{"id":18340,"date":"2019-11-21T15:03:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T15:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/?p=18340"},"modified":"2019-11-21T19:04:09","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T19:04:09","slug":"is-earning-a-jd-mba-degree-right-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/blog\/is-earning-a-jd-mba-degree-right-for-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Earning a JD\/MBA Degree Right for Me?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"is<\/p>\n

Now that you have begun taking steps toward earning your MBA, you may be wondering whether a joint JD\/MBA degree could be a good option for you. Or perhaps you have been considering a JD\/MBA all along. After two decades of consulting MBA, JD, and joint JD\/MBA aspirants, we have learned a few things about this joint degree option, so let us offer some insight into both its utility and some additional factors you may want to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A JD\/MBA degree can benefit your long-term career by giving you valuable skills and insight that could make you more versatile and effective in your professional role.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. If your ultimate goal is to become a corporate lawyer at a leading firm<\/i><\/b>, your primary commitment during your studies needs to be on the law. Law firms generally tend to be rigid and hierarchical, so you cannot expect to simply switch from a traditional business role to become an associate at a notable firm\u2014this kind of shift is exceedingly rare. Nevertheless, also having an MBA offers certain advantages. For example, if you find yourself working on complicated deal structures, your MBA might enable you to better understand the complexities of certain business issues, such as equity and debt issuances. And in the long term, the extensive leadership skills you would gain from the MBA experience will likely make you a more adept manager of employees and clients, and this in turn could facilitate your rise to partner.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  2. If your post-graduate goal is to become a traditional business professional<\/i><\/b>, knowing the law could give you a comparative advantage over your peers and colleagues who do not. For example, if you become a banker or private equity associate and are working on a complex deal, understanding basic employment law or grasping the liabilities that a new entity will take on (or not take on) could help you craft more effective approaches and solutions. Likewise, having a profound legal education could help you add nuance in advising clients.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    However, double the degree means that some of the pros and cons of the graduate school experience are likewise doubled. Here are a few primary ones to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. A larger and more expansive network<\/i><\/b>: You are probably already very aware that earning an advanced degree automatically makes you part of a broad network of classmates and alumni from your chosen institution. So, imagine that you are accepted to Harvard Business School, immediately joining a network of your approximately 925 classmates, plus all the graduates who have gone before you. Now imagine you <\/span>also<\/span><\/i> get into Harvard Law School, which connects you with roughly 580 <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> classmates as well as <\/span>that<\/span><\/i> school\u2019s alumni. You will no doubt graduate with plenty of accomplished friends who will go on to become successful professionals in organizations around the world. Networks can be extremely valuable at all stages of your career, and having access to literally thousands of additional individuals who will generally be inclined to respond to a call or email from you is even more advantageous.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n

      <\/p>\n

    2. A more substantial financial investment<\/i><\/b>: Taking the time to pursue an advanced degree involves two primary expenditures\u2014the cost of the program (mainly tuition, but also living and other associated expenses) and the <\/span>income \u201clost\u201d during your years out of the workforce<\/span><\/a> (salary, bonuses, retirement contributions, etc.). By choosing a four-year JD\/MBA program over a two-year MBA program, you are essentially doubling the cost of your degree. For example, at the University of Virginia\u2019s (UVA) Darden School of Business, you would need to pay approximately $70K tuition for the first year of your MBA. Then you must pay the UVA Law School tuition of approximately $66K per year for two years. And for your fourth year, you pay one semester of tuition for each school (roughly $68K combined). The additional years needed for the joint degree represent a significant financial investment, not only in tuition ($270K versus $140K) but also in those two extra years without income. However, if you are fully committed to pursuing a joint degree, an accelerated three-year program\u2014such as the one offered by Yale\u2014could offer a \u201cbreak\u201d of sorts because you could return to the workforce one year sooner. We, of course, advise you to examine the student budgets at each program as you decide which path to take.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n

      <\/p>\n

    3. Double the admissions efforts<\/i><\/b>: At most institutions with JD\/MBA programs, you must apply to\u2014and be accepted by\u2014both the business school and the law school separately. This is the case, for example, at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Michigan, Duke University, UVA, and New York University. Fortunately, some other top institutions, including Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Chicago, require only one application. Although such an important educational decision should not be determined by how cumbersome the application process is, applying to graduate school can unquestionably be grueling. Studying for and taking the required entrance exam, writing essays, securing recommendations, interviewing, scheduling class visits\u2014doubling all these efforts may be a necessary evil but will certainly not be a lot of fun. That said, some schools will allow you to apply to their JD\/MBA program after your first year of MBA studies, which does not exactly eliminate the additional work required but does minimize it slightly, as well as offering a break between processes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The decision to pursue any advanced degree is a hefty one, requiring you to consider the potential effect on your long-term career, the entire financial impact, the stress and challenge of the admissions process, and the rigor required to complete the studies. And committing to a JD\/MBA program entails additional demands and concerns in all these areas. If you are truly interested in applying to a JD\/MBA program, we suggest that you inform yourself thoroughly about this path by speaking to individuals enrolled in such programs as well as the schools\u2019 alumni about every stage of the experience. And of course, if you need any further advice, contact us anytime for a <\/span>free consultation<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n

      mbaMission<\/i><\/b><\/a> is the leader in MBA admissions consulting with a full-time and comprehensively trained staff of consultants<\/i><\/b>, all with profound communications and MBA experience. mbaMission has helped thousands of candidates fulfill their dream of attending prominent MBA programs around the world. Take your first step toward a more successful MBA application experience with a free 30-minute consultation with one of mbaMission\u2019s senior consultants.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Now that you have begun taking steps toward earning your MBA, you may be wondering whether a joint JD\/MBA degree could be a good option for you. Or perhaps you have been considering a JD\/MBA all along. After two decades of consulting MBA, JD, and joint JD\/MBA aspirants, we have learned a few things about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,56840,52741],"yst_prominent_words":[56832,54380,53880,56726,56838,56837,56831,56839,56833,56834,55022,56836,56498,53876,56835,56114],"class_list":["post-18340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba-b-school","tag-business-school","tag-jd-mba","tag-mba-b-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18348,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18340\/revisions\/18348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18340"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}