The JD/MBA program
Written: Aug 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cohesive program
Cons: Tough core b-school classes!
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| monilark's Full Review: University of California, Berkeley -- Boalt Hall S... |
I recommend Berkeley's JD/MBA program - but it is not for everybody! Before you enter into this program, you should really determine the reason that you want to do a combined degree program, and this will help you decide whether Berkeley's program is right for you.
I graduated from Georgetown with a liberal arts background - I was a French major. From the time I was a young girl, I held onto the notion that my love of the law and my ease with foreign language made me a perfect candidate for a career in international law. When five years elapsed between my college graduation and the start of my graduate career, I decided I needed to do something a little different: I would pursue JD and MBA degrees concurrently! My primary reason for wanting to do get JD/MBA degree (as opposed to just a JD) was to somehow differentiate myself from all of the other (much younger) graduates in my class.
Berkeley is not necessarily the best place for a person like myself, however, who had only vague notions obtaining a dual degree. The business program, in particular, is very demanding. Because the Haas School of Business was developed late in Berkeley's history, many of its professors migrated there from Berkeley's prestigious math, economics and science departments. As such, Berkeley's business school is VERY QUANTITATIVE. For the majority of my classmates, who were former engineers, CPAs or math gurus, this was not a problem. For a former French major - this was a nightmare!!!! I had never even considered analyzing the degree of quantitative skill required for different programs - I thought they were all alike. Not so!!!! Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, for example, is much more qualitative, as is Harvard's school of business!
That aspect aside, Berkeley's JD/MBA program works well. The program is being more fully developed each year, with an increasing number of students participating.
There is not a problem getting credits to apply towards either degree (once you get a complicated formula down about how many credits you must take in order to graduate). This is really nice, especially since other schools' programs often give students a hard time in giving them credit for certain classes.
Logistically, the schools are in close proximity to one another, so there is ease in getting from a class at the law school to a class at the business school, for example.
The program works so that each student completes a full year at the law school or business school, then a full year at the other school, and then takes classes in both schools (in any combination chosen by the student) the last two years.
The student body population at the law school tends to be younger than that of the business school. While most law students begin law school a few months after college, most students in the business school are older, married and have families. In fact, the business school requires that its students have at least 2 years' full-time work experience.
Potential JD/MBA students should also be aware that you will not necessarily have a higher number of job opportunities due to your dual degree, nor will a particular company pay you more. I had a consulting firm representative tell me that, while they were impressed by the dual degree, the consultant would not be using any legal knowledge in his/her capacity as a consultant. Likewise, law firms would tell me that while some general business knowledge was helpful, the firm's business was grounded in law and legal issues.
Now that I have been working for two years (as a lawyer, in a law firm), I am glad I obtained both degrees. My business knowledge is useful in a general sense, and I may use it more directly in the future. In the meantime, the degree has done what I wanted it to do: it has set me apart from the crowd, and has given me a wealth of knowledge that I would otherwise not have had. Just don't ask me to run a regression!! :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
monilark
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Location: Plano, TX
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 6 members
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