<p>I like the personal feel of a LAC, but I'm thinking I should go to a larger college where networking might fare better and where there are more resources.</p>
<p>I ideally want to get a joint degree JD/MBA and do business for a few years to pay off my loans and then do community service law.
Does this sound like a bad idea?</p>
<p>light, many small liberal arts colleges do very well in business and law school acceptances. Each school has a distinct personality so you’d want to look carefully into the best fit for you. It’s hard to generalize because LACs cover a wide range academically, as do medium and large universities, but as a general statement if you go to an academically rigorous LAC you will become part of a strong network – both alumni/ae and faculty – that will help you move along your professional career path.</p>
<p>One of the most pre-professional LAC’s where networking would be great for business: Claremont McKenna College.</p>
<p>Aside from that, most top lacs(amherst, williams, etc) will get recruited by some of the same companies that top universities will be.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen many top business leaders went to LACs. MBA admissions don’t value undergrad very highly. It’s all about the work experience you’ve had and your GMAT score, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>this fall, some of my friends from my LAC (regarded on this site as “above average/decent” but not totally “elite”) are entering MBA programs at Wharton, Yale, Indiana (kelley), and Northwestern (kellogg), not to mention those already at McGill, Uconn, Columbia, and NYU (Stern).
So yes, it won’t hold you back!</p>
<p>OP, I think it’s a fine plan. Both law school and MBA problems put much emphasis on the entrance exams. A strong LAC will give you a fundamental basis for either law school or MBA programs.</p>
<p>Sounds like a good plan. If you go to an LAC and then business/law school, you’ll get to experience both worlds (small and large schools). Also, I think the alumni from smaller schools have a more personal connection and may actually be more helpful with networking.</p>
<p>You need at least five years of work experience before even thinking about pursuing an MBA at a top school, unless you are a true scholar athlete with substantial internship experience.</p>
<p>That being said, you could keep your prospective LACs to Amherst and Williams, and look toward Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan, or NYU Stern if you’re intent on a career in finance.</p>
<p>Both Amherst and Williams graduates have superior placement in top MBA programs relative to the other LACs.</p>
<p>But, again, work experience is important. With regards to Law School, it doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad.</p>
<p>
Just Amherst and Williams? That sounds like putting all your LAC eggs in one basket (well, two actually). I’m pretty sure there are other LACs worth considering.</p>
<p>Interesting question, and one I’ve wanted to have answered for some time now (sorry I’ve been too lazy to launch my own thread…)</p>
<p>Anyways, if you do undergrad business, wouldn’t that be better for the MBA path? I plan on doing a JD/MBA as well, but I’ll be doing undergrad business and engineering instead (dual degree).</p>
<p>Still, I’m finding that I am increaingly drawn to a liberal arts path like that offered of Kenyon or UChicago, but I’ll likely be going to my state flagship-ish University instead to pursue my dual degree path. (Ohio’s got an oddball way of doing public education at the post-secondary level)</p>
<p>Is this a stupid move?</p>
<p>RANDOM- 500th Post :)</p>
<p>Being able to write precisely and well is amazingly valuable in business. Go to an LAC, major in English, a foreign language, or philosophy, with a minor in economics, and you should be great in business school.</p>
<p>I believe W&L is the only LAC of its type in the country that has its own undergraduate business school. Might be worth a look if you want business + an LAC for undergrad.</p>
<p>IMHO, liberal arts colleges offer the BEST preparation for law or business schools.</p>
<p>Of the sample group of the 11 roommates I had over the course of my 4 years at Haverford College (I’ve excluded the four people I haven’t heard about since graduation, but included myself in that number), we collectively attended the following grad schools: UC-Berkeley Business, Columbia Law, Harvard Business (2), Harvard Education, Harvard Kennedy, Harvard Law, Univ. of Penn. Med (2), Yale Med, Yale PhD (2), and no grad school (1).</p>
<p>Of course other friends and classmates have attended all of the other top business schools.</p>
<p>I’m a business school prof, and been involved in admin. Go anywhere for your UG and do any major that excites you. Absolutely not necessary- and some would say pointless- to do a undergrad in business and then MBA. Who knows what you’ll really want to do or end up doing 4 years and then 9 years from now. I’d also save your folks money, go to a public school and save the rest for afterwards. Seriously.</p>
<p>Starbright’s advice is well taken. Undergrad business is pointless if you want to get a MBA - you will be repeating much of the curriculum and wasting an opportunity to study something else. LAC vs. university for undergrad is a personal choice; both can be good preparation for JD and MBA programs</p>
<p>Harvard MBA here: The top business schools could fill their classes with business undergrads who go to work in investment banks and consulting firms. But they don’t. They want people who are potentially leaders in their fields-which include the arts, nonprofit management, education, law and medicine. I had a doctor, a lawyer, an opera singer, a pro baseball player, a school teacher, a former mayor, a whole crew of engineers, a union leader, several ex-military, and of course several people whose primary qualification seemed to be their parents’ ownership of a large private enterprise…in my section alone. So don’t limit yourself. Do what you love and do it really, really well.</p>
<p>Schools like Amherst, Williams, Colgate, Holy Cross, Davidson have very strong alumni networks, which help in grad school placement and jobs.</p>