What do you do when you are interested in pursuing both an MBA degree and a JD degree? Consider applying to NYU’s JD/MBA dual degree program. At NYU, you can graduate with a JD/MBA degree in four years instead of five. That’s an entire year earlier where you can start applying what you’ve learned to your professional life!
This guide will further review what the JD/MBA degree is, and it will provide an overview of the joint degree program, the curriculum, admission requirements and how to apply, tips on how to get into the JD/MBA program, JD/MBA career outlook and salary, and frequently asked questions about the program.
A JD/MBA degree is a dual degree program that incorporates a curriculum to receive a Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Business Administration (MBA). This degree usually takes as little as four years to complete, but this is dependent on which school you plan on attending.
In a JD/MBA program,you earn your JD with the law department and your MBA with the business department, which means you are earning two separate degrees simultaneously.
Ideally, this program is for students who desire to learn about how law and business intertwine. If this is you, then this is the perfect dual degree program for your interests!
The NYU JD/MBA degree program is cost-saving and reduces the time spent to complete the degree. This dual degree program takes up to five years at other universities, but New York University has reduced it to four years.
Typically, each individual degree would take up to five years to complete, and NYU enacted thorough planning to bring convenience to their students.
In this program, you will concurrently earn your Juris Doctor (JD) at NYU’s School of Law and your Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Stern School of Business.
The dual program provides an understanding of the business and legal aspects of commerce. It also helps to supply a strong background for job opportunities in law and business.
In the first two years of NYU’s JD/MBA, you can expect to spend your time at NYU School of Law, while the third year will be spent at NYU Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and during your fourth year, you will spend an equal amount of time between both schools.
All applicants may apply directly to the joint degree JD/MBA program or apply to Stern in their first or second year during law studies at NYU. Regardless of your decision, you are required to be admitted to both programs before starting the MBA portion of the dual degree.
The program structure of the JD/MBA dual degree involves a sum of 122 credits. You must finish 51 credits at NYU Stern and 71 credits at the School of Law. This structure allows you to complete the program in four years instead of five years to finish both degrees independently.
NYU JD/MBA Curriculum
When working towards earning the NYU JD/MBA dual degree, you must complete the general requirement of the JD/MBA program. You will also be required to complete a transactional course along with an individualized Senior Project in the Law and Business Projects Seminar course.
In the dual degree program, you will not be able to take the following Stern School of Business Classes due to an overlap in the curriculum:
- DBi Costa Rica: Sustainable Business in Latin America
- DBi South Africa: Cape Town
- DBi Mexico
- DBi Israel: Entrepreneurship and Innovation – The Israeli Model
Transaction Courses
Transaction courses are applicable spanning many different industries. These courses allow students to recognize the particular ways that business transactions provide value to the design, bargaining, finance, and exercise of deals, along with business management and commercial client relations.
Law and Business Projects Seminar (Jacobson Scholars)
This project will inspire your particular interests and challenge you to demonstrate both your legal and business skills. The project will be examined in the Law & Business Projects Seminar, a year-long course co-taught by the Jacobson leadership Program Faculty Directors.
If you are not a Jacobson student, you can always email in your resume and a one-page description of your project proposal.
Jacobson Leadership Program Courses
NYU School of Law’s Jacobson Leadership Program in Law and Business aims to instill the highest ethical standards, and gives the skills for leaders to link the boundaries of jurisdiction, sector, and culture.
- Business Law Transactions Clinic
- Law & Business of Bankruptcy and Reorganization – This joint law and business course come to Stern and law school students. It has students focused on the legal and business facets of bankruptcy and reorganization.
- Law & Business of Corporate Transactions – The primary goal of this course is to incorporate diverse elements of the academic training of law and business students in a transactions-oriented context.
- Law & Business of Social Enterprise Law & Business Projects Seminar
Stern School of Business Program Courses
You will have general degree requirements to complete. You can refer to the following list to better understand what will be expected of you for your MBA.
- Complete 60 credits with at least an average GPA of 2.5000
- Finish Team Communication during your first semester
- Complete or establish proficiency in Statistics and Data Analysis and Financial Accounting and Reporting during the time of the first semester
- Complete or establish proficiency in a minimum of five of the eight Menu Core courses during your first year
- Take part in a summer internship between the time of your first and second year at NYU
- Finish the capstone core course, Professional Responsibility or Ethical and Legal Challenges of the Modern Corporation, during your second year
MBA student Maria Paula Rodriguez examines the pre-and co-requisites at Stern School of Business. For an in-depth look at the core requirements, check out her video!
Admission Requirements and How to Apply
When you apply to the dual JD/MBA degree program, you must complete the NYU Stern Dual Degree application, along with an application for NYU Law.
The only way to be considered for admission to the joint degree program is if you are primarily presented with admission to NYU Law’s JD program. The review process will start with your admission to the NYU School of Law.
Please note that a notification date is not feasible for NYU Stern because of the nature of the JD/MBA dual degree program, but they do try their very best to review applications in a timely manner.
When you begin at the School of Law, enrollment at NYU Stern is delayed for two years. However, if you are a student at the School of Law, you can apply to Stern during your first or second year as long as your submission meets the JD/MBA application deadline.
The application requirements specific to the JD/MBA include the LSAT or GRE score. If you wish to apply directly to the dual degree JD/MBA program, refer to the following steps below:
- Submit the School of Law application, which includes two letters of recommendation, a resume, and a personal statement
- Register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and complete the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).
- Complete the required online NYU Stern Dual Degree Application, which includes one extra letter of recommendation
If you apply to NYU Stern during your law school studies, you should complete the following steps below:
- Complete and submit the required Stern Dual Degree Application
- The Office of Academic Services will forward your documents to Stern
- Sign and submit a release form, which asks that the NYU School of Law Records and Registration release and submit your file and current law school transcript to the NYU Stern Office of MBA Admissions.
Application Requirements
The following are the application requirements when applying to the JD/MBA dual degree program:
- Short Answer: Professional Aspirations
- Essay 1: Change _______ it
- Essay 2: Personal Expression (a.k.a. “Pick Six”)
- EQ Endorsement
- Official TOEFL/IELTS score (if applicable)
- No application fee
Tuition and Financial Aid
As a JD/MBA student, you will pay the tuition and fees in full at the school through which you are officially registered for each semester. A great benefit for all NYU JD/MBA applicants is that you are automatically in the running for consideration of merit-based scholarships, with no extra material required.
Sometimes, a handful of JD/MBA students will be admitted into the dual degree program early. If this applies to you, you will be considered for scholarships both in the year you are admitted, and the year you enrolled at NYU Stern.
Financial aid, such as federal loans, private loans, and scholarships, is disbursed by the school where a student is registered in a specific semester. You may also be qualified to acquire Teaching Fellowship or Graduate Assistantship positions. Many of them offer tuition remission at the school you are registered with explicitly in a given semester.
You can look at the school’s website for more in-depth information on scholarships and financial aid for both the School of Law and the Stern MBA program.
Student Life and Campus Culture (Optional, But Encouraged)
NYU encourages all of its students to become involved in campus life, and if you are a dual degree student, NYU encourages your involvement in campus life at both schools. School of Law and NYU Stern offers several student clubs and organizations, so you can find what you like and what you would like to try.
The following are some, out of many, student groups that School of Law offers:
The following are some, out of many, student groups that NYU Stern offers:
- Business Analytics Club (BAC)
- Entertainment, Media, and Sports Association (EMSA)
- Entrepreneurship and Startup Association (ESA)
- Graduate Marketing Association (GFA)
- Stern Investment Management & Research (SIMR)
- Stern Real Estate Group (SREG)
The following are some, out of many, Affinity Clubs that Stern offers:
- Asian Business Society (ABS)
- Jewish Student Association (JSA)
- Military Vets Club (MVC)
- Stern Women in Business Association (SWIB)
The following are Special Interest Clubs offered at Stern:
One association you should consider joining is the JD/MBA Association at NYU. This association welcomes candidates admitted to the JD/MBA program at NYU, one of the nation’s leading law and business joint degree programs.
The association is significant for those considering applying to the dual degree program and students who have interests in law and business.
Tips to Get into the NYU JD MBA Program
To put into perspective how difficult it is to get into NYU, the school received 80,210 applications for its class of 2025 and only accepted 16,918 applicants. This means that NYU has an acceptance rate of 21.1%. The competition is hefty and is a pool of high-achieving students.
Although the acceptance rate is low, you need to analyze the individualstrength of your profile. Do you have stellar grades and a high GPA? Did you earn high test scores? Have you been involved in a variety of extracurricular activities? These elements, and more, can be the details that set you apart from other NYU candidates.
To give you a better idea of the average academic profile of admitted NYU students, refer to the list below regarding NYU’s class of 2025.
- GPA – The average high school GPA is 3.71.
- SAT/ACT – The middle 50% SAT and ACT scores are 1390-1510 and 31-34
- Class Rank – There is no class rank to report on behalf of NYU. However, these students plan on graduating near, if not already, at the top of their class because 21% of the 2021 graduated class held a high school GPA of 4.0, and a whopping 85% of them had a GPA greater than 3.5.
NYU looks at a handful of components of your application. Factors like course difficulty, class rank, GPA, talent, and test scores are crucial and impact your application.
Factors regarded as necessary are the following: essay, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and character.
On the other hand, some factors are considered but are not groundbreaking towards your applications: interview, racial/ethnic status, volunteer and work experience, applicant interest, first-generation, and more.
Factors that are not considered are your religious affiliation and state residence.
Absorbing the information shared so far, here are some tips to make your application stand out against the highly competitive competition.
- Aim for a GPA average of 3.71, especially when taking challenging courses that are readily available to you.
- Set a goal for earning a score of 1510 on the SAT and a 34 on the ACT. Ultimately, the higher your scores are, the better your chances are of being accepted into NYU.
- Acquiring one or two tiers 1-2 extracurriculars demonstrating your spike can separate you from other candidates. Finding your spike shows you have a very developed interest, accompanied by a couple of extracurricular activities. Understanding where your extracurricular activities land on the four tiers of extracurriculars can be helpful for you to know which activities hold more weight than others.
- Compose compelling essays that are attention-grabbing and unique.
- Provide letters of recommendations
Stay true to yourself and aim to put “you” in your profile and application!
JD MBA Career Outlook and Salary
There are many different jobs that you can obtain with a JD/MBA. The following is a list of possible jobs, but this is not an exhaustive list of opportunities:
- Corporate Lawyer
- Management Consultant
- Business Lawyer
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Attorney
- Member of a law firm
- White-collar criminal advocates
- Business law professors
- Politicians
According to SimplyHired, the average salary for JD/MBA professionals is $61,090 per year. The graph below depicts the salary for those in the bottom 10% to those in the top 10%.
The average salary for those in the bottom 10% is $30,510, and the average for those in the bottom 25% is $42,391. The typical salary for professionals in the top 25% is $88,037, while JD/MBA professionals in the top 10% earn at least $122,321.
SimplyHired also offers a great tool to compare job salaries with JD/MBA salaries, so the chart above will show how much each salary point will be.
FAQs
What careers could you pursue after graduation?
There is a wide range of careers that you could get into, including politics, academia, international development, domestic and international business, in-house corporate practice, and many more jobs.
If you take the LSAT and GRE more than once, will the Committee see all scores or just the higher score?
The Committee makes it a requirement for you to send all valid LSAT and GRE scores and may consider particular circumstances.
If you are a foreign applicant, is there a way to send your transcripts?
Foreign transcripts are required to be sent through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service. There is only one exception to this, which regards foreign work completed through study abroad, consortium, or exchange program sponsored by a US or Canadian institution. The work completed is detailed on the home campus transcript.
How can you directly apply for the joint degree program?
Submit the School of Law application (along with two letters of recommendation, resume, personal statement), register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and complete the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and complete the required online NYU Stern Dual Degree Application in addition with a letter of recommendation.
As a dual degree student, do you have access to all Stern services and activities?
Once enrolled at Stern, all dual degree students have unlimited access to all Stern services and extracurricular activities.
What are the benefits of participating in the JD/MBA program?
This program is created to offer priceless training and knowledge for careers where having a deep understanding of both law and business is crucial. Knowing law as a business executive can positively impact your ability, for instance, to evaluate risk or make strategic choices.
Conclusion
The NYU JD/MBA dual degree program can be completed in only a matter of four years, knocking off an extra year, which is beneficial to NYU’s dedicated students.
Participating in this program will develop a strong understanding of both business and law and recognize how well they go hand-in-hand, but also how this program will sharpen necessary and valuable skills in career opportunities, like domestic and international business or being a management consultant.
It is fantastic that you are considering NYU’s JD/MBA joint degree program. Good luck!
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