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Hello

confusion101 wrote:Hello All,

I have been debating this thing for about a week, and am absolutely stuck in making a decision. I have been admitted to both University of Minnesota Law and Emory Law with paying the same effective tuition rate. The my long term goal in life is to work in the international negotiations team for a corporate. I understand that there are stop along the way to that goal and I can play the part for a decade or so after law school if I have to. I feel that in order to make a transfer from a law firm to a corporation, having an MBA would prove advantageous. Hence, my dilemma!

The questions some of you can shed light on are :

a. Which school would give me the best platform to get that initial BigLaw job ?
b. How advantageous is the MBA to a lawyer with my goals ?
c. Is the MBA actually needed to make that transfer from law firm to a corporation?

Also, I have no preference of location !

I don't really know much about Emory, but can tell you that UMN doesn't give you much shot of biglaw. If you're not in the top 15% or so you're probably going to be out of luck. As for the MBA, do you have any work experience? Outside of the very very top MBA programs, MBAs are more or less meaningless without prior work experience.

Welcome to the TLS family!

1. Neither school is a good bet for Big law. Emory might have a slight advantage over Minny, but it's meaningless if you don't have ties to the South, especially if you want Atlanta.

2. How comfortable are you with racking up additional debt? The general consensus on here is that JD/MBA is not a good investment, because there are very few careers that would require the skill set from both degrees. If you want to be a business oriented lawyer, get the JD and learn the business principles you need to know on the job. An MBA isn't going to mean the difference between success and failure for your career.

3. I should add that the Carlson MBA isn't very well regarded outside of Minnesota. I mean, have you seen their placement prowess even within Minnesota?

Bottom line: You might want to do a lot more research before sending in your seat deposit. Big law isn't likely from Emory nor Minny; retake and shoot for T14.

Thats nice

If you want to end up in the area, then MN is where you have to go. Emory isn't going to get you back there. Emory will land you in the South.

Thanks

confusion101 wrote:My bias stems from living for the past two years in Denver. I absolutely love Denver but, the schools here (DU and CU, both of which I got into) can not offer even the big Denver Law jobs.

Are you sure that MN will offer you that in MN? The biglaw score difference between MN and CU is only about 2%. Emory has a markedly better biglaw score than MN (which isn't to say it's necessarily a good bet, just comparing your options).

(Also, if you haven't been to MN in the winter you may want to check that out.)

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MistakenGenius wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

confusion101 wrote:My bias stems from living for the past two years in Denver. I absolutely love Denver but, the schools here (DU and CU, both of which I got into) can not offer even the big Denver Law jobs.

Are you sure that MN will offer you that in MN? The biglaw score difference between MN and CU is only about 2%. Emory has a markedly better biglaw score than MN (which isn't to say it's necessarily a good bet, just comparing your options).

(Also, if you haven't been to MN in the winter you may want to check that out.)

Nony, you're right that Emory has a higher score, but you also have to take into account how insular the South is. I'd argue no market cares as much about ties as they do. If OP is from Georgia (maybe SC or Florida), then yeah, Emory all the way. If not, then Emory is a very bad choice.

Oh, I'm sure you're right. More commenting on the comparison the OP was drawing than saying Emory was the way to go.

Best

Were I in your shoes, I'd be headed to MN.

And as someone that's originally from the south, I'll just say this: never again.

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Yes sir

MistakenGenius wrote:

lawdoggy wrote:Were I in your shoes, I'd be headed to MN.

And as someone that's originally from the south, I'll just say this: never again.

Hey, that's going way too far. I'm from the South too and the South is great. Less crowds, nicer people, better food, cheaper cost of living, it's just the worst.

I don't know where on god's earth you're from, but I don't know of a world where ATL has "less crowds" and "nicer people". I'll give you the good food options, but that's true for any major city.

And this guy is concerned about quality of schools...

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