Top Law Schools

I'm a currently a Sophomore at a major state university but have enough credit to graduate at the end of next year (May of 2013) while taking a comfortable courseload (15 or less hours per semester). I want to attend a T14 Law School at some point. If I graduate in four years (in May 2014), then I believe I'll have a good chance at getting an Investment Banking Summer Analyst position, where I can work for two years before law school.

My other option is to graduate a year early. The problem with this is that I will not have as strong of a resume and will most likely not land an IB gig. I could probably get a corp. fin or commercial banking job, but neither of those really appeals to me. Therefore, I will be attending law school directly. The benefits of this are that I will save ~$25,000 on tuition, fees etc. from my senior year and be finished with law school by the time I'm 24.

If I know I want to be a lawyer, how much will it help to get that two years of work experience before law school? Do firms that interview on campus look for much work experience or do you still have a good shot at getting a top-ranked firm without any work experience? Anyone get an offer from a top firm going to LS straight from undergrad?

Wrong forum duderino

What makes you so sure that you will be competitive for a BB IBD position? "Major State Universities" are not big recruiting hubs for i-banks and you will probably be competing with everyone at the top of your class for those positions.

There are benefits to working though, why not just take another reasonably good corporate job for a year? Anything finance, consulting, or accounting will probably serve you just fine come OCI time.

What, exactly, interests you about Investment Banking?
Practically speaking, I can see no reason why you would want to first to IB and then go to law school (and presumably a biglaw job afterwards)

was in a very similar position. can definitely say take the banking job. you might end up enjoying finance (and it is a more lucrative career). also having banking on your resume (even if just for a summer) will look great when it comes to legal recruiting. its a stamp of approval you could work 100 hours weeks (or at least know what you're getting yourself into). it will be a big plus.

but yea, i echo the statements above of what makes you so confident. the only school that immediately comes to mind is UVA or UT, but even from there it's pretty touch to crack into ibd and only the cream of the crop get in. anyways recruiting starts in january if i remember correctly, so you should be able to know whether you got a banking gig lined up by early spring. of course you don't want to miss graduation deadline. but yea, this is a no brainer if you are capable of getting such a job.