I would any and all opinions on this degree choice. Good, bad, anything! I want to know what I should be thinking about.
Background, I just, and I mean I’m walking the stage tomorrow, finished my undergraduate in Accounting. The plan has always been to get my masters in something, and qualify to sit for my CPA.
The classes I enjoyed most in college were business law, management and tax accounting. A couple schools around me offer a joint JD/MBA program, 4 years. I’m really interested, but it’s a big commitment and I want to know what else to think about.
I’m young, no kids, not married. My parents will attempt to support me as much as they can. In short, this is a good time for me to finish my education.
I have been told that the market is somewhat saturated with fresh law degrees, but if I specialize I will have more job opportunities. I would like to go into business law or tax law.
I went to law school with a joint JD/MBA program, but I did not seek the joint degree. I wish I had. I have an undergrad degree in English. I now practice commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy. It was only one more year and, according to my classmates who were in the program, much easier/lower stress relative to law school. There’s a lot to consider - cost, whether you’ll practice law or not and if so what practice area, etc. - but I would give it a good hard look. If you plan on practicing, it also gives you an extra summer to clerk/intern/“be a summer associate.” 1L summer jobs are tough to find, but as a 2L and 2+L you should have better luck. Those jobs generally lead to your first “real” job. They can also pay VERY well for a summer of happy hours and cocktail parties.
I have an MBA from a highly-ranked school and am a senior executive at a smallish publicly-traded company. You likely won’t get into a great B-school without a few years in the working world and a joint JD/MBA from an okay school won’t open a ton of doors.
As a management consultant I interviewed a few hundred grad school types from a ton of top programs. IMHO, JD/MBA types either wanted to do a specific role that requires a joint degree or are collecting letters after their last name because they don’t really know what they want to do but want to look impressive.
So - what might you want to do and does it require a joint degree?
This is exactly what I want to ask. Postgraduate education is a bad fit for you unless you have a specific reason to be there, so spend some time thinking about whether you really want to do this.
Tax law or business law, both which would benefit from the joint degrees. I’m also interested in working for the Justice Department, the gentleman I talked to said they required law degrees. And I’m interested in the FBI, which would like the law degree, though it is not required.
Every MBA program I have looked fulfills the educational requirements I need for my CPA, I would further check this with any school I apply for.
As it is right now, I’m definitely going to grad school soon. If nothing else, then just to get an MBA. But I’m really interested in getting a law degree as well, hence looking at these joint programs.
The original plan was to work for a few years, then go to grad school. But, the job market isn’t great, and the recruiters I’ve talked to only want to talk with people who have their CPA or will be able to test for it soon. I need graduate course work to qualify for my CPA. So, based on all that, I thought I’d look into finishing my education now, as opposed to waiting a few years.
Okay, sounds like stuff that might require a joint degree - so go for it. There is a larger question - the roles you describe pay well, but over time a person intelligent enough to get the degress may find themselves 15 years in realizing they are hired hands who have to log hours but aren’t doing truly fulfilling work, but that’s hard to know if that will be an issue…
You don’t need the MBA to work for the federal government and if you do want to work for the Feds, I’d advise you to get the law degree over other degrees. If want anything remotely close to a fasttracked promotion schedule with liveable wages, you’ll have to apply for a specific legal clerkship program in your 3rd (3L) year. I’d advise you to apply to various different programs-certainly the DOJ, if you like, but the SEC & the criminal tax division of the IRS might also interest you. Each agency has a seperate application. I know that my own law school allowed me to crossregister a certain number of credits at other graduate schools at my university-you could save yourself a year of tuition by going for the law degree and cross-registering at the business school associate with your university if they offer the same option at the school you end up at. This would give you some business class credits but you’d get the degree that will get you the clerkship.
Yes, the FBI likes law degrees but you’d also have to pass the physical test. They don’t let you off the hook if you get the law degree. You might find the criminal tax division of the IRS more to your liking.
The best MBA schools require significant work experience. The Tier 1 law schools are moving towards a preference for a bit of work experience but they still accept plenty of K-JDs. If you are worried about finding a job and think you’re better off in school, you have a better shot at decent law school than MBA program (JMHO).
If you want to get the CPA and avoid the downturn in the job market, why don’t you take a 1 year master’s in accounting, pass the CPA exams and work for a few years instead? That sets you up to go to a better MBA program down the road.
Balance rank vs. debt load, whatever you do. Both will have a significant effect on your job options.
Law school is different things for different people but the overwhelming sentiment is that you shouldn’t go if you’re really not sure. Working as a lawyer is…well, for me it’s just okay. Some people love it, some people hate it. I hated a lot of stuff about law school but I also liked a lot of stuff about it. Just keep in mind that while it’s difficult to fail out, it’s pretty easy to graduate at the bottom of the heap. It’s an expensive mistake and it can make people pretty bitter.
Lawyers are bombastic a-holes though many have a kindly center. There’s a lot of rejection and well-meaning scary advice involved. The one reason I’d advise some real world “work” experience is that I think it gives people a little bit of confidence and direction before they commit to something grueling like a graduate degree. Be very very sure of yourself, in terms of your self-esteem, before you go. The biggest skill you can take with you into law school is getting off the floor quickly after you’ve been punched in the face. Seriously-this is probably why I did reasonably well. Law school is not kind to people with a longer lag time.
I actually am moving on to my MBA (am slowly putting all my affairs in order over the next year to present a really good application-getting the best GMAT score possible, moving on to another job to round out my career portion etc.). I’ll have been an attorney for 4.5 years by the time I apply and I had 2 years of work experience before law school and I’m still kind of worried I won’t be experienced enough. Then again, I am aiming pretty high this time and won’t go unless I get into the calibre of school I’m interested in.