Canadian Law Student Thinking About MBA -IVEY or ROTMAN
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10 Jun 2021, 11:36
I just finished my first year of law school at Western Law. I have a business undergrad from a top business undergrad program in Canada. I’ve enjoyed law school so far but I have some doubts that it’s for me. For one, lawyers in Canada, for the most part, make lousy money, especially compared to the US. Unless you’re working on Bay Street in a large national firm or elite boutique/mid-size, the pay isn’t great. The practice areas I’m interested (securities) are only practiced by these large firms, and getting into one of them is far from guaranteed. The hours are also rough (working weekends) and the hourly pay could be minimum wage in some cases.
I was wondering if there are any lawyers on here who made the jump from Canadian law to Canadian MBA. I’m debating between Ivey and Rotman when I graduate and get some work experience under my belt. Ideally, I’d like to work in finance (PE or VC) and a lot of Canadian lawyers have transitioned into these roles. The Ivey MBA seems more attractive due to it being one year, but I heard Ivey doesn’t place well in finance due to a lack of internship between years 1 and 2. It’s a tough trade off, because while Rotman is probably better for finance, I really don’t want to spend another 2 years in school. 4 years of undergrad, 3 years of law school and 2 years of MBA is a bit much. The opportunity cost of not working that extra year while in school also weighs heavy, since I would probably make ~100k+ working in law.
Also, if any lawyers have jumped from law to finance through an MBA program, what is your comp like? On strictly financial terms, is it worth it to leave law, which pays well, for another career? The average starting salaries at Rotman and Ivey aren’t great, but I’d presume someone with a law degree would have a leg up in formal recruits compared to a lot of other MBA students.
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