Is Wharton a good option for law school?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>I want to attend law school and I am told that top law schools seek out diversity in their incoming class (much like undergraduate colleges do.) Would a Wharton degree help me get into law school, or does it not matter? Do law schools ONLY look at work experience/LSAT/GPA or does your degree or a business background also help? My other option for an undergraduate college would be Princeton. Which undergraduate college would be better for law school admission? I would be very happy at either undergraduate college.</p>

<p>(I am aiming for very selective law schools such as Stanford, Harvard, and Yale).</p>

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<p>If you would like to enter a field in law that is related to finance or accounting, like tax law or compliance work, for instance. Wharton allows you to have a strong grasp in both law and business with two degrees instead of 3. That is two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars saved. If you want to set up your own practice, the skills you learn at Wharton, like the ability to handle your cash flow well, come in handy. That management course about the 5 styles of leadership will help you run your law firm, or work at a larger law firm and be an effective leader. You will also have a far more intuitive grasp of the financial industry that your fellow Law School candidates would be unable to compete with. In totality, that would make you very attractive to a law school. </p>

<p>Also, if you have a Wharton undergraduate degree that gives you more flexibility to make the transition into business without wasting two more years and going hundreds of dollars in debt for an MBA. Getting an MBA may not be a necessity for a law school grad to get your middle of the rung finance jobs, but if you want to compete for the top slots, Wharton would give you an advantage. That is, if you decide, like many lawyers do after working for a few years, that you would rather be in finance. </p>

<p>Remember, very very few Whartonites pursue law right out of undergrad, pursuing law would make you unique. </p>

<p>I assume, since you applied to Wharton, you have an interest in business as well. If that is the case, and you feel that if you went into law you would want to deal with something that intersected with the business world, I think you will be well served by Wharton. Lastly, Penn’s one university policy allows you to take classes in any of Penn’s 12 graduate schools. That means that you could easily supplement your Wharton education with a few law school classes on ethics, the legal aspects of finance, or whatever else it is you wanted to take. Now, I’ve written this post making the assumption that you are interested at least studying business. If you told me that you had absolutely no interest in studying or pursuing business, my post would have been different.
Several Whartonites do pursue Law each year at top notch universities, (as shown in the link below), so it is a distinct possibility for you to consider.</p>

<p>London School of Economics, Masters (Law and Accounting)
Harvard Law School, JD (Law)
Yale University Law School, JD (Law)
Columbia University, JD (Law)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys/Wharton2009Report.pdf[/url]”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys/Wharton2009Report.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Law schools get rather few applications from Wharton so you’ll be exotic. Do it!</p>

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<p>Thanks guys. I guess I figured that a Wharton education would be great for law school. But what I’m really asking is which school would be BETTER for TOP law school admission (harvard, yale, stanford): Wharton or Princeton?</p>

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<p>I don’t think either one will be a severe hindrance to you if you do well there :-P.</p>

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<p>Back in my day (decades ago), about 1/3 of Wharton undergrads went directly to law school (including me! :slight_smile: ). Historically, Wharton has been a strong feeder into the top law schools (e.g., U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan graduated from Wharton undergrad before attending Harvard Law School). Then, the go-go '80s and '90s hit, and the burgeoning opportunities in the financial and consulting industries seem to have suppressed the desire of many Wharton undergrads to go to law school.</p>

<p>Who knows–perhaps the pendulum will now swing back. In any event, there is substantial precendent for Wharton undergrads to go on to law school, and a fairly significant number still do.</p>