Choosing Where to ED Forum

[boosk]

165/3.6 MA URM here, Im trying to decide whether to ED at Penn or NYU. Is there a large difference between the academics of each school, portability of degree, job prospects, clerkship opportunities?

where would you ED and why?

thanks for any responses...

[bk1]

NYU is generally seen as a notch above Penn for prospects, especially in NYC. But it isn't so large that I would personally risk shooting the moon and missing. My advice is to use http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com to figure out your chances at either of them via ED. If your chances at NYU aren't that great and they are better at Penn, I would advise doing the Penn ED because the difference isn't worth the risk of not getting it.

That being said I think you have a good chance of snagging at least a few lower T14's so I think the risk of you missing out on the T14 entirely is fairly slim even if you were not to ED. In fact I am inclined to say that ED'ing wouldn't be worth it because you might get money at some T14's.

[JamMasterJ]

NYU is generally seen as a notch above Penn for prospects, especially in NYC. But it isn't so large that I would personally risk shooting the moon and missing. My advice is to use http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com to figure out your chances at either of them via ED. If your chances at NYU aren't that great and they are better at Penn, I would advise doing the Penn ED because the difference isn't worth the risk of not getting it.

That being said I think you have a good chance of snagging at least a few lower T14's so I think the risk of you missing out on the T14 entirely is fairly slim even if you were not to ED. In fact I am inclined to say that ED'ing wouldn't be worth it because you might get money at some T14's.

I think if you ED to NYU, you might not get either, but will probably get money at the lower T14. If you ED to Penn, you will probably go there at sticker. So if Penn at full price is better to you than a chance at NYU along with a very good chance at lower T14 money, you should ED Penn. If the risk is worth it, go NYU

[boosk]

thanks guys, for a JD/MBA track it seems that the Penn/Wharton combo is superior to NYU/Stern... is this a correct assessment?

[boosk]

Can anyone weigh in on this? which MBA track would yield better job prospects OVERALL? NYU/Stern or Penn/Wharton?

[kaspar]

wharton >>>>>> stern
but you have to get in...

[boosk]

sorry, i meant JD/MBA track... obviously wharton>stern, but NYU Law>Penn Law... so which combo would yield better OVERALL job prospects?

[lawyerwannabe]

I mean, if you can get into Wharton, I would go with the UPenn JD/MBA. However, while some law schools allow you to enroll in their MBA program after gaining acceptance to their law program, UPenn has you apply for this dual degree through Wharton. Because of this, your LSAT is irrelevant, regardless of whether you can get into the law school or not. Any WE and a great GMAT would be what would allow you a chance at acceptance.

[mikeditkaisgod]

I have never understood why a person would get an MBA/JD while attending one of the top ranked schools in the nation. Not to be brash, but are you not confident in your ability to succeed in law school?

I'm not trying to personally attack you here, I'm just posing this question for the sake of discussion.

[$1.99]

lol dual JD/MBA is useless unless you want to waste money for prestige. if you get into wharton just do the MBA, if you get into NYU law, go to NYU

[aria mariN]

I think PENN is a good school for you.,

[Patriot1208]

so which combo would yield better OVERALL job prospects?

this is entirely dependent on what you want to do

[boosk]

I have never understood why a person would get an MBA/JD while attending one of the top ranked schools in the nation. Not to be brash, but are you not confident in your ability to succeed in law school?

I'm not trying to personally attack you here, I'm just posing this question for the sake of discussion.

no worries,

I am extremely confident in my ability to make it into the top 50% of my class at any law school, and I have high hopes of reaching top 5-10% but I understand how difficult this would be (especially at a T10). My reason for pursuing a JD/MBA is to leave the door open for both legal and business job opportunities upon graduation...

[$1.99]

you do realize law firms will look down on you for having an MBA right?

[FlightoftheEarls]

you do realize law firms will look down on you for having an MBA right?

Entirely firm/partner-specific statement.

[boosk]

for what reasons would any firm/partner look down on someone with a JD/MBA?

[spacepenguin]

for what reasons would any firm/partner look down on someone with a JD/MBA?

Firms hedge their bets against potential flight risk. Someone with an MBA might have different priorities than pursuing a career in law (i.e. Investment Banking), so to avoid the hassle of paying you 160K a year and putting time into training you only for you to leave, they just simply don't hire you.

Or that's my guess at least.

Edit: Also, ED to NYU for obviously selfish reasons.

[$1.99]

yeah they feel you are going to leave for other options, which is exactly what you said you wanted to do. you need to come up with a better explanation to convince them.

[lawyerwannabe]

I have never understood why a person would get an MBA/JD while attending one of the top ranked schools in the nation. Not to be brash, but are you not confident in your ability to succeed in law school?

I'm not trying to personally attack you here, I'm just posing this question for the sake of discussion.

no worries,

I am extremely confident in my ability to make it into the top 50% of my class at any law school, and I have high hopes of reaching top 5-10% but I understand how difficult this would be (especially at a T10). My reason for pursuing a JD/MBA is to leave the door open for both legal and business job opportunities upon graduation...

I wish you all the best, but comments like these are asinine. Your GPA hovers around the 25%tile for every T10 and your LSAT is below the 25%tile for every T10. It is great to have confidence but it is equally important to have a little humility. I am not saying that what you are advocating cannot come true, so please do not construe my post as such. It is just that over 75% of your class is coming in with better credentials than yourself.

[$1.99]

OP, i am going to get out of my troll form and say that you seem to not know exactly what your goals are and seem a bit out of touch with the reality of law school. You should not pursue a dual JD/MBA because you want to leave options open. There are very little jobs where having this dual degree will be seen as a positive and worth the rigors and cost of pursuing both. Maybe you should sit down and figure out what exactly you want to do with you career and studies. Also, everyone believes coming into law school they won't be THAT guy that ends up in the bottom half of the class. I don't think your gpa and lsat determine the chances you have, but it is very foolish to assume you won't be THAT guy. As the guy above me said, most people in your school will be very talented and intelligent and law school exams are sometimes arbitrary.

[Patriot1208]

It also needs to be asked, do you have work experience? Because the possibility of getting into Wharton is diminished if you don't and the likelihoood of you finding the type of business job you are dreaming of out of Wharton or Stern, even if you were to squeak your way in, is almost zero.

[boosk]

haha so law firms wont hire me because they're afraid I'll leave for a biz job i can't get, but i dont have to worry about that because i wont have the grades to get hired in the first place.

thanks guys

[Bodhi_mind]

haha so law firms wont hire me because they're afraid I'll leave for a biz job i can't get, but i dont have to worry about that because i wont have the grades to get hired in the first place.

thanks guys

boosk people weren't trying to be rude, they're just giving you their honest opinion which is what you asked for. No need to be offended. And I think people have a point about the JD/MBA, it's really not a great option.

[SA1928]

There are some areas where a JD/MBA can be helpful and some firms do look for it. For example, Goodwin Procter has this stated on their website about the JD/MBA: "If you’re not a JD/MBA, but you’re considering this option, we think it’s a very smart business move. An MBA program allows you to work collaboratively in teams and learn in an environment with people who aren’t lawyers. You’ll graduate with a better understanding of the intricacies between business and law. When you begin looking for the right place to start your career, we would love to hear from you. " (Link:http://www.goodwinprocter.com/Careers/C ... D-MBA.aspx)

However, in agreement with what some of the previous posters said, I think you really need to know why you are going for both degrees instead of just using it as a back-up plan in case one degree doesn't work out. Like if you wanted to be in mergers and acquisitions, a dual degree be beneficial, but that is not to say that you need both to work in M&A, and it seems like that is how a lot of areas of the law are.

Here is a link with some Pros and Cons about the JD/MBA program: http://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2009/02 ... -finances/

At the end of the day, you need to do what you think will get you to where you want to go and be realistic about it happening.

[boosk]

haha so law firms wont hire me because they're afraid I'll leave for a biz job i can't get, but i dont have to worry about that because i wont have the grades to get hired in the first place.

thanks guys

boosk people weren't trying to be rude, they're just giving you their honest opinion which is what you asked for. No need to be offended. And I think people have a point about the JD/MBA, it's really not a great option.

don't worry, not offended... I actually think the doom-and-gloom on here is funny, but I asked for opinions about choosing to ED at Penn or NYU, not opinions on the JD/MBA option or my chances of success at either school or hiring.