Stopping Law School, Realized Want MBA

Question

Hello everyone,

I'm currently finishing my first semester of law school. Several weeks ago, I realized I'm here for the wrong reasons, and when combining my goals with the time and cost of law school, I realized I am here for the wrong reasons. I should be pursuing a business job, and I'd like to thoroughly prepare for the gmat and go for my MBA part (or possibly full) time in several years.

Law school finals are approaching, and given that I'm never coming back to law school, I'm wondering if poor grades could negatively impact me for business school admissions.

Would a school ask if I was ever enrolled in another graduate program, and if so, to see my grades? I could see them asking if I was in another MBA program, but would they ask about being in a different grad program such as law? If so, could they / would they ask to see my grades from one semester where I then stopped going to school (but decided even before exams)?

I'm contemplating whether or not to take my finals regardless of the grades I get or take a leave of absence beforehand. Thank you.

aerien · Answer

Yes, schools ask you what other grad schools you've attended, what your performance was like, transcripts, etc. Bottom line: your poor performance in law school could impact any future grad apps -- or you should at least have a solid explanation as to why you performed as you did.

Focus on studying for finals now and see how you do before making any drastic decisions (eg. Leaving the program and becoming unemployed). This could just be 1L apprehension about upcoming finals ... 1L is the hardest year I've heard! Good luck!

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timpriot · Answer

I am 100% that I am leaving. I have not prepared for exams. Am I better off taking a leave of absence before exams rather than perform poorly? Then I could explain that I left because I realized I did not want to practice law rather than have to explain poor performance and possibly signal that I left b/c of poor performance?

aerien · Answer

When you put it that way, taking a leave of absence could look better. If you plan on applying to graduate school (or a job, frankly) in the future, people will do background checks and will find out you attended law school. Whatever you do, you do not want to give doubt to future schools or employers about your ability to achieve in the classroom.

Whatever you do though, you should NOT base your decision off what people tell you over the Internet. You should meet with a guidance counselor at your school and see what they think. Talk to a professor, your friends in law school, and your family. Your leaving law school impacts a lot more people around you than just yourself.

DMNY31 · Answer

I think you should definitely listen to strangers on the intertronz.

Admissionado · Answer

If you know you want to leave, there' s probably no point in preparing for exams. Whether you need to report studies you have withdrawn from to the MBA AdCom is debatable. Depends if you have other things to fill your time. But you WILL need to have an amazingly convincing and logical story to explain why MBA is the right thing for you,

Griffin87 · Answer

I'm going to assume that since you are in law school you have less than 2 years WE. Without WE, you will not get accepted. I will share my experience with you, so take this for what is is worth.

I have an interesting perspective, as I began graduate school as a JD/MBA at a T25. After the first year (composed of law school classes), I transferred to a T5 law school. I am graduating from law school this spring, and will be entering a M7 business school. (not the most efficient path - either from time or financial point of view - I know).

Though I did have quality work experience (~hard to date since some was during college, but lets say 3 years), I was on the low end of WE; however, I believe my grades at law school differentiated me.

I could be wrong of course, but just my $0.02. Best of luck and PM me if you want to talk further.

Stopping Law School, Realized Want MBA

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