I'm a 1L at a T14 law school with a good b-school (Cornell/Duke/Northwestern/Penn, don't want to be more specific) and have come to the realization that I really want to get an MBA as well as a JD.

I'm interested in applying to my school's MBA program and was curious if and how others have navigated the process of applying to b-school while in law school.

I haven't taken the GMAT but I had an excellent LSAT, my undergrad grades were mediocre, I have 4 years of good work experience, and I expect to do reasonably well during my first semester.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

So my experience is not exactly on par with what you will be going through, but it is similar. Regardless, I have friends who have done this.

The process for you will be to enter the 4 year JD/MBA program; however, you will need to check with your individual school to see if this is possible. While most 4 year programs are structured to be first year law, second year business, and the two remaining mixed, I have heard of some schools allowing for the first two to be law (if you increase your course load in the second year), third year business (i.e. the first year of business school), and the fourth year mixed.

I would reach out to admissions at the business school to ensure that they are okay with this structure before you submit the application. You are in about the middle of the admissions process though, so if you were hoping to do your first year of business school next year I would recommend getting on top of this process after exams and having your app submitted as soon as possible (but not too quick, since unlike law school business school requires more than just a good GPA and LSAT - e.g. strong essays, recommendations, and a good interview). However, I do not know of any school that will not require you to take the GMAT, so since you have to study (and presumably score at or above a 700 to be truly competitive at the tier of school you mentioned) entering next year may be unlikely due to time constraints. As such, you need to check to see if they will let you do the latter structure described above.

If not, you can always go with the inefficient path, like me, and do the two programs separately.

That aside, in regards to getting in you need to (as the above poster mentioned) be able to clearly articulate why you need the MBA, how you will use it in your career, what you can contribute to the B-school, etc. Your answer to these questions will depend on your goals, so without more information I can't really give very good advice. If you want to PM or just post your goals I would be happy to offer further advice.

Best of luck and hope this is helpful. Feel free to post follow up questions and I'll check in periodically.