Best time to apply for a dual-degree MBA Forum

[abitaman6363]

I have been considering applying for a dual-degree program (JD/MBA). I am currently completing law school applications and realized that, at least at some schools, you can apply for an MBA as a 1L or 2L. Are there any advantages to applying to it now vs. later?

Thanks!

[ResolutePear]

I have been considering applying for a dual-degree program (JD/MBA). I am currently completing law school applications and realized that, at least at some schools, you can apply for an MBA as a 1L or 2L. Are there any advantages to applying to it now vs. later?

Thanks!

Why would you do an MBA with your own money? Get your JD, get a firm job, lateral over to a corporation, and have them pay for your MBA in full.

[Pip]

The advantage to applying before you even start law school would be simple and pretty important. You would know if you were accepted or not... imagine you decide you want your JD/MBA and complete 1 or 2 years of law school only to find that the MBA program doesn't accept you... well there went that plan.

If you decide to just get a JD now and try to get your company to pay for the MBA later you should know that you would be limited to MBA programs in the area the company was located, you might also find that the company only pays a certain amount of tuition in any given year (fairly common practice)... and don't forget that if you use the company to pay your tuition you are generally committed to work for them for a certain number of years or the payments they made become a loan.

Also MBAs like people with work experience so don't assume that you can get into a program just because you got into the school's law school... thought MBAs at a university might have lower GPAs than the law school students they probably have more work experience.

[Hattori Hanzo]

Now: if you get into both programs at university A but not at university B, you can take that factor into consideration when deciding where you want to attend. This is important if getting a dual degree is more than just the icing on the JD cake for you.

Later: you will only have one application to deal with. This is pretty important since MBA apps are not centrally administered like law school apps and you will need different essays (3-4) for each school that you apply to with some overlapping subjects. Pretty time consuming and expensive. Also, at some schools you may get a backdoor bonus for being in the JD program already.