In hindsight, I should have just run with the MBA and spent the time on my career, but had no idea that 2008 would happen.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27733774)

I'm not complaining, as so much saying the extra effort, time and money weren't worth the payout.

I didn't do a combined JD/MBA.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27734159)

I have a dear friend who's considering taking $80,000+ in loans to do the MSRED at Columbia. I keep telling him JUST DO THE THREE-YEAR JD-MBA BRO.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27734629)

My friend is a working-class BG URM with excellent grades and test scores, and would rather do the one-year specialized master's over the traditional MBA. It's nauseating.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27734681)

one works in litigation at a v5

one is at a startup in a legal role

one is at a startup in a non legal role

three are in "buyside" finance

edit: one is in restructuring at a bank

one basically doesn't work

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27734333)

past a certain ranking, if you've been vetted by the law and mba program, you're going to be successful and there's not really any two ways about it.

i'm not sure exactly where that line is, but it does include harvard and does not include, for example, UVA + Darden. (i'm sure many UVA JD/MBAs are successful, but it's not a fait accompli)

a lot of the success isn't remarkable compared to the one degree cohort though, v5 isn't unusual for a HLS or CLS JD, start up or VC isn't unusual for a GSB MBA, etc. once you're in the profiles of the people with really unique outcomes it's a serious chicken/egg scenario trying to separate the factors that got them into the JD/MBA class versus any JD/MBA "boost" for interviewing.

the JD/MBA route is useful for the following things in roughly the following order most useful to least:

1) increasing your cost of attendance by some multiple between 1.5 and 2.0.

2) getting a slight boost on admission into one program or the other where you're a marginal candidate. (the prototypical example around here is JD types getting some leeway on the MBA work experience but it does apply to 3.7/690/IB/MBB backgrounds getting into HBS whose numbers might be a little too soft for HLS by itself.

3) getting an extra year to intern and try out career options.

4) having a good network

5) getting a "boost" into an elite job compared to the hypothetical you who's only enrolled in one program.

there's definitely some good that can come from it but i tend to view much of the JD/MBA talk on here as nostalgic armchair quarterbacking of failed lives--people who start a thread one day talking about how worthless and stupid a JD is (omg moving commas around!) and the next are waxing on about how a northwestern JD/MBA would have been "sooo cr"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27741081)

One dude who did MBA after was RE finance -> JD -> RE biglaw -> RE dev -> M7 ->RE dev. I don't know how legit or how well he's doing. Had family money so likely doesn't matter.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2860373&forum_id=2#27737959)