Convince me to get an MBA Forum

[FluidMosaic]

Hello everyone. I am a 2L here with ok grades at a T25. I want to work in a non-legal capacity in the future. Is a JD enough or in the long term will an MBA help me in the future? I have worked in a corporate/consulting/finance role this Summer and I'll be working in biglaw for the upcoming Summer.

[deepseapartners]

Don't, unless you can get a future employer to pay for it. You're already in the hole for law school.

[ballouttacontrol]

2 year unlimited open bar

[FluidMosaic]

I will note that I've worked all of law school with good scholarship $$$ and with 2 Summers of full time work money will graduate debt free. An MBA will set me back I estimate around 50k or so depending on if I work during the semester.

[Anonymous User]

2 year unlimited open bar

Only $110,000+living for all the Blue Moon you want for two years? Sign me up!

[Anonymous User]

Of course an MBA helps for non-legal roles - if you have the right work experience and go to a target school, it's extremely easy to get interviews at plenty of top companies that recruit on campus. It's no guarantee you'll have half a dozen offers from top PE shops, since you're competing with lots of other extremely qualified applicants, most of whom choose to return to a similar industry and have a few years' experience under their belt, but it gets your foot in the door which is really what you're looking for. Obviously, most people in almost any industry got to where they did without an MBA, but speaking from experience b school is a pretty good time, and if you're qualified to get into a top program you should definitely find yourself with some solid options coming out of the program - employment rates at basically all the top schools are over 95%, and unlike law schools (which may have median salary at 160k but 40% of the class is making under 60k) even the lowest-paying jobs are generally six-figures, unless you do something like non-profit social enterprise or an early-stage start-up.

[Anonymous User]

I will note that I've worked all of law school with good scholarship $$$ and with 2 Summers of full time work money will graduate debt free. An MBA will set me back I estimate around 50k or so depending on if I work during the semester.

Anon from just above. The cost of an MBA is waaay more than that - 50k wouldn't even be one year of tuition, not to mention all the travel and nightlife stuff you probably didn't do during law school.

[Anonymous User]

Of course an MBA helps for non-legal roles - if you have the right work experience and go to a target school, it's extremely easy to get interviews at plenty of top companies that recruit on campus. It's no guarantee you'll have half a dozen offers from top PE shops, since you're competing with lots of other extremely qualified applicants, most of whom choose to return to a similar industry and have a few years' experience under their belt, but it gets your foot in the door which is really what you're looking for. Obviously, most people in almost any industry got to where they did without an MBA, but speaking from experience b school is a pretty good time, and if you're qualified to get into a top program you should definitely find yourself with some solid options coming out of the program - employment rates at basically all the top schools are over 95%, and unlike law schools (which may have median salary at 160k but 40% of the class is making under 60k) even the lowest-paying jobs are generally six-figures, unless you do something like non-profit social enterprise or an early-stage start-up.

Totally legitimate points, and obviously 2 years at law school is a sunk cost. But, as the 2nd poster mentioned, why did you even go to law school? How will you explain your choices/story in interviews with a b-school or future employer? I'm picturing something like this, "Uh, I went to law school because I didn't have a plan when I graduated from undergrad and/or my parents pressured me to. Now I will succeed at your business school/company because, despite still having no work experience, I know I am passionate about business!" Why not graduate, work at a firm or in house for a while, save a bit, and then decide whether to invest in an MBA?

[cowgirl_bebop]

I did the JD/MBA thing in a kind of non-traditional way. It made sense for me given my background and goals, and I got the school to pay for it (full tuition + housing), but unless it's something you REALLY want to do, the price tag might not make it worth it at this point., let alone the extra time out of your life. Do you want to do something non-legal right out of school or are you just planning for the future when you get tired of law? If it is the latter, I definitely don't think you need it.

B-school is fun, but it ain't fun enough to rack up a ton of extra debt and take 2 years out of your life just for the hell of it.

[FluidMosaic]

Of course an MBA helps for non-legal roles - if you have the right work experience and go to a target school, it's extremely easy to get interviews at plenty of top companies that recruit on campus. It's no guarantee you'll have half a dozen offers from top PE shops, since you're competing with lots of other extremely qualified applicants, most of whom choose to return to a similar industry and have a few years' experience under their belt, but it gets your foot in the door which is really what you're looking for. Obviously, most people in almost any industry got to where they did without an MBA, but speaking from experience b school is a pretty good time, and if you're qualified to get into a top program you should definitely find yourself with some solid options coming out of the program - employment rates at basically all the top schools are over 95%, and unlike law schools (which may have median salary at 160k but 40% of the class is making under 60k) even the lowest-paying jobs are generally six-figures, unless you do something like non-profit social enterprise or an early-stage start-up.

Totally legitimate points, and obviously 2 years at law school is a sunk cost. But, as the 2nd poster mentioned, why did you even go to law school? How will you explain your choices/story in interviews with a b-school or future employer? I'm picturing something like this, "Uh, I went to law school because I didn't have a plan when I graduated from undergrad and/or my parents pressured me to. Now I will succeed at your business school/company because, despite still having no work experience, I know I am passionate about business!" Why not graduate, work at a firm or in house for a while, pay down some debt, and then decide whether to invest in an MBA?

I had a 2.4 in undergrad. Law school was a fast track to getting employment paying more than 30-40k in the next five-ten years.

However back on topic, it would be the business school attached to my law school. Not a great school but ranked in the top 30 or so MBAs. I should point out that I am looking to attend immediately since a top-10 business school is out of the picture with my undergrad grades. I'm curious if solely having an MBA would help for trying to progress in management in the long future.

[Anonymous User]

Of course an MBA helps for non-legal roles - if you have the right work experience and go to a target school, it's extremely easy to get interviews at plenty of top companies that recruit on campus. It's no guarantee you'll have half a dozen offers from top PE shops, since you're competing with lots of other extremely qualified applicants, most of whom choose to return to a similar industry and have a few years' experience under their belt, but it gets your foot in the door which is really what you're looking for. Obviously, most people in almost any industry got to where they did without an MBA, but speaking from experience b school is a pretty good time, and if you're qualified to get into a top program you should definitely find yourself with some solid options coming out of the program - employment rates at basically all the top schools are over 95%, and unlike law schools (which may have median salary at 160k but 40% of the class is making under 60k) even the lowest-paying jobs are generally six-figures, unless you do something like non-profit social enterprise or an early-stage start-up.

Totally legitimate points, and obviously 2 years at law school is a sunk cost. But, as the 2nd poster mentioned, why did you even go to law school? How will you explain your choices/story in interviews with a b-school or future employer? I'm picturing something like this, "Uh, I went to law school because I didn't have a plan when I graduated from undergrad and/or my parents pressured me to. Now I will succeed at your business school/company because, despite still having no work experience, I know I am passionate about business!" Why not graduate, work at a firm or in house for a while, save a bit, and then decide whether to invest in an MBA?

I totally agree, I wasn't suggesting to go for an MBA right after law school - barring some unusual situation, I think 2 years of "real experience" is an absolute minimum. I think the best story for a practicing lawyer (I decided simultaneously on a JD/MBA) is that they've become interested in being on the business side after working tangentially to it, and realizing their passion yada yada, while at a firm/in house.

[Anonymous User]

I had a 2.4 in undergrad. Law school was a fast track to getting employment paying more than 30-40k in the next five-ten years.

However back on topic, it would be the business school attached to my law school. Not a great school but ranked in the top 30 or so MBAs. I should point out that I am looking to attend immediately since a top-10 business school is out of the picture with my undergrad grades. I'm curious if solely having an MBA would help for trying to progress in management in the long future.

This does not sound like a good idea to me. I think the marginal benefit would be pretty small from a branding perspective, especially if it is ranked around 30. Business schools care even less than law school about your grades, although a 2.4 could cause some concern (that maybe your law school grades could help mitigate). But - mind you I'm saying this having been to business school - without any real work experience, you won't benefit nearly as much from an MBA program, and frankly you will detract from the experience of your classmates. I'm not saying this to sound like a jerk, but one of the best aspects of a business school classroom is the insight you hear from classmates who have very rich experiences across diverse industries, often related to the case being discussed that day or the project you're working on...not to mention all the people who have actually run their own businesses or whatever. For what you're looking for, there isn't a lot of "branding" to be gained, and if you just want to learn accounting or corporate finance there are plenty of books or online classes for you to teach yourself and save a lot of money.

[JamMasterJ]

Without really solid work experience, a non elite b school degree is worth far less than a non elite law degree. I really don't think you'd be adding much value

[Johann]

3rd all nighter this month. Don't do this shit.

[gaddockteeg]

2 year unlimited open bar

Only $110,000+living for all the Blue Moon you want for two years? Sign me up!

to be fair, you probably have to pay living expenses regardless of the mba or not.

[pancakes3]

However back on topic, it would be the business school attached to my law school. Not a great school but ranked in the top 30 or so MBAs. I should point out that I am looking to attend immediately since a top-10 business school is out of the picture with my undergrad grades. I'm curious if solely having an MBA would help for trying to progress in management in the long future.

No bro. Even though the odds are stacked against you, you actually have a shot at management with BL->lateral. A T30 isn't going to get you shit.

[NYbarguy]

You said you worked in a corporate/finance/consulting role this summer. You may want to consider reaching out to your contacts there to see if they have openings (assuming you would consider working there FT), or maybe someone there can give you advice on steps to take. As a general rule, I don't recommend finishing law school and entering biglaw on that basis that it is a stepping stone to a great business-side career down the road, especially if you don't have large debts to pay. If you know you don't want to be in law, I would at least try to explore other options now.

I don't recommend the MBA path for reasons already discussed above.

[wiz]

Getting an MBA can be worth it if you wanna ditch law, but I don't know if a top 30 program will give you a good employment outcome. It's not really like law school where you can just gun for top 10% at a T30 and hope for biglaw. Good grades are gonna mean far less to employers when you're competing with classmates with legit work experience.

[wiz]

3rd all nighter this month. Don't do this shit.

Damn brother, trying to hit hours?

[Anonymous User]

Good grades are gonna mean far less to employers when you're competing with classmates with legit work experience.

Yeah, or even nothing at all, since I think the majority of top schools have a policy of grade non-disclosure (can't send your employers your transcript or even discuss any grades). Some of the more quantitative positions ask you to include your GMAT and undergrad GPA on your application, but the primary way you distinguish yourself from your classmates vying for the same jobs is your resume...after that, networking, club or other relevant extracurricular activities, and professional credentials tend to bolster your app (as could your transcript and grades for the schools that don't have GND).