Transitioning from Marine Corps Forum

[WarriorPoet]

Hello all,

Currently retiring early from the Marine Corps and looking at law school as the next step. Between GI Bill, retirement/disability, and FAFSA, tuition and living expenses aren't really a concern for me. I have a 3.58 undergrad GPA from Johns Hopkins in Political Science, but I was also in the notoriously difficult pre-med course of study there-- excluding the pre-med classes I would have much closer to a 4.0. I am taking the LSATs for the first time next month and I'm practicing in the 170s.

I currently live near Richmond, VA and have my family established there (wife works, kids in school, etc.). I am looking at UVA as my top choice since it is within driving distance of my house and I would eventually like to end up working in Richmond. I might take a job in DC for the right price, but traffic from where I live would be murder. Since I am planning on working in a relatively small market, is there any significant advantage to going to one of the T3 or will UVA get me everywhere I want to go?

Thank you.

[UVAIce]

I'm a UVA grad working in Richmond, and you will have an easier time getting work here out of Charlottesville than you will from U of R or W&M.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Edit: Going to HYS is certainly not going to hurt you, but if your goal is Richmond they aren't going to help that much.

[Wipfelder]

And also, check out the veteran's thread!

With GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon, if you hit above 170 your probably going just about anywhere you want (minus HYS) for free.........and, uh, if you are finishing on 20, your a phone call from being hired in DC for something in/about the government, I can't imagine you don't know a guy who knows a guy at least......

[jbagelboy]

UVA seems like a terrific choice for you. There's nothing you can't do from UVA that you could from another school given the right academic performance. Don't uproot your family for no reason.

[twenty]

Pretty sweet deal. Yeah, no real advantage in going to HYS over UVA if you're determined to work in Richmond and you have good ties. Since it's a public school, you don't have to worry about YRP.

Any desire to add a year and get a JD/MBA?

[WarriorPoet]

Thank you all for the input; that's pretty much what I expected, but I just wanted to make sure. Not really interested in working for the government if I can help it-- I've done that for all of my adult life and, frankly, I'd like to start getting paid commensurate with my abilities.

Off the cuff, I'd say I'm interested in defense or corporate. The dual track MBA at UVA interests me but, everything else being equal, is it enough of an advantage to be worth the extra year? I'm not sure it would make much difference at all in defense; I could see where it would be useful to speak the lingua franca in corporate, but is it that much of a leg up in hiring/advancement?

[Nebby]

Thank you all for the input; that's pretty much what I expected, but I just wanted to make sure. Not really interested in working for the government if I can help it-- I've done that for all of my adult life and, frankly, I'd like to start getting paid commensurate with my abilities.

Off the cuff, I'd say I'm interested in defense or corporate. The dual track MBA at UVA interests me but, everything else being equal, is it enough of an advantage to be worth the extra year? I'm not sure it would make much difference at all in defense; I could see where it would be useful to speak the lingua franca in corporate, but is it that much of a leg up in hiring/advancement?

I don't think it's useful unless you wanted to go client side and not as a counsel. And in that case you wouldn't need the JD

[Voyager]

There is a significant advantage to going to Yale, Stanford or Harvard over UVA. A whole new world of elite job prospects open up and the school name will follow you for the rest of your career.

I have multiple friends who did the JD/MBA gig. Seems like a huge waste of money as there is no job that will value BOTH degrees. So pick one.

One friend joined me at McKinsey. We never used our JDs.
Another friend went to a big firm... which did not care about his MBA.

I guess if you are ok losing a year of income and pay the extra tuition because you find the idea fun, maybe it makes sense... but you don't get any advantage over being able to choose between law and business... which you could have done from the beginning.

[UVAIce]

There is a significant advantage to going to Yale, Stanford or Harvard over UVA. A whole new world of elite job prospects open up and the school name will follow you for the rest of your career.

I have multiple friends who did the JD/MBA gig. Seems like a huge waste of money as there is no job that will value BOTH degrees. So pick one.

One friend joined me at McKinsey. We never used our JDs.
Another friend went to a big firm... which did not care about his MBA.

I guess if you are ok losing a year of income and pay the extra tuition because you find the idea fun, maybe it makes sense... but you don't get any advantage over being able to choose between law and business... which you could have done from the beginning.

Like what? Admittedly, Wachtell does not recruit at UVA, but other than that I have friends working at every firm you can think of as well as government work. Academia will be more of a reach from UVA. From any of these schools the only thing holding you back will be your ability to succeed at law school and your drive upon entering the legal field.

[TripTrip]

There is a significant advantage to going to Yale, Stanford or Harvard over UVA. A whole new world of elite job prospects open up and the school name will follow you for the rest of your career.

I have multiple friends who did the JD/MBA gig. Seems like a huge waste of money as there is no job that will value BOTH degrees. So pick one.

One friend joined me at McKinsey. We never used our JDs.
Another friend went to a big firm... which did not care about his MBA.

I guess if you are ok losing a year of income and pay the extra tuition because you find the idea fun, maybe it makes sense... but you don't get any advantage over being able to choose between law and business... which you could have done from the beginning.

Like what? Admittedly, Wachtell does not recruit at UVA, but other than that I have friends working at every firm you can think of as well as government work. Academia will be more of a reach from UVA. From any of these schools the only thing holding you back will be your ability to succeed at law school and your drive upon entering the legal field.

1) Below median students at HYS will fare better than below median students at UVA.
2) Prestigious non-law jobs like consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG) actively recruit from HYS. So a JD from HYS is nearly as useful as a JD/MBA from UVA. I'm still a proponent of getting the right degree for what you want to do, but I've been really thankful for that opening. It's also not just about consulting firms though; the name carries weight in other fields.

[Voyager]

There is a significant advantage to going to Yale, Stanford or Harvard over UVA. A whole new world of elite job prospects open up and the school name will follow you for the rest of your career.

I have multiple friends who did the JD/MBA gig. Seems like a huge waste of money as there is no job that will value BOTH degrees. So pick one.

One friend joined me at McKinsey. We never used our JDs.
Another friend went to a big firm... which did not care about his MBA.

I guess if you are ok losing a year of income and pay the extra tuition because you find the idea fun, maybe it makes sense... but you don't get any advantage over being able to choose between law and business... which you could have done from the beginning.

Like what? Admittedly, Wachtell does not recruit at UVA, but other than that I have friends working at every firm you can think of as well as government work. Academia will be more of a reach from UVA. From any of these schools the only thing holding you back will be your ability to succeed at law school and your drive upon entering the legal field.

1) Below median students at HYS will fare better than below median students at UVA.
2) Prestigious non-law jobs like consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG) actively recruit from HYS. So a JD from HYS is nearly as useful as a JD/MBA from UVA. I'm still a proponent of getting the right degree for what you want to do, but I've been really thankful for that opening. It's also not just about consulting firms though; the name carries weight in other fields.

Exactly. I'll add a couple more:

3) School name follows you. My classmates jump to the top of recruiter's list just due to the school name. This appears is true for firms and for going in house. Sometimes gets you positions where you have less years of experience than your competition
4) Academia values your school name big time.