Is Business School An Objectively Better Choice Than Law School? Forum

[xiao_long]

All things being equal, do you believe b-school is an objectively better choice than law school for the average person? Of course, if all you have is a BA in history and 2 years of bartending experience, then law school is probably the better choice assuming your LSAT is high enough to get you into some good schools with decent $$. But don't forget, there's lots of inherent risks with b-school as well. Usually you're giving up a well-paying job with a promising career trajectory to sign up for 2 years of school while incurring a substantial amount of debt. Not as crushing as law school debt, but just about (e.g. Wharton's COA is just under 100k). Keep in mind for this discussion I'm specifically referring to the T14 equivalent of MBA programs.

However, the biggest advantage with an MBA is that there exists more employment choices and there's actually a big middle ground in employment outcomes. Sure, you can do non-profit on one end and Goldman Sachs/McKinsey on the other. But there's tremendous opportunities in the middle, i.e. any random fortune 500 gig that pays 80k-100k with good benefits.

I get the feeling that a lot people on here would prefer to get an MBA, but cannot get past the work experience requirement and the overall hazy nature of b-school admissions. Having said that, if you were qualified to get into both law school and business school, which one would you do? For our purposes, please avoid discussing the JD/MBA possibility.

[DrSpaceman]

What does "all things being equal" even mean in this context? Do you have no preference as to how you spend your time?

[Freebot]

For some reason, lawyers really love to overestimate how well off other professions are. Typical outcome for a quantitative finance graduate is to burn out after 2 years of working 100 hour weeks earning 100K per year. This isn't 100 hour per week spikes like litigation. This is working 100 hour weeks all of the time. If you miraculously survive 5 years of this, then you might graduate into a semi-livable career.

[bearsfan23]

Have you considered dental school OP? That seems to be the best option

[pancakes3]

Uh... 1 less year to pay for, 90%+ job placement for schools that extend past the top 14, more portability, 6 figure median starting salary, and 5 figure median bonuses, and if you've taken accounting/finance already in UG you get to coast and booze your face off for the 2 years, and you get to travel all over the world for almost no reason at all.

Those are some pretty strong reasons to argue against.

[Lwoods]

Not sure there's often a value-add with an MBA. A career in business or finance can definitely be better than one in law, but an MBA isn't necessarily the way to get there.

[Lawyerrr]

Wharton costs like $160k FYI, not $100k.

[chuckbass]

Uh... 1 less year to pay for, 90%+ job placement for schools that extend past the top 14, more portability, 6 figure median starting salary, and 5 figure median bonuses, and if you've taken accounting/finance already in UG you get to coast and booze your face off for the 2 years, and you get to travel all over the world for almost no reason at all.

Those are some pretty strong reasons to argue against.

Lol at travel being a plus.

[Tiago Splitter]

90%+ job placement for schools that extend past the top 14,

Sounds great until you realize business schools count "jobs" the same way law schools did in 2006.

[PariSiamo]

Have you considered dental school OP? That seems to be the best option

Rich DOCTOR husband is the best option

[RunnerRunner]

Have you considered dental school OP? That seems to be the best option

Rich DOCTOR husband is the best option

[dabigchina]

You've done another of these threads already. Just go to business school already.

[proctor_right_in_the]

Post removed.

[RunnerRunner]

I don't think this can be answered in a vacuum. If you want to be a lawyer, you should go to law school, if you want to be a businessperson, go to business school. If you are someone who doesn't have a preference you shouldn't go to either: that's way too much money to spend if you don't have a specific passion or plan. And really, no matter what metric you use personal preference is going to play a role. That's why there can't be an "objectively" better choice: you would have to choose a metric to measure that choice, and that metric is not going to be the same for everyone. For instance, if you said earning potential is the metric you want to use and just picked whichever would make you the most money, that isn't going to be relevant to the entire population of applicants (some people care more about how they spend their workday than they do about how much money they make).

[NoBladesNoBows]

[jbagelboy]

if you don't want to be an attorney, then business school is a better choice. if you do want to be an attorney, then business school is basically useless.

/endthread

[NoBladesNoBows]

[haus]

if you don't want to be an attorney, then business school is a better choice. if you do want to be an attorney, then business school is basically useless.

/endthread

+1

[pancakes3]

if you don't want to be an attorney, then business school is a better choice. if you do want to be an attorney, then business school is basically useless.

/endthread

::puts on pointless hypo gunner hat::

But what about JD/MBA?

[BigZuck]

if you don't want to be an attorney, then business school is a better choice. if you do want to be an attorney, then business school is basically useless.

/endthread

::puts on pointless hypo gunner hat::

But what about JD/MBA?

For our purposes, please avoid discussing the JD/MBA possibility.

[pancakes3]

::points to pointless hypo gunner hat::

Yeah but still... what if?

[NoBladesNoBows]

[DJ JD]

Uh... 1 less year to pay for, 90%+ job placement for schools that extend past the top 14, more portability, 6 figure median starting salary, and 5 figure median bonuses, and if you've taken accounting/finance already in UG you get to coast and booze your face off for the 2 years, and you get to travel all over the world for almost no reason at all.

Those are some pretty strong reasons to argue against.

Lol at travel being a plus.

I'm pretty sure he meant travel during B-school. A couple of people I know at several different schools took 3-week trips to do various businessy things (board presentations and pitches and negotiations), which really translated into them drinking and partying for 3 weeks.

In the event I'm wrong, and he's referring to traveling for work, I'll kindly STFU and ask you to disregard this post.

[ManoftheHour]

if you don't want to be an attorney, then business school is a better choice. if you do want to be an attorney, then business school is basically useless.

/endthread

+1

[pancakes3]

Uh... 1 less year to pay for, 90%+ job placement for schools that extend past the top 14, more portability, 6 figure median starting salary, and 5 figure median bonuses, and if you've taken accounting/finance already in UG you get to coast and booze your face off for the 2 years, and you get to travel all over the world for almost no reason at all.

Those are some pretty strong reasons to argue against.

Lol at travel being a plus.

I'm pretty sure he meant travel during B-school. A couple of people I know at several different schools took 3-week trips to do various businessy things (board presentations and pitches and negotiations), which really translated into them drinking and partying for 3 weeks.

In the event I'm wrong, and he's referring to traveling for work, I'll kindly STFU and ask you to disregard this post.

Definitely talking about traveling while in school.