JD/MBA Question Forum

[PCSur]

After some research I have decided to pursue a joint JD/MBA degree, as I believe that my future interests represent a rare case where the joint degree makes sense. It seems to me that the best (most efficient) way to go about this is to apply to law school first and then apply to the MBA program during 1L. This avoids the time and financial costs of applying to a ton of MBA programs that won't have any relevance if you don't get in to the corresponding law school. But I am concerned about the situation where you get into a top law school and then worry that the next year you won't be accepted to the business school (with a similar high ranking).

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this? Is it possible to send a letter expressing your dilemma and get a "quick" assessment of your chances by the business school...or are the schools really completely independent? It would be a shame to accept a lesser school just to ensure MBA admission.

This question is very hypothetical at this point- I took the LSAT in Sept 09 and scored a 166, so this dilemma is assuming that I can kick the crap out of the test and break into the 172 range (and the T14) in December.

[alive]

I think it varies on a case by case (and school by school) basis. If you can get some fee waivers at law schools you are interested in use that money to apply to the business schools at the same time. If that really doesn't work, make sure you have 700+ on your GMAT and good work experience (and some recommendations that you can get from your manager/partner/MD/whatever.

One thing I've consistently heard is that at schools like Wharton where it would seem like a strategy to "backdoor" into the business school by getting into the law school first to avoid WE... is it doesn't work. They are extremely sensitive to this, so proceed carefully.

[philo-sophia]

^^if you go to a T14 law school other Harvard, Penn, or Stanford, you can be fairly confident about getting into the MBA program, as long as you make a thoughtful application. Darden (UVA), Fuqua (Duke), Johnson (Cornell), etc will be fairly forgiving of current JD students who lack professional experience, BUT you need to show them that you've thought it through, and you need to show that you haven't taken admission for granted...that is, do the schmoozing stuff, info panels, etc. Be prepared to interview well so you get over the stereotype of law students as socially inept (an often accurate stereotype). Also, 700+ on the gmat is good too, which you can do pretty easily if you do well on the LSAT (which will translate to 99%tile on the verbal portion of the gmat) and are decent enough with numbers to do damage control on the math portion.

[TOMaHULK]

Wait, so you have to take the GMAT if you want to do a JD/MBA program?

[Kretzy]

Wait, so you have to take the GMAT if you want to do a JD/MBA program?

Not necessarily. Stanford, for example, accepts the GRE, though I'm not sure what other schools do (I type this as I'm studying GRE vocab for my application to Stanford Business).

And to add onto what was said above, Stanford Business does seem to be more forgiving to students already attending another graduate program at the university, but not to an extent where it's anywhere close to being "automatic" or even "kind of a good shot" for folks applying. That 6% acceptance rate is a bitch.