GMAT and scored very well (94th percentile). I am debating whether to apply to a few top MBA programs to see what happens. Has anyone here pursued an MBA post JD? How much do MBA programs look at law school performance, work experience, etc? Any thoughts? Thanks.

lovelaw27

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by lovelaw27 » Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:48 pm

What do you actually want to do? People move into other fields, like being a financial advisor, with just a JD and skip the MBA.

milanproda

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by milanproda » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:11 pm

As long as you have a concrete story that makes sense, your application should be considered. You have a JD, a very high GMAT score, which is not weighed as heavily as the LSAT, and good work experience. Make sure to tie in why you want an MBA. Good luck.

Lots of people here will tell berate you here so be careful with who you listen to.

augusta1985

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by augusta1985 » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:23 pm

lovelaw27 wrote:What do you actually want to do? People move into other fields, like being a financial advisor, with just a JD and skip the MBA.
Thanks. I worked as an analyst for a Fortune 100 prior to law school, and would like to return to a similar company, but on the business development / strategic planning side. I've also been interested in the "idea" of consulting lately (which has been discussed on this forum), but I'm not sure I could stomach the crazy travel demands.

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dingbat

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by dingbat » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:27 pm

I'm doing the opposite - got an MBA and now pursuing a JD.
Not sure if I can say anything useful, but feel free to ask

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milanproda

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by milanproda » Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:03 pm

Ding bat what are your thoughts in an MBA? How much did you learn? Were you able to get the job you wanted? Also, why the JD in addition to the MBA? Sorry if q's are too broad.

bdubs

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by bdubs » Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:18 pm

augusta1985 wrote:Last month I took the GMAT and scored very well (94th percentile).
What was your score breakdown? Law students/lawyers tend to do very well on the verbal and poorly on the quant. The school will look at your breakdown as well as the composite score. If it's not obvious, a balanced score is better.
augusta1985 wrote:I am debating whether to apply to a few top MBA programs to see what happens. Has anyone here pursued an MBA post JD? How much do MBA programs look at law school performance, work experience, etc? Any thoughts? Thanks.
I know a small number of people who did JD -> work -> MBA. They all had significant post-graduate work in a non-legal role for a while before coming to b-school. I think your story will be a lot harder to spin if your only post-graduate employment is a clerkship. Can't hurt too much to apply, but I think you're at a disadvantage relative to the average applicant.

Plus side is that I think MBA programs could care less about your performance in law school, but the quality of the school might have some influence.

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dingbat

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by dingbat » Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:37 pm

milanproda wrote:Ding bat what are your thoughts in an MBA? How much did you learn? Were you able to get the job you wanted? Also, why the JD in addition to the MBA? Sorry if q's are too broad.
I have mixed feelings. You learn a lot of different material but not a lot of depth. You learn enough accounting to understand, but not to do. You learn enough law to understand what lawyers are talking about, you learn enough finance to read financials, but not to build models, etc.
In short, it teaches you to talk to specialists, to understand what they tell you. Its a great foundation if you make it to midmanagement or beyond, but doesn't prepare you properly for any specific job.
However, it's a great stamp of approval for many jobs and a way in to several careers (eg Ibanking).
In my opinion, you need to know what you plan on doing with it before you get an MBA, otherwise you might not reap the benefit. In retrospect, it really should be a mid-career thing, for when you're ready to step up to a managerial position.
Unless you want something like Ibanking and can't get a foot in the door otherwise - then it makes sense early on - not for the education, but for the cachet.

It didn't get me the job I wanted in the way you mean, though my job became what I wanted it to be partly because of what I'd learned and I would not have progressed the way I did without it.
As for why the JD - part of it is personal, but I achieved a lot in my career, got bored, and wanted a new challenge, but in a way that was tangentially related to what I was already doing. The JD fits in with that and I have a very specific niche that I'm interested in and will specialize in, based on my past career

milanproda

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by milanproda » Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:34 am

Thx

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augusta1985

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by augusta1985 » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:52 pm

bdubs wrote:What was your score breakdown? Law students/lawyers tend to do very well on the verbal and poorly on the quant. The school will look at your breakdown as well as the composite score. If it's not obvious, a balanced score is better.
45 verbal (98th percentile) + 48 quant (85th percentile). Quant wasn't especially difficult, but it took a while to shake the rust off after a 10+ year hiatus from math.

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englawyer

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by englawyer » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:57 pm

you probably won't get into a top MBA. those programs are prestige-whores who like to see top schools, top companies, prestigious work experience, etc. stats don't count for much. but it certainly doesn't hurt to take a shot (well it kinda does. its over $100 per app i believe, and you will need to line up good recs and stuff).

also relevant: how much JD debt do you have?

chances are, it will be more realistic to take the mid-size firm job, practice in corporate, and look to transition to a client somehow down the line. the mba path seems tough because it will be hard to get in and then hard to get a job when you get there. you will also have way more debt.

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:01 pm

augusta1985 wrote:Need some advice: I've been out of law school for about 2 years. Graduated from a T2 school (top in region) with so-so grades, and am now clerking for a federal mag judge. I have a gig lined up with a solid mid-sized firm after my term is up. After meeting and talking with as many lawyers and business people as possible over the past couple of years, however, I've realized that I don't want to practice law.

Last month I took the GMAT and scored very well (94th percentile). I am debating whether to apply to a few top MBA programs to see what happens. Has anyone here pursued an MBA post JD? How much do MBA programs look at law school performance, work experience, etc? Any thoughts? Thanks.
Problem is your luck of work experience for top-MBA. Prior to law school I taught GRE, GMAT, LSAT etc, and scored consistently on those exams (other than LSAT where above 175 is so rare) pretty close to perfect, yet everyone that I asked told me, basically no good B-school will even look at you. You lose nothing if you apply now, but why don't you work for two years, ask at your mid-law firm to do transactional work, and then go to B-school. This will also give you some money to pay down debts and face B-school costs.

Also, I noticed your math scores were considerably lower than verbal scores. Tons of B-schools send you to fields like consulting where quantitative skills are highly valued.

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dingbat

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Re: MBA after JD

Post by dingbat » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:04 pm

englawyer wrote:you probably won't get into a top MBA. those programs are prestige-whores who like to see top schools, top companies, prestigious work experience, etc. stats don't count for much. but it certainly doesn't hurt to take a shot (well it kinda does. its over $100 per app i believe, and you will need to line up good recs and stuff).
I remember when business schools required significant work experience. Turns out that today they're accepting students straight out of college. (even Harvard's website "encourages" college seniors to apply)

I guess it also plays into how an MBA used to be predominantly focussed on people moving up to a management position and is now becoming a tool to make up for a weak undergrad.

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