So You Want To Be A JD/MBA?
by Marc F. Bauer ('07)
[marcbaue@usc.edu]

THINGS TO CONSIDER

The following is a list of reasons that motivate some people to pursue the program. In my opinion, some reasons are better than others:

Somewhere down the line, you want to get into business.
There is a glass ceiling in business that people without an MBA will not rise above. If you want to be a C-level (CEO, CFO, etc.) in the future, you will need an MBA.

You know you want an MBA but you want to take as little time as possible to get it.
As a JD/MBA, you will only need to get 45 units of business instead of the 63 full-time MBA students. It will be only one additional year instead of two.

You get a 3^rd Summer.
Being a summer associate at a law firm is awesome. If you play your cards right, you can do it 3 times. This also gives you the opportunity to try a non law internship for one of the summers. However, this does mean you'll have to do four years of school instead of three. So, if you're eager to graduate and get out into the working world, being a 4L may not be the best way to do that.

You hate the law and never want to practice in your life
Business School offers a wide variety of opportunities in finance, business, retail, real estate, etc. that you would not be able to qualify for with only a JD. There are many opportunities for lawyers in the business world and business school is a great way to discover them.

You want “a year off” from Law School
Business School is no doubt easier than Law School, but by no means is it a year off. It's not like you spend your entire day yebbing it up; rather, I would even contend that it is busier than Law School. There are group projects all the time. There are midterms and tests that occur about once every 3 weeks. For example, this semester I had a string of 5 weeks where I had a test in each week. They require much less preparation for than law school exams, but they still require time and attention. All these little things definitely add up

You just want to learn business
In my opinion, it’s really easy to learn business, and it may be more effective to learn it “on the job.” There is no need to pay an extra $30K plus and take an extra year in school, just to learn business. However,

It will help you get a better law job
The majority of the big firms do not care about whether you have an MBA to go with your JD. This is especially true if you want to do litigation, where the MBA adds very little value. If you are interested in transactional work, it may add value to the firm because you have a deeper understanding of business transactions. Also, you bring along your own network of potential clients consisting of your Business School classmates. If you’re looking to work for a small firm, the JD/MBA may add more value to them. There is a lot of value in being the “business know how” person at a small firm.

GETTING IN

In order to get in to Business School, you need to apply separately to Marshall and meet all its requirements. But, there is a huge advantage to being a Law Student and applying for the JD/MBA program. While I had work experience before entering Law School, there are others in the JD/MBA program that did not, and they still got in even though work experience is highly encouraged for applicants to the MBA program.

GMAT: You need to take it if you want to get into the Business School. The median score for the Class of 2007 is 680. I don’t know what percentile that is, but if you test well enough to get into the Law School, then you probably will test well enough to get into the Business School.

Information about applying to Marshall can be found at HERE.

ADVICE

It is probably best to seek advice from those of us who are currently in the JD/MBA program. Also, professors can be a great resource in sharing their thoughs about the JD/MBA program. Professor Chasalow’s advice really helped me decide whether or not the program would be right for me.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, please feel free to contact Marc at marcbaue@usc.edu . Also, please encourage Marc to run for SBA Treasurer next year, making him the only person in existence to (a) hold the office for three consecutive years and (b) hold the office as a 4L.