<p>Hey everyone - it's been awhile since I've posted on college confidential. I'm currently a junior at RPI dual majoring in Industrial Engineering and Economics. Recently, I've been trying to plan what I want to do with my life... </p>
<p>Initially I was considering a path in business (MBA in finance), however, I've grown equally interested in the field of law (specifically patent and corporate). I really do NOT wish to stop working after 5 or so years to get my MBA and I know that will be nearly impossible for me to do - so I'm planning to get my next degree immediately after I graduate (most likely limiting my MBA options).</p>
<p>So, my plans right now are to get an MBA or law degree immediately after I graduate at a local-ish school to save some cash (I'm looking at Hofstra right now).</p>
<p>What path - Law or Business - would be most beneficial for me?</p>
<p>Get an internship in finance and see if you enjoy it. Don't go directly into an MBA or a Law program if you're not sure on which you prefer, get experience in business before you spend a significant amount of money on an MBA. Moreover, if you don't plan on going to a top law school, you should spend some time in workforce to save up money so you're not sunk with as much debt when you graduate from a lower-ranked institution.</p>
<p>I've actually interned with a pretty well-known bank and I can see myself working in business..... or law :-\ (I'm a terribly indecisive individual - before going into engineering I was going to go into biology as a pre-dental student, so I apologize in advance for the chaos this thread may cause!)</p>
<p>If I get a law degree - I would still like to work for a financial organization or in a corporate setting. I've made an assumption that an individual with a JD can do similar jobs as an individual with an MBA (not necessarily finance). I also look at JD's as having more flexibility, security, and independence, however, I see them as being a bit too broad... (Please correct me if I'm wrong or misguided on this)</p>
<p>Would it be better to get an MBA or a JD from a non-top-tier school such as Hofstra? I'd feel more comfortable being able to go immediately after I get my undergrad degree at a decent price with no worries of having to stop work.</p>
<p>You NEED work experience to get into any decent MBA program. Period. Case closed. You should probably get an internship in a financial services firm just to see if you're going to like it; however if you decide 2 years into being a financial analyst you can always go back to law school and then leverage your financial analyst experience to get into biglaw....on the one hand you'll be older than most of your colleagues who went straight to law school, but you're also going to have less debt. </p>
<p>By the way, you want to go to the best school you can get into. Ideally you want to graduate at the top of your class at Harvard Law, but failling that, you'd rather graduate in the middle of your class at Harvard Law rather than at the top of your class at Brooklyn Law School.</p>
<p>And if you still want to work in financial services, then go inhouse at a major IBank, or specialize in M&A, corporate, securities or finance law and work for a major law firm. I believe Wachtell has the best M&A practice, but they only take top students from top schools.</p>
<p>Get the most interesting and challenging job that you can find after graduating. Give it everything you've got for a couple of years. By then you will have a much better idea about what you want to do and you may also have a better idea of what post-graduate education can for you if you seek out the opinions of the older and more experienced people you work with.</p>
<p>Some very successful people will tell you that law or business school would have been a complete waste of time for them. Law or B school might be right for you but you have no way of knowing until you pay some dues in the world of work.</p>
<p>Get the most interesting and challenging job that you can find after graduating. Give it everything you've got for a couple of years. By then you will have a much better idea about what you want to do and you may also have a better idea of what post-graduate education can for you if you seek out the opinions of the older and more experienced people you work with.</p>
<p>Some very successful people will tell you that law or business school would have been a complete waste of time for them. Law or B school might be right for you but you have no way of knowing until you pay some dues in the world of work.</p>
<p>Forgot to comment on your main question:</p>
<p>"What path - Law or Business - would be most beneficial for me?"</p>
<p>These are not two different paths. Most law is about business. Large law firms and some small ones are particularly cutthroat businesses and every business operates under the rule of law. Actually there are as many different paths as there people in the work force, but there is no neat dividing line between business and law.</p>
<p>Yes, Harvard's JD/MBA will probably get you into any firm you want, including Wachtell.</p>
<p>Any school that has both a JD program and MBA program will have a JD/MBA combo degree program. By the way, you have to get into both programs independently of each other.</p>
<p>I thought it hurt you to get 2 degrees from the same school, doesnt it look better to say, get a JD from yale, and a MBA from harvard, than to get an JD/MBA from harvard?</p>
<p>^^^^^
I guess you forgot to weigh in human capital. Unless you actually believe that getting a JD/MBA as opposed to just a JD is a bad decision for someone looking into corporate law.....</p>
<p>1.) He didn't forget to "weight" anything.
2.) FNS's point seems pretty clear to me: that you have to **weigh **the cost of the extra year ($60K + opportunity) against the benefit of additional branding and networking from separating the degrees. Is there a problem?</p>
<p>Not one time in that post did he take into account the benefit gained by doing a JD/MBA program vs. just a JD program. You said that the time saved by doing a joint degree program is worth somthing, and than he said "Yes, about $60k+whatever salary you would have given up.". I than said that he didnt take into account the benefit of having both degrees. It would be absurd to just take into account the additional cost, and not factor in the benefit of having both an MBA and a JD. So yes, there was a problem.</p>
<p>You missed the point. Most MBA programs take 2 years. Law school is 3 years. If you go to one school for your MBA and another for your JD it will take you 5 years. In a joint MBA/JD program it takes 4. So, getting the degrees from 2 different schools will cost you about $60,000 for that additional year of school plus the salary you would earn during that year. </p>
<p>The post you attacked--which was answering the question you yourself posed-- is discussing the pros and cons of being in a joint degree program vs. getting your MBA and JD from different schools. To be blunt, the "problem" is entirely due to your careless reading.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^
"Yes, about $60k+whatever salary you would have given up."</p>
<p>That is all that was written, now you tell me were in that sentence there is a single "pro", anywhere. In addition to that, this post was not answering a question I asked, BDM already answered my question, than that guy I just quoted came out with the above statement........</p>
<p>Evaluate your own reading skills before you dare question mine again.</p>
<p>Seriously jonri. How <em>dare</em> you question his reading skills! The gall! You know what this means. A reading-off. Right after hostiletakeover is done--well, never mind.</p>