Greetings, I majored in political science and minored in business and graduated cum laude from my undergraduate institution. I then got my law degree from a Tier 1 law school, where I earned a business law certificate with honors. I took business law courses such as corporate finance, corporate and partnership tax, secured transactions, closely-held businesses, corporate law, and law and economics, to name a few. I clerked for a judge and for private firms prior to law school and all throughout law school. After passing the bar last summer, I took my first job with a medical malpractice civil litigation firm. However, my passion is business, specifically corporate finance and tax. I have decided the best way to break into the business law world is to get an MBA, but I only believe it is worth the investment if I can go to at least a top 30 program. Although I believe the background in finance that I could get from a MBA program concentrating in such would make me more attractive to business law firms, or in-house counsel positions, I am not at all opposed to working in the corporate world, and not actually practicing law, if the right opportunity arose post-graduation from an MBA program. I am open in that sense. I've been accepted into LLM in Taxation programs, but I think an MBA would cast a wider net, and lead to more jobs in my wheelhouse of interest, whereas tax is so specialized and thus limited in terms of the type of jobs it prepares you for. My question is, how would I measure up to other MBA applicants? I have not worked in the world of finance, I have only learned about it through law school. I was in school 3 of the last 4 years, but I did clerk for law firms that whole time and got work experience. I am employed with a law firm currently, but I don't practice business law. I have not taken the GMAT, but I am ready to sign up for a course. In fact, I need advice on which course to take. What score range will I need to be competitive? Again, I am hungry for information to determine if an MBA is worth the investment, and how likely I am to get into a quality program. My current state of mind is if I can get into a top 30, I would not hesitate to go into a one-year program.
Thanks in advance for any insight or recommendations.
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Hi tct242424,
Business Schools accept applicants from all manner of backgrounds, so you don't have to have a finance background to get into a Top Program. Since it sounds like you're just now starting to investigate the MANY options for Business School, you might find it helpful to define exactly what you're looking for in an MBA (and what other parameters are important to you). In that way, you can form a more-detailed plan for how to approach this whole process.
1) Is there a particular company that you want to work for or industry that you want to work in? Certain degrees are more appropriate than others if you have a specific career goal.
2) What do you want your MBA to do for you?
3) Do you want to go to School full-time or part-time?
4) Are you willing to relocate? Are you comfortable with working through a program that is primarily online?
5) Are you going to be applying for scholarships?
Etc.
Once you've determined what type of Program you want to attend (as well as the other variables involved), then you can start to research and narrow down the possibilities.
As far as taking the GMAT is concerned, many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) on the study process before they hit their 'peak' scores. Assuming that you plan to study for the GMAT this year, it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Business Schools accept applicants from all manner of backgrounds, so you don't have to have a finance background to get into a Top Program. Since it sounds like you're just now starting to investigate the MANY options for Business School, you might find it helpful to define exactly what you're looking for in an MBA (and what other parameters are important to you). In that way, you can form a more-detailed plan for how to approach this whole process.
1) Is there a particular company that you want to work for or industry that you want to work in? Certain degrees are more appropriate than others if you have a specific career goal.
2) What do you want your MBA to do for you?
3) Do you want to go to School full-time or part-time?
4) Are you willing to relocate? Are you comfortable with working through a program that is primarily online?
5) Are you going to be applying for scholarships?
Etc.
Once you've determined what type of Program you want to attend (as well as the other variables involved), then you can start to research and narrow down the possibilities.
As far as taking the GMAT is concerned, many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) on the study process before they hit their 'peak' scores. Assuming that you plan to study for the GMAT this year, it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can download 2 for free from www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 4 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
