<p>I'm a law student at Georgetown in my second year but I've been thinking about going for an MBA after I finish my law degree but I'm really interested in working in investment banking. (The money is nice, but I'm also genuinely interested in the work.) I wasn't sure it I would be able to get into a top MBA program directly out of law school though. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts.</p>
<p>BA Georgetown: Major Economics, Minor French, GPA 3.4, graduated after two years in 2006 when I was 19
JD Georgetown (currently 2L). Will graduate 2009. GPA 3.15 (middle of the class)
I also have a two year degree in mathematics I earned when I was 17 through having taken a lot of college classes while in junior high and HS. </p>
<p>I took the GMAT Monday morning, mostly just to see how I would do, and the unofficial score on the computer said I got a 750.
Having gone straight through to law school I don't have any work experience beyond summer internships and an internship I did through my second year as an undergraduate. That, I expect, is my biggest problem. I do have a lot of international experience though. I have lived in Paris for a total of nine months, speak fluent French, and have done two internships there, one of them in finance, the other in law.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice!</p>
<p>(I posted this last night under the "is work experience really necessary" but in retrospect I think I should have created a new thread.)</p>
<p>You would need a few years of work experience. May I ask why you want an MBA if you will have a degree in law? Is it really necessary? (I am not criticizing, just curious what benefit an MBA would have over a JD)</p>
<p>It's true that it's not really necessary and plenty of lawyers do transfer into banking from a firm. There are a few things though that have made me think about doing this. From a career standpoint, because I am interested in investment banking, I think strengthening my background in finance might be a good idea. I do have some knowledge of the field, but it's pretty fragmentary, mostly valuations of stocks and that sort of thing. Also, doing an MBA might let me start of in ibanking directly.</p>
<p>At a personal level, I am much younger than my classmates and look younger still (people usually think I'm in high school). That has not done me any favors in interviewing for internships. By spending two years obtaining an MBA from a top school, I think people might take me more seriously as a candidate. On top of that, earning the MBA looks like an interesting experience that would round out my education quite nicely.</p>
<p>Prior to taking the GMAT I hadn't given this possibility much thought figuring that my lack of work experience would be fatal (which, perhaps, is still the case), but when I got a 750 with basically no preparation I started thinking more about what my options were, hoping that my score could compensate for my lack of experience.</p>
<p>IMO, the best way to teach a fish to swim is to through it in the water. I.e. the best way for you to get finance experience is to actually do the work! Enough with the schooling, go out and get your education. If you aren't motivated enough to try to succeed now then why do you think adding more letters to the end of your name will make you any more motivated? You have plenty of excuses and no reasons. </p>
<p>Sorry to be so blunt, but really... have you applied to any iBanking firms?</p>
<p>Sort of. Because the banks don't recruit at law schools, I contacted some people I knew at a few of them to get a sense of what I should do. They told me that a JD with no work experience would not have much chance. One of them said that the situation might be different if it was a top MBA program but the combination of being unusual coming from law school and having no work experience was pretty much fatal.
Regarding going out and working, that's probably what I will end up doing. One of the people at the banks told me that transferring over from a law firm after two or three years is certainly doable if that's what I decide I want. I more just want to know what possibilities are open to me.</p>
<p>Seems like there's a lot of possibilities, due to your age and obvious intellegence. My advice is to not be in a hurry, you still have time to test waters and not worry if they aren't right. Maybe you'll find law to be awesome, once you get into it.</p>