Transferring after a gap year? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Can you transfer after your first year? Like do 1l work for two or three years and finish? I only ask because I'm a k-jd who got a full time offer at my summer work(non law) and I'm thinking about withdrawing and coming back in a few years to get a jd/mba.

I'd want an MBA from a better school than my law school and I'm somewhat grade competitive to transfer.

[chuckbass]

Why do you need a JD/MBA? Why wouldn't you just get the MBA? You're clearly not interested in law considering your summer job, and if you've already gotten through a year of law school you should know how useless the actual schooling is.

[Anonymous User]

Why do you need a JD/MBA? Why wouldn't you just get the MBA? You're clearly not interested in law considering your summer job, and if you've already gotten through a year of law school you should know how useless the actual schooling is.

I might need to use the JD to backdoor my way into the MBA/I'm interested in distressed debt/restructuring/bankruptcy/distressed real estate which having a JD can be moderately helpful in the future.

[AReasonableMan]

You probably can, but it would make it tough to get a legal job (both the fact you're leaving for the year, and the fact it's not really law related). I could see law school making it easier to get into a top MBA program if you have limited connections but test well, because law school is more about the latter. However, this lack of connections would still pose an obstacle in business school and your preference for non-legal work will pose an obstacle in law school. If you have a job that you like it is probably more logical to stay until you get a more grounded idea of what you want.

If you were going to do law school, being a part time student would make a lot more sense. This would show you're good at time management, because working a 9/5 while going to law school is no easy task, and it would also show your commitment to being a lawyer. Taking a year off would show either a lack of focus, stability, or most likely, that you're not really set on law. I understand with an MBA/JD this will be hard to do. I'd bare in mind that one of the catches in both the business and legal world is that more degrees isn't always better. A Harvard MBA or JD will be better than having six-post college level degrees from most other schools.

[chuckbass]

I also don't see you using transferring to the law school as a way of backdooring your way into the MBA program. I'm not sure the deadlines for the MBA applications, but I'm sure they're much sooner than law school transfer applications (most of which don't even open until May/June), so you'd probably hear back business school before you'd even have a chance to apply to the law school.

[Anonymous User]

It'd be a more of a shoot out b-school apps one year, if those fail then try and transfer then apply towards the b school my 2L year.

[randomguy89]

I really think you need to take a hard look at whether you're going down the path you want to.

Ideally, it should've been before starting law school in the first place. I think people really shouldn't go straight through "K-JD" in most cases.

It's almost as if you're treating a three-year, potentially 100K or even 200K investment as merely a credential to be attained without an end goal.

[Cerberaus]

It is highly unlikely that you can use the JD as a backdoor into the MBA program. You stated that you want to transfer to a school with a better MBA program, which means you will likely have to take the GMAT regardless of the fact that you're a JD student. Even at my former law school, where the JD program was ranked much higher than the business school, JD students also had to be accepted into the business program. Many applicants thought their JD status would give them a one-up on other applicants. The result is that only 3 of 10 applicants from the JD program were accepted into the business school.

I don't know you're situation, whether you need money ASAP, what kind of job is being discussed, whether you even want to practice law, etc., but I wouldn't rely on my JD to open doors for an elite MBA program. If you want to attend Wharton, being a JD student isn't going to open doors there. Think about it, people are paying for the privilege of networking with other business men and women; they are not paying to network with some JD student who brings little of value to the table.

As for your initial question of whether you can transfer, I will state that a year gap will hurt. On every application, you will have to answer the question of whether there was a gap in your schooling. Although you might see this gap as a plus since you gained experience in a similar field, law schools will not see it this way. To law schools, you are someone who left to pursue another interest.

[Anonymous User]

I should note I have a very competitive gmat already(740+) from this year.

Job wise it's well paying/good experience finance analyst level. People from this group have very good mba placement.

Long term wise I'm interested in rx/distressed debt, which i can do with a jd or mba. I was planning on doing something similar with just the jd(and couldn't do it k-jd because undergraduate gpa).

[Cerberaus]

740 is very good; grats on the score. I took the GMAT three years ago in addition to the LSAT and I remember noting that anything above 720 should be competitive for top ten programs like Kellog. However, it's not a guarantee because schools also focus on your work experience.

At any rate, even if I were you and knew your situation, this would be a very tough decision. I love business, and I hope to become a corporate attorney. But at the end of the day, if I had to pick between law and business, I would pick law. If that's not how you feel, then finishing law school might be equivalent to a sunken cost. I think you have to pick which one is more important for you.

I would gain insight from those in rx/distressed debt.

[Gamecockfan]

I'd be really careful about doing this kind of thing. There are very specific rules for law school. Number one you have to finish a degree within 7 years of when you begin it. So, when you take this job, and you work for 2-3 years you will be at year four with three to go. Your law school probably will reserve the right not to accept you when you come back. (Doesn't mean they won't) So, you may be in a spot that you will have to transfer. Further, your law school acceptances may not match with your MBA acceptances. You are going to have a logistical nightmare. Because you will find out that you got into X MBA program, and you'll just have to pray that you get into their same JD program. (And you won't find out until June or July of that year, unless its one of the early action transfer programs) The deck will be stacked against you since your reason is solely to work. So to make this decision, I would assume the worst. I would assume that you will not be able to get both the JD MBA. You will have to choose.

That being said, you seem to want an MBA more than a JD so who really cares. You probably only have this jd/mba idea because you have already started the JD. A top ten MBA is worth as much as a top ten JD especially with the experience you are getting.

For what it is worth, I am sort of in your situation. I want to start in M&A restructuring and try and move to PE because I don't have a spectacular undergrad. I am transferring up law schools though as a backup to that. I think I have decided that as far as MBAs go, I will pursue an executive MBA because I don't have the GMAT to get into a JD MBA right now.

Edit: I'd also post this same question on wallstreetoasis. See what they say. I'd think a JD would be more than a little helpful for dealing with bankruptcy. (I didn't really address the fact that you think you may need a JD above)