JD/MBA programs in Boston/NYC

[miobrien]

I'm interested in pursuing a JD/MBA in the near future and am currently trying to figure out which schools I should apply to. Most people have told me to apply to law school first and then apply to business school in the first or second year of law school. I'm currently working on an M.A. in philosophy from Boston College. I graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from BC in 2009.

I want the MBA for several reasons. I severely lack knowledge of business and economics. I'd really like to understand these topics, as I've increasingly become interested in them over the years. While I'm applying to law school first, I'm not necessarily setting out to be a straight-up lawyer. (But even if I do, the MBA could be useful.) I'd like to work as legal counsel for a hedge fund or investment bank. I'm also interested in private equity and venture capital, which I understand are hard to break into, but believe the JD/MBA combo could help (especially from HLS/HBS).

Nonetheless, I want to stay in the Boston or New York area so this only leaves me a few options: Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, New York University, Columbia, and Fordham. How would you rank these schools as JD/MBA programs?

While Harvard is obviously the best on this list, how do the others fare in comparison? Are there more employment opportunities for graduates of NYU and Columbia than there are for graduates of BC, BU, and Fordham?

I've read several blogs over the past few weeks. Most of them recommend going to a "top 10" business school if you want to get into venture capital or private equity. I assume the same goes for legal counsel at a hedge fund or investment bank.

While it's certainly going to take a large amount of effort to get into any of these law schools, my undergrad GPA is more in the range of BC, BU, and Fordham. I'll have to do really well on the LSAT in order to get into NYU, Columbia, and Harvard. So I'm worried that the MBA programs at the former schools are just simply not as good as the latter. Is this true? If so, I'm also unsure if the MBA is really worth it if that's the case.

I'm particularly interested in how a BC JD/MBA compares to an NYU or Columbia JD/MBA.

Thanks for your help!

[essaysnark]

While EssaySnark has helped people with JD/MBA apps, our expertise is on the MBA side. Yes, usually the strategy is to gain admission to law school first, and then apply to bschool, though it can be done the other way 'round, too. As far as we know, there's no such thing as a "JD/MBA program" -- there's a joint degree available at the different grad schools at these universities. We make this distinction because there's not going to be specific support (i.e., recruiting) for JD/MBA students. You'll need to be much more self-directed than a typical MB or JD graduate likely would.

With the disclaimer that this isn't our specialty, this appears to EssaySnark as if it's really a law career. (Maybe that's totally obvious, just wanted to point out that this is how we're reading it.) So, yes, get into the very best law school that you can. Typically, though not always, good law schools have good bschools on campus too. We've never heard of hedge funds recruiting for their lawyers at the law school, but maybe it happens. They wouldn't be looking for their lawyers at the bschool obviously! (Hedge fund recruiting overall is still pretty depressed at bschool, hopefully that's start to turn soon.) Our guess is that you'd need experience at a standard big-name law firm first, before you'd qualify for any position doing the actual legal work at an IB/HF. Again, apologies if this is all totally obvious to you. Just pointing out that we don't think it's likely to go straight to a hedge fund upon graduation. Maybe it could work that way but probably either the HF has a big-name firm on retainer, or they're only hiring experienced guys for the in-house counsel (that's my guess for IBs).

Speaking of experience: It's unlikely you'll get into Columbia without work experience. Not saying impossible, but a stretch. So if the whole plan is contingent upon doing the MBA along with the JD, then you should apply to both CBS and Columbia Law at the same time. The CBS adcom may not want to welcome you into the MBA program even if already admitted to Columbia Law without a couple years work experience. Probably similar situation for NYU. HBS may be more OK with this. EssaySnark has little knowledge of the other programs from either the business or the law side. You seem to be overlooking Yale from this list, unless that's intentional since it's not in NYC or Boston proper. Obviously they've got a great bschool and law school both.

You might also start thinking about how you're going to position all the education you've already got. Jumping straight into another graduate program may make the bschool adcoms think your career goal is to be a perpetual student. Law schools may not have as much issue with this, but it could be a problem on the bschool side. And academics will matter, so you're right to be looking at competitiveness. HBS, CBS, Stern -- these are among the most competitive schools around, their respective law schools equally so. You're aiming to gain admission to TWO programs at these elite institutions? It's a high bar. And if the LSAT is causing concern, just wait till you start wrestling with the GMAT... these are tough tests as you surely know.

There are a lot of variables here and EssaySnark is definitely NOT the expert in this category, but we have a little experience. Hopefully this helps with big-picture considerations and overall strategies, so you can take your research to the next level.

Good luck with it!