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Applicant Question: Law School Or Business School? And Should I Apply Now?

Hundreds of thousands of graduates this year will spend hours pouring over essays, filling out data forms, and submitting applications to graduate school programs. Some of them may have been planning to apply all year, but a disproportionate number will be submitted by freshly-minted graduates trying to hedge their bets with the economy. They may not know exactly what they want to do, but they fear being thrown in the lions den of unemployment and would prefer to spend another couple of years getting “hazed” with impossible workloads and “cheated” by the “curve” in grad school.  In fact, chances are you’re on of them. But there’s just one problem. What if you don’t get in?

In a recent message from one of my readers, I was asked for a bit of advice about this very topic. The reader asked whether he should be applying to business school or law school, if he should apply this year. My reader is still in college and is not certain of what he wants to do.  His question was also very vague, which I generally advise against if your an applicant.  But I thought it’d be a good chance to steer the conversation a bit and share a few things that I think are important to consider when applying to graduate school, especially now.  My general theme is that applicants should take the time to think about what they want to do and apply when they’re ready to achieve the best results. See my brief response to the question below!

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MESSAGE FROM MY READER

“Dear Jeremy, I am an undergraduate Business Management Major. I was wandering if I should work for probably 2 years after I graduate which would be in one semester. so fall 2010.  I am debating whether or going to law school or not. I am unsure about law school should I still apply?? Or go do my MBA after I work for two years? Please let me know. I just want to get a better resume and specialize in something. I am taking the LSAT but I am not sure about the law degree. If I am not sure should I still try law??”

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MYRESPONSE TO MY READER

Dear (Reader), thanks so much for your question and for reading my blog. It’s always great to see students look at their so early in their careers. Before I get going with any new information, I’d like to offer two quick pieces of advice.  First, you should always take advantage of the chance to ask specific questions during the application process. I suspect that most people will not take the time to respond to such vague questions, and even if they do, the response likely be pretty generic, because the person can’t read your mind.  Second, you should take a few minutes and check out my site a bit more.  I have a couple of posts that might be helpful. For example, I wrote a post named Early Career MBA and JD-MBA Candidates which seems pretty relevant to candidates closer to your age who are considering multiple programs.

Frame Your Decision First
Now, first off, I encourage you to create a framework for your decision before jumping too quickly into the the final decision-making process. In layman’s terms, that means think a little about why you’re applying and what factors are important in your final choice, and then frame your decision based on that. There are so many different career paths out there, many of which will feel pretty compelling at times, so you have to spend time thinking about your abilities, goals, interests, and potential to do well in each.  One way to do that is to think about the differences across the fields. For example, do have high tolerance for risk? Depending on your answer, either business or law may feel more natural. Also, do you enjoy numbers, analysis, reading, or writing? Or do you need some sort of combination?  And finally, do you need a well-structured day as a professional? What about a structured career path? A law degree tends to provide that, though not always.

A lot of students skip this process and instead apply to programs for all the wrong reasons. Maybe it’s what there parents expected, or perhaps they didn’t think of anything better to do. Even worse is that students often apply because they want the prestige of that profession or school or because they were focusing on the end game of getting a nice paycheck.  This is especially true of business schools, where students today tend to tout the post-graduation salary potential and dream of CEO or partner-level titles, rather than what they can learn, what values they might gain, what types of interesting career options they might encounter, and the diverse people they can learn from.  Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that many law school students have hopped on the bandwagon too, and although the conventional focus of law school was to “change the world,” today more students are caving in to loan repayments and are lured by high starting salaries, and no longer the transformative process of school itself. The good news is that if you do want to make money, you can do well in either, so you don’t have to make a decision solely on that basis. Thus, the question really becomes, how relevant is business school or law school (and for other readers, any other school) for you and your interests specifically, and how much will your experience in that school influence what you may want to do down the line.

Then Decide Timing
After you make progress there, then you should next think about timing because it’s a bit different for each. My general answer is that there’s no set time to apply to business school and most admissions committees will say the same thing. People apply and get in each year with zero to twenty years experience, though most get in with about four to five years, so it’s important to apply when you’re ready. And for law school, while most people tend to apply a bit sooner (one to two years), schools are starting to trend the same way.  So in that sense, timing again becomes a personal decision and less of a requirement. That said, there is also a small advantage to applying a bit earlier. Applying earlier shows focus at a young age, maturity, and may give you a head start to a better career sooner than later. But those benefits often don’t compare to the benefits of applying later. Older candidates often get access to better job opportunities, interview better, and have more to contribute to class.

Consider More Factors
And after you’ve thought about type of school and timing, you still have to balance that with fit for a program. In your case as a a potential early career candidate this means looking at things like average age of the programs, understanding that some schools tend to accept more younger or older candidates than others. For instance, if you apply only two years out of undergrad, than b-schools like Kellogg might be harder to get into because of the older average age (though some younger applicants do get in), but law schools like Northwestern Law might make more sense since because you’re two  two years of professional experience will be valued. You’ll also want to pay a bit more attention to grades as a younger candidate, especially for MBA applications, who would otherwise have weighed work experience more heavily. The general rule is that since you have less professional experience to offer, admissions offices will look at your stats more closely.

Don’t Rush

For some applicants, this process takes time, while for others it’s more immediate.  But I say, don’t give in to all the hype. Think about your aspirations and your timelines. And play to your own beat and make your own tempo. Because in the end, only you can answer this school question, because that process of discovery is individual.  Broadly speaking, I don’t think people do this enough. And this past year  a lot of  young professionals have begun stressing out. Now they’re frantically taking tests and submitting applications hoping to find a safety net, get bailed out, and get dealt a new hand.  And so, if there was ever a time to highlight the importance of reflection and making the right decision, that time is now.  Sadly, most people still won’t get this right, but if you invest the time up front and choose wisely, I suspect that your energy, excitement, and fit will reflect in your application.

Best of luck!

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