I have a Master of Science in Finance. I’ve been a financial analyst (mainly corporate) for almost 2 years. I passed CFA L1 last Dec. Given that I haven’t been able to find a job (and my contract will be expiring soon) and that where I am at there is no career path to follow (even if I wanted to stay)… I was obviously thinking amongst other things of going back to school. MBA seems attractive, but how about Law School? Any thoughts?
Well… what would you like to do for a living?
I almost went to law school, but after doing a ton of due dilligence, I opted for the MBA. Do you have any specific questions? If only Virgin were still around, he’d have a hayday on a thread like this. http://www.calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-big-lie.html This essay holds some validity.
Law school and MBA are two different things, clearly you don’t have your priorities/goals in place. You say there is no potential career advancement in your current position so what kind of career are you interested in then. Based on this answer decide whether law school or MBA will help you make a move into such career.
I’m a L3 candidate going to law school in the fall. There is no way I’m getting a job in the investment business in this market. Further, the jobs I’d be hired for are not at all challenging. I’d much rather get a law degree and work in the DA’s office in my city. The work will be much more intellectually challenging and is more useful to society. I might also find a way to use my finance background working for a bankruptcy judge or a regulatory agency. MBA is just silly imo.
I finished undergrad last year and have a lot of buddies that are 1st year law. All of them are in great schools, some are top 10-20% while a few are not, but they cannot find any decent summer associate jobs. I’m in Atlanta and the big firms like Alston Bird, King & Spalding, Troutman Sanders, etc… have cut their summer classes down to 30% of what they were last year. So what they’re seeing now is 3rd year students getting the jobs of 2nd and 1st year students. So naturally the younger students are being displaced by this shift and can’t find sh&*. They all thought they were the smart ones back in the fall thinking they had avoided the looming recession by hiding in graduate programs. The summer gigs are very important to landing a sweet job as a 3rd year. If you could care less about working for a private firm and making the big $$$ then don’t sweat it.
At least law school gives you a qualification that has a barrier to entry. You can always rent a cheap office suite, hang up “Bernie and Associates” sign and get suing. For example, there is a growing business in stalling foreclosures by requesting that the servicer produces the original note during the foreclosure proceedings. With mortgages changing hands all the time, sometimes they can’t find it - so you can represent deadbeat homeowners. Plus, your competitors don’t really advertise since that is in bad taste in the industry (that will be too late to do once you graduate, but that is not the point).
Danteshek Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m a L3 candidate going to law school in the > fall. There is no way I’m getting a job in the > investment business in this market. Further, the > jobs I’d be hired for are not at all challenging. > I’d much rather get a law degree and work in the > DA’s office in my city. The work will be much > more intellectually challenging and is more useful > to society. I might also find a way to use my > finance background working for a bankruptcy judge > or a regulatory agency. > > MBA is just silly imo. The MBA Is not silly for people who actually want finance jobs. If you want to work in AM or IB, go get a good MBA. If you want to pore over foreclosure documents with a magnifying glass with dantesheck, go to law school. BTW: the economy impacts law students too.
ditchdigger2CFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I almost went to law school, but after doing a ton > of due dilligence, I opted for the MBA. Do you > have any specific questions? > > If only Virgin were still around, he’d have a > hayday on a thread like this. > > http://www.calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-big-li > e.html > > This essay holds some validity. The essay has a good points but what makes you think that an MBA would do any better than Law degree? The points made on essay are also applied to an MBA. I’ve also spent anguishing time to decide whether I want an MBA, Phd, or JD. If first digit of my age were 2 then I would go for phd but unfortunately it is 3. Factoring in my age as independent variable, with real option, which is abandon option, JD has highest NPV. If everything fails, I can simply practice my own law. I got a ask you a simple question. What can you do with an MBA that who doesn’t have MBA couldn’t do?
From time to time farmers experience a bad crop. Usually during this time there is an endless supply of forecasters who predict continued bad crops for the foreseeable future. So many farmers start to plant a different crop that is the current favorite… Usually there are some “stubborn” farmers who stick with the old crop because they like what they have been doing, they temper action with wisdom, and they are optimistic… These farmers are happy when things don’t turn out so bad and supply/demand eventually drives up the price of their crop, and they did not jump ship… So, yes, I encourage you, and everyone else out there thinking the same thing, to pursue a JD…
skycfa Wrote: > > The essay has a good points but what makes you > think that an MBA would do any better than Law > degree? The points made on essay are also applied > to an MBA. > > I’ve also spent anguishing time to decide whether > I want an MBA, Phd, or JD. If first digit of my > age were 2 then I would go for phd but > unfortunately it is 3. Factoring in my age as > independent variable, with real option, which is > abandon option, JD has highest NPV. If everything > fails, I can simply practice my own law. > > I got a ask you a simple question. > What can you do with an MBA that who doesn’t have > MBA couldn’t do? Short answer is not much. The long answer is I slightly have a glass ceiling above my head since I went to a real crappy undergraduate school only known for partying. I have been insulted numerous times at CFA Society Events, Interviewing, etc. While many tell me to brush them off, it is not that easy for me. I worked very hard in undergrad yet get a stigma to my background simply due to that school. I got into a reputable MBA program in my region and feel that gaining another skill set with an accounting focus will provide me with the skills, reputation, and knowledge to pursue bigger opportunities. While I probably could fight my way into some places and ‘prove myself’ I would rather go the MBA route since it has less resistance. Likewise, I just want to gain the necessary accounting credits to perhaps obtain the CPA. I work in a CPA firm now after being laid off in Oct 08, and I like it a lot. I don’t want to rule out audit/tax for future endeavors. I feel business schools could easily fit in an essay like that too. After evaluating what I really want to do, a JD really doesn’t add to my goals and aspirations.
Lawyers are a dime a dozen. Good lawyers are few and far between. Figure out what you want to do, enjoy doing, and could feasibly make a living doing and go from there. Law schools are regional - even if you get in to and graduate from Harvard Law, it won’t particularly help you with the California bar exam. Do well your first year (top 5 in class), secure a solid summer clerkship, and you will be well on your way. I chose not to do law, but it has always been on my mind, with three successful lawyers in my immediate family. It is really tough out there right now for lawyers, and unless you have an engineering or hard sciences background pre-law and can focus on patent law, you’re likely looking at not breaking six figures for quite some time into your career. Tough to do with heavy loan commitments. Good luck with your decision!
A CPA probably gives you the best ROI imo. Work is pretty safe & steady. 50-70/hrs @ Big4 and they pay for your CPA materials and courses, CPA is doable, you know what you are going to expect. Should clear mid six-figures when your in your early to mid 30s. Just gotta get your work done.
I have a friend who did an electrical engineering undergrad and is now applying to University of Toronto law school. He said he wants to do patent law (he has experience with product design at GE). I will tell him the good news
Person above gave a good farmer analogy. But more than hundred years ago, Darwin discussed about dynamic environment vis a vis survival. "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. " Based on the farmer’s act itself, I can imply, the farmer who plan different crop acted more rational and followed the rule of wisdom after all. To return from digression, I think, the foremost important thing is to figure out ‘what you really want.’ and go from there.
I dunno. My brother has an LLM (a masters in law) and just got laid off from a major law firm. And he is one of very many. Not a growth industry right now.
samnyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I dunno. My brother has an LLM (a masters in law) > and just got laid off from a major law firm. And > he is one of very many. Not a growth industry > right now. This is also happening in Canada. Although, general IA jobs seem to be plenty here.
I say do both - dual degree JD/MBA…if you can’t decide. This way you are covered. Cheers…don’t worry about age…you only have one lifetime, there is no coming back. Do both, just more loans, but we are country of carrying debt, what’s new! ( Assuming u are in the US). And thus more options.
There are too many lawyers, no doubt, but if you find a niche that you are good at it can be very lucrative. And despite their numbers, it is a state recognized license and there is at least some scarcity value, unlike the CFA or MBA designations.
I would love to goto law school For transcript marks, do they look at most recent schooling? My GPA in undergrad wasnot so good, but my graduate GPA is in the high 3s