4 ms·

Always better to go to graduate professional school (law, business) when you have a job lined up. Going to Harvard or Yale with no plan means you might get a jo

Always better to go to graduate professional school (law, business) when you have a job lined up. Going to Harvard or Yale with no plan means you might get a job after. But if you don’t, after a couple years the degree is a scarlet letter. I have a friend who went to a good law school but graduated middle of class. He does the same job he did before, but is still paying off the $200k debt he took :(

ravivooda 3y ago
How does that work? How do you line up a job 2 years ahead of time? Curious.
- oneplane 3y ago
  That's how the whole system is setup. The information you get across schools is practically the same (the all operate within the same laws, business practises etc) but the difference is that those more expensive schools are 'filters' for HR departments. So if you intern/network with companies you want to work at while you're working on your credential, you essentially are doing a multi-year application process. If all that mattered is that you know how to do 'stuff', then paying for a brand-name school wouldn't matter, because the 'stuff' is the same. (except for non-accredited schools I suppose)
- aomix 3y ago
  Not really lined up like a specific role in mind. But I've worked at large companies that partner with local universities for MBA programs. And after going through that program you are first in line for roles that put the degree to use. So you'd need to graduate and get a job at a company with a program like that as a prerequisite.
- monero-xmr 3y ago
  You work in an industry, make connections, and have some ability to use the professional degree successfully. Just getting an MBA is not necessarily going to guarantee success as a deal maker or whatever. You should have a plan beforehand if only to reduce risk of time and money wasted.
hinkley 3y ago
Does he put it on his resume or leave it off?
- monero-xmr 3y ago
  He was unable to get employment as a lawyer, and once you miss the boat for a lawyer job you have "failed" and no one wants to hire you entry level once you haven't been able to find any work for a few years. He's just at his old job, which is something deep in the bowels of health insurance that somehow extracts more money from insurance providers and feeds it to hospitals. It is fairly well-paid and he works from home, but this was not the outcome he wanted nor the $200k debt.
flkiwi 3y ago
I'll take that a step further: have a personal "business plan" for what you are going to accomplish and treat professional school like a job with that goal as your job description. I went to a non-top-tier law school, but I finished very high in my class and knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish (and was largely debt-free in doing so). I ended up where many of my Harvard Law friends did with substantially less financial stress. Another tidbit, since this will probably turn into that kind of thread: I will advise anyone who listens that getting 3-5 years of work experience will, for most people, be substantially more valuable for prospective lawyers than going directly through to law school from undergraduate. The funny thing is that I finished so high in my class in part because, after working for several years, the bad parts of law school seemed pretty trivial. Note this is a US perspective and other countries educate their professionals differently.
- matwood 3y ago
  > have a personal "business plan" for what you are going to accomplish and treat professional school like a job This is how people should treat any schooling. My plans weren't as thought out when I went to undergrad long ago, but even something as simple as 'pick a major that has a high likelihood of financial stability' helps. > I will advise anyone who listens that getting 3-5 years of work experience Don't many of the top b-schools also require some work experience prior to attending?
  - flkiwi 3y ago
    Yes, and while I am deeply skeptical of many MBA programs' value, the work requirement is one very good thing about b-schools (note I limited my comment to prospective lawyers). I don't mind a major that, by itself, has limited financial utility. My own degree is laughably unprofitable. In my experience, you can accomplish the exercise of developing excellent research and writing habits, time management, etc. using just about any degree. In hiring, I also like to see someone who is more than their job, who has interests and motivations beyond the blinders of their profession. But, to your broader point, _thinking about what you want to accomplish_, even if it ends up changing completely, is better than just marking the box of "going to college".

ravivooda 3y ago

How does that work? How do you line up a job 2 years ahead of time? Curious.

oneplane 3y ago
That's how the whole system is setup. The information you get across schools is practically the same (the all operate within the same laws, business practises etc) but the difference is that those more expensive schools are 'filters' for HR departments. So if you intern/network with companies you want to work at while you're working on your credential, you essentially are doing a multi-year application process. If all that mattered is that you know how to do 'stuff', then paying for a brand-name school wouldn't matter, because the 'stuff' is the same. (except for non-accredited schools I suppose)
aomix 3y ago
Not really lined up like a specific role in mind. But I've worked at large companies that partner with local universities for MBA programs. And after going through that program you are first in line for roles that put the degree to use. So you'd need to graduate and get a job at a company with a program like that as a prerequisite.
monero-xmr 3y ago
You work in an industry, make connections, and have some ability to use the professional degree successfully. Just getting an MBA is not necessarily going to guarantee success as a deal maker or whatever. You should have a plan beforehand if only to reduce risk of time and money wasted.

hinkley 3y ago

Does he put it on his resume or leave it off?

monero-xmr 3y ago
He was unable to get employment as a lawyer, and once you miss the boat for a lawyer job you have "failed" and no one wants to hire you entry level once you haven't been able to find any work for a few years. He's just at his old job, which is something deep in the bowels of health insurance that somehow extracts more money from insurance providers and feeds it to hospitals. It is fairly well-paid and he works from home, but this was not the outcome he wanted nor the $200k debt.

flkiwi 3y ago

I'll take that a step further: have a personal "business plan" for what you are going to accomplish and treat professional school like a job with that goal as your job description. I went to a non-top-tier law school, but I finished very high in my class and knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish (and was largely debt-free in doing so). I ended up where many of my Harvard Law friends did with substantially less financial stress. Another tidbit, since this will probably turn into that kind of thread: I will advise anyone who listens that getting 3-5 years of work experience will, for most people, be substantially more valuable for prospective lawyers than going directly through to law school from undergraduate. The funny thing is that I finished so high in my class in part because, after working for several years, the bad parts of law school seemed pretty trivial. Note this is a US perspective and other countries educate their professionals differently.

matwood 3y ago
> have a personal "business plan" for what you are going to accomplish and treat professional school like a job This is how people should treat any schooling. My plans weren't as thought out when I went to undergrad long ago, but even something as simple as 'pick a major that has a high likelihood of financial stability' helps. > I will advise anyone who listens that getting 3-5 years of work experience Don't many of the top b-schools also require some work experience prior to attending?
- flkiwi 3y ago
  Yes, and while I am deeply skeptical of many MBA programs' value, the work requirement is one very good thing about b-schools (note I limited my comment to prospective lawyers). I don't mind a major that, by itself, has limited financial utility. My own degree is laughably unprofitable. In my experience, you can accomplish the exercise of developing excellent research and writing habits, time management, etc. using just about any degree. In hiring, I also like to see someone who is more than their job, who has interests and motivations beyond the blinders of their profession. But, to your broader point, _thinking about what you want to accomplish_, even if it ends up changing completely, is better than just marking the box of "going to college".