<p>Does this help you in anyway in terms of what kind of job you get compared to getting only the M.B.A. degree?</p>
<p>Well to state the obvious you would be able to pursue practicing law.</p>
<p>Having both an MBA and a JD, particularly if both are from top schools, makes you very, very, very marketable.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it's rather overrated, and frankly, I think most double-degree/double-major programs are rather overrated. If you want to be a lawyer, you should just get a JD. If you want to get a business job, you should just get an MBA. Getting both seems to be a waste of time and money. You probably don't get much of a boost in the job market that would be worth the extra time and money you would have to spend to get both degrees. </p>
<p>Having said that, perhaps if you were highly risk averse and/or didn't know what you wanted to do with your life, then I suppose a dual-degree can have value. But that just begs the question of why you don't find out what you want to do with your life.</p>
<p>I agree with sakky. Having an MBA does little to help a lawyer practice law. Having a JD can help a business person if that person's business is in a highly regulated industry; the question becomes whether you want to spend an additional two years and a lot of money to gain that edge.</p>
<p>other joint degree programs involving an MBA can be very beneficial towards management in a particular industry, however. MBAs combined with degrees in (say) environmental engineering (offered by Columbia and others), public policy (offered by Harvard and others), or international affairs (offered by Columbia and others) are good towards getting leadership roles (or a leadership-track role) in a very particular and in-demand type of firm.</p>
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other joint degree programs involving an MBA can be very beneficial towards management in a particular industry, however. MBAs combined with degrees in (say) environmental engineering (offered by Columbia and others), public policy (offered by Harvard and others), or international affairs (offered by Columbia and others) are good towards getting leadership roles (or a leadership-track role) in a very particular and in-demand type of firm.
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<p>Well, I'm not so sure about even that. I know plenty of people getting combined MBA's + MS's in engineering at various schools, including MIT, who found that they got beaten out for jobs in engineering/technical management by people who have just MBA's. We're not just talking about some scrub engineering school. This is MIT we're talking about here. Yet they still got beat out. Similarly, Stanford used to run a fully integrated MBA + MS engineering program which could be done in 2 years (as opposed to the 3-year ala-carte program that they have now). One problem with it is that the market didn't seem to place much value on it as opposed to just a regular Stanford MBA. </p>
<p>Similarly, I know a number of people getting MPA degrees at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government along with their MBA's (either at HBS or at MITSloan), who don't seem to think they have much of an advantage in terms of getting jobs in public management compared to if they had just gotten a single degree.</p>
<p>I know a person with a joint JD/MBA from Columbia. He is a practicing lawyer who specializes in providing counsel for entrepreneurial individuals, and helps them put deals together.</p>
<p>No an MBA won't help you practice law but it can help you run your legal practice, which you would HAVE TO DO if you make partner at biglaw.</p>
<p>all that's required to make partner at biglaw is a JD, though. which is all that 95%+ of them have.</p>
<p>While the marketability advantage is suspect, I plan to pursue a JD/MBA for academic pleasure.</p>
<p>I'd go for a JD so I won't get pushed around by debt collectors and corporate predators and the like. As a consumer, you have to know your rights, or WalMart and HP and the like will screw you over.</p>
<p>I intend to go for an MBA to advance in investment banking, and I intend to pursue a JD as well to protect myself from evil predatory corporations. And maybe I'll have fun intimidating debt collectors...."I didn't go to Harvard Law for nothing, don't make me cite a dozen laws that you don't know about."</p>
<p>Though I have a JD/MBA and have found each of the degrees to be very helpful in my career, let's not forget that obtaining these degrees costs over $50,000 per year of schooling (not to mention the opportunity costs of attending school instead of working and earning money/gaining seniority/building a pension, etc.). If you have no interest in practicing law but you really want to obtain an MBA, it may be a good idea to just get that MBA. On the other hand, if you want to practice law, it may or may not be worth the extra money to obtain the MBA. In fact, plenty of lawyers with only law degrees do end up working on the "business side". </p>
<p>Keeping in mind that you need a minimum of 2-3 years of post-undergraduate work experience, and typically 5-6 years of post-undergraduate work experience, to get into a top MBA program, earning that JD/MBA at that point means that you won't graduate until you are in your late 20's or early 30's with over $200,000 in student loan debt. Welcome to the real world!</p>
<p>You don't need an MBA to run a business. Plenty of folks in the Fortune 500 start or manage w/o an MBA. Most other countries, even major economies, don't have common MBA programs.</p>
<p>"Plenty of folks in the Fortune 500 start or manage w/o an MBA."</p>
<p>But they hire plenty of MBAs...so unless you are going to join the Fortune 501, I'd get one.</p>
<p>"Most other countries, even major economies, don't have common MBA programs." </p>
<p>Right. They send them their best and brightest to top business schools in the US and Europe. Hell, even Cuba's Fidel Castro sends top performing officers to top business school in Europe...</p>
<p>To repeat what has been said: </p>
<p>1) these degrees are NOT free
2) are not always compatible
3) are probably overrated and can be even detrimental in certain instances</p>
<p>Law teaching is an instance where it would make sense to get a second degree--not necessarily an MBA, though. But at Harvard Business School, the MBA can be achieved en route to the PhD, as some courses overlap.</p>
<p>Ignorance is bliss. Nothing is "good" about the combination, per se--except for impressing people who don't know much in the first place.</p>
<p>"You don't need an MBA to run a business. Plenty of folks in the Fortune 500 start or manage w/o an MBA."</p>
<p>And most of them are old and from a long past time when you did not need a degree just to get a decent job. Those guys are not comparable to today.</p>
<p>Not to mention some were born rich. Anyway I'm still getting a JD/MBA, MBA for my finance career, and JD so I don't get screwed. Or maybe I'll just take a couple courses in consumer protection law.</p>
<p>Are you really so susceptible to influence that you need to get a JD so that you don't "get screwed"? Perhaps some real world experience will cure you of that.</p>
<p>You should also get an MD...that way if you get a cough you'll know what to do. And why not a PhD in engineering if your car has problems?</p>
<p>"You should also get an MD...that way if you get a cough you'll know what to do. And why not a PhD in engineering if your car has problems?"</p>
<p>This is really funny, hehe :D. But yeah, poor logic, poor rationale; good intentions, though.</p>
<p>lol :D</p>
<p>///</p>