<p>My plan is to major in both Accounting and Finance at the University of Florida. Florida has a 5 year program for accounting where I can get my Masters and qualify to take the CPA exam immediately after completing my 5th year. I would like to go to law school at Florida to get my LL.M in Taxation after finishing my Masters in Accounting. Total schooling would be about nine years which is certainly a long time, but still only about a year or two longer than most who choose to go to law school, but I will also be a CPA.</p>
<p>Is this a good plan or should I just get a regular degree and pursue law school without the Masters and CPA?</p>
<p>As with many majors, accounting and finance are fine for applying to admission to law school and having a masters degree when you apply helps somewhat (many law schools favor those with either after college job experience or advanced degrees). You would need to go through law school first before going on to LLM. Frankly, I think you are long way from deciding whether you will actually do that. However, be aware that having an LLM in tax is not a necessity for doing tax law (most who practice tax law do not have it). That does not mean it won't help somewhat, but even those who usually go for it have generally already been lawyers for sometime, and have settled into being tax lawyers and then decide to get a masters.</p>
<p>I am a former lawyer and now a headhunter for lawyers and many of the tax practices at the top national firms do expect an LL.M. I work largely with firms in DC and most of them request candidates with LL.Ms. The accounting background is nice too - it shows the firms that you know what you're getting in to and are perhaps more committed to sticking with tax law.</p>
<p>One issue in your plan, however, is getting an LL.M right after a JD isn't always the best choice. It is more likely you go and get some practical work experience, THEN decide to go back to school for an LL.M in tax...if you feel its worth doing.</p>
<p>One potential danger of no real work experience prior to the LL.M is that you take yourself out of the traditional hiring model of most law firms, by making yourself look overqualified to hire as a first-year associate, even though you are underqualified to be anything else but that.</p>
<p>I'm planning on doing the same field and I'm halfway through college and have researched law school and tax law extensively. </p>
<p>A masters isn't necessary if you plan on getting an LLM. Its redundant actually. </p>
<p>Florida is an excellent school for tax law, so you don't have to worry there. </p>
<p>There are joint degree programs in law school. I've seen JD/LLM offered for 3 and 1/2 years instead of four. Or you can get a joint JD/MBA. </p>
<p>If you decide to major in accounting and finance, then why don't you get your CFA as well? </p>
<p>Cartera and massguy are both right. LLM's are attractive and Tax law makes up the majority of them for those who pursue it. But massguy is right about no experience. Law school likes to see experience in applications so get an internship. They prefer job experience and internships more than any club/organization you join in college. </p>
<p>When you just take the CPA test, you don't actually become a CPA until you work for a few years. </p>
<p>But before you start planning your life already. Go to college first. Once you have a year in, then evaluate yourself and see if you still want to pursue your dream.</p>
<p>I'm considering doing the same program at A&M where I get my bachelor's in finance and Master in accounting in 5 years. Then i may go to law school afterward.</p>
<p>What are the chances of me getting into a T14 law school graduating from a 4th tier college for my undergraduate studies? Assume I had an adequate GPA with LSAT scores in this range 168-175. Would a person from a forth tier school have the capacity to handle the work load of a T14 law school? Assuming one was admitted to one of these schools, coming from a 4th tier school, would it be more prudent to go ahead and aim under the radar and go to a lower ranking school, say in the top 35, or so.
I guess my question is, does the LSAT show an acurate measurment of one's aptitude to handle the rigor of top law schools? I might be over analyzing, but I cannot believe, even if my scores were adequate, that my acceptance to a T14 would be near as likely as someone coming from the Ivy League, Georgetown, Berkeley, or even a places like Orberlin, Tufts, and Fordham with comparable scores. I would think that a majority of people that apply to these T14 schools come from tier one and tier two colleges, so most likely the ones accepted are going to be from this pool of applicants.</p>