We know who you are—you’re a college junior or senior thinking about grad school; or you’re a young professional in your first job in the “real” world. Maybe you’re an accountant at a Big Four firm or an analyst at an investment bank (or consulting firm). You’re not sure exactly what path you’ll follow in your career, but you are ambitious. You want to ascend to the heights of the business world. You’d like to be a Fortune 500 senior executive or a Director at McKinsey or an MD at Morgan Stanley. Or maybe you’d like to run a private equity firm or hedge fund. You don't want (this article assumes) to spend the rest of your life as a lawyer at a firm. You are wondering, “What is the fastest way to get to the top of the business world?” You think graduate school is a necessity—and a prestigious program at that. And you’re probably right. But you’re confused....

On the one hand, you could work for a few years at a good entry-level job and try to have impact. Then, when you have built up your resume (as you know, you can’t apply to top MBA programs without experience), you could apply to the elite business schools and if you meet their criteria and put together a superior application, you can then jump start your career.

Or, you can take the increasingly popular route to law school, because you’ve heard that many corporate executives have law degrees, and you could apply directly from college (or at least without the requisite 3-4 years of experience). Then you would be a couple of years younger when you end up in that CEO’s chair. Plus, law school sounds fun and interesting to you—and easier to get into with your high grades.

What’s the right answer? It depends in part on your personality drive, and ambition, and also on the unpredictable nature of any career. Remember, there is always more than one road to success. But there are some fundamental truths that anyone should consider when trying to make this decision.

First, compare the different educations you would receive. Law school provides an education grounded in building logical thinking and analytical skills. You will become better at developing arguments and in the use of facts. You will learn to operate in a confrontational world where the limits of rules and laws are tested, but where your ethical boundaries are defined (if not always sharply). Law school courses will provide you with exposure to contracts, property law, torts, taxation, and a number of other potentially useful subjects (though much of this will be at a very superficial or theoretical level, and not directly applicable for the business manager). Clinical programs and practical education opportunities will primarily focus on helping the poor, the disadvantaged, and the downtrodden. For some these opportunities serve as a preview to their pro bono work—for others, they are a precursor to their “real world” job as an advocate in the public interest.

In business school, by contrast, you will learn the nuts and bolts of finance, accounting, marketing, and management. Your training will focus on leadership and interpersonal relations, on teamwork and participation. Competition and confrontation will be much more muted by cooperation and collegiality. Practica—the MBA equivalent of law school clinical programs—involve consulting for local nonprofits or large businesses; creating small entrepreneurial ventures (or consulting with entrepreneurs); and money management (either with real portfolios or the virtual kind). The education you get at business school will at least relate more closely to your potential real-life experience in the corporate world.

But you won’t just be getting an education at the elite schools—you’ll be gaining a network that will be forever yours to leverage. How might the law school and business school networks be different? Your law school network will consist of mostly . . . lawyers. This is no surprise, but is sometimes forgotten. Even at the top schools, the vast majority of graduates practice law—and remain in the law in some capacity throughout their careers. This can be a limited network for someone planning a career in business. Helpful maybe if you get in trouble with the SEC for insider trading, but not helpful at all for making a big advance in employment. Your business school network, on the other hand, will be composed of people in a wide variety of jobs, careers, and industries. You will know investment bankers and consultants, of course, but you will also know managers at a multitude of Fortune 500 companies, in start-ups, at non-profits, and even in government. Within one or two degrees of separation, you will probably know someone at almost any organization of interest.

Not only is the network “better” at business school, but it is also a more networking-oriented place. This may be a chicken and egg story, but the fact is that many MBA applicants pursue business school to network. Very few lawyers view law school in that way. MBA programs are designed to facilitate more interpersonal interaction, both within class and without. More class participation, more happy hours, more student groups focused on a social life. In many ways, business school is a networker’s paradise!

Beyond the more tangible benefits of either degree, there will be the perceptions of the market. You will be marked with a “brand” that will be with you always but will be especially apparent as you change careers, or attempt to take steps up the corporate ladder. What will be the value of your brand? This is one criterion where the MBA may mean a lot more if you attend an upper-tier school, and a lot less at a lower-tier school. The JD, on the other hand, has a “branding value” in the business world even if it is from a less prestigious institution. Your “brand” will be “lawyer,” whether you attend Harvard or Hofstra, and you will probably be perceived as “a smart guy.” But to be sure, the “name brand” will drop off quite a bit after the first 5-10 schools, just as in MBA programs. Harvard and Hofstra are quite different, as you know.

So far we’ve just looked at the longer-term implications of these degrees. To truly compare opportunities, you have to look at how careers begin right after the attainment of a law degree or an MBA. For the Harvard Law School Class of 2001, a class in which most were recruited when the economy was still at its peak, only 5.7% of graduates, or about 30 people, took jobs in “Business and Industry.” About 90% went into private legal practice or clerkships (leading to private practice in one or two years). Fewer than 10 people went to work for McKinsey & Company. Fewer still went to Goldman Sachs. And that’s Harvard . . . in a good year! It sounds a lot riskier than attending any Top 10 business school. On the other hand, as outgoing Dean Robert Clark likes to say in his speeches to alumni, Harvard Law School ranks third among professional schools (including MBA programs) in the number of alumni serving as Fortune 500 CEOs.

So what’s the answer? If you weigh the issues, an MBA program seems to make the most sense for those with aspirations to lead the best companies, banks, consulting firms, and similar organizations. There are, of course, some advantages to a law degree that we haven’t discussed. In this increasingly regulatory and litigious society, our business executives are well served if they have a solid grasp of legal principles—though a few cross-registered classes may be enough. But don’t forget, a lawyer who doesn’t make it in corporate America always has a backup plan—as a practicing attorney! Additionally, many law school graduates earn their places in corporate America through success at top law firms or in the legal department of their company. A loyal, business-minded lawyer who understands a company inside and out is often a candidate for a top 3 position at a Fortune 500 firm. An MBA does not intrinsically qualify you for anything.

A few of you may be thinking that the JD/MBA option combines the best of both worlds. You stand out against MBA-only students and graduates when seeking employment. You combine the practical business training with the useful added legal knowledge. And you have the additional network coming from interacting with classmates at another top professional program (not to mention the "special network" you will have with fellow JD/MBA candidates-typically a close-knit group). But there are some major disadvantages when you consider that your job opportunities will not be significantly different. In other words, you will have one or two more years of lost income and the same in tuition bills. You also may be distracted from choosing the best school for your career plans, as reputations differ among top programs (e.g., Yale's law school is much more prestigious than its School of Management). And don't forget that you will lose the flexibility to dabble in interesting courses within each program.

In some ways it doesn’t matter which option you choose—you’ll have a great education, great credentials, and a head start on your friends resting on their bachelor degree laurels. Both degrees are flexible, leaving you open to pursue any number of options (but flexibility suggests that different options are actually exercised—see our article on law school turning out mostly lawyers). At the end of the day, it will be up to you—your drive, your internal motivation, and your personal vision. Your degree—and which degree you get—won’t guarantee your success, it will just make it a little easier.
So you have a big decision to make, and a lot of money is on the line. If you’re asking our opinion, as a prospective future leader in the corporate world, the MBA makes more sense. But if you are truly interested in the study of law or if you think being a lawyer would be an appealing fall-back option (or even the right path into business for you), we think that law school can be a great choice. In fact, we can probably help....

In the meantime, here are our JD/MBA rankings:

* 3-year program

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