re: Value of an LSU Business/Econ Degree?

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Grades are important to an extent, but there are numerous examples of front-row kids who get the grades but yet still fail to land the good jobs. This is in large part due to their having the personality of a brick wall, little to no social skills, and general awkwardness in how they uphold themselves. The law, more than most professions, is a social field. If you can't shoot the shite with the best of them, you probably won't make a good attorney.

Grades are important but are only one ingredient and not the most important in my opinion. You have to be able to perform under pressure, absorb criticism, think on your feet, and generally be warm to people in order to make it in most fields of law. Maybe if you want to be a tax attorney you'd be okay checking your personality at the door. But the legal profession, though still a profession in the truest since of the word, is more and more each day taking the form of a business. You need to be able to sell yourself and your product and as business students know your product is only perceived to be as good as the presenter makes it out to be.

Lastly, law school grades are subjective and that method of thinking takes adjusting to. Actual practice and the testing environment bear little semblance, in my view.

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I agree with all of that. Suffice it to say that good grades are a necessary but not sufficient factor in getting a good job out of law school. All the other factors you describe are very important, but you need those in addition to good grades to get a good job out of law school. In the long run though, there are plenty of law school goof-offs who will end up doing well as lawyers.

Well, as a soon-to-be-recent graduate interning and looking for full-time positions, it is my reality, so forgive me for vehemently disagreeing with you, as I go through this IRL every week. I think your personal situation is skewing your viewpoint. You don't think the "first job" is all that important because you changed career paths. If you're biding your time then going to law school, yeah, you're first job isn't important. If you're everybody else, that's not the case. You can't get to Point B without going through Point A. I also don't know why the "semi-professional" majors help improve your "raw intelligence" any less than an econ major.

IMO, and this comes as first hand knowledge of knowing a billion people in law school, as well as another billion lawyers, the law industry approaches hiring people in a completely different fashion than the rest of the world. Your opinion of what is important in an employee reflects my understanding of what law firms look for, because the "vocational" skills you are writing off are of little importance to lawyers; you just learn it all on the job. Ask a law student what they want to practice, and their response is "I don't care, I just want a job." Practically every other profession requires you have working knowledge before you enter it, which requires you develop real, practical skills in college.

ETA: I'm ceasing my discussion of this at this point, as we clearly just have divergent opinions. I respect your opinion, and I apologize for being an arse earlier, I just disagree with you.

Yeah, they're pretty well-known in the BV world, as I've come to find out. I was just curious how well-known they were to undergrads, I had never heard of them before I started digging into the BV arena.

I would say that your "upper" students at Rhodes would at least be familiar with them. Realistically, only the best students at Rhodes really have a chance at getting a job there.

They aren't your typical BV service, IMO. They offer a reallyyyyy wide variety of services. Kind of surprising, IMO. (At least for what I have been exposed to).

I would still say that Mercer is second to Morgan Keegan in Rhodes kids' minds (at least for the time being). We probably have 10- 15 interns with them at any given time. They are just bigger and a more well-known name. The Bond market in Memphis is the biggest in the country, so MK really feeds off that.

On a side note, I literally just got out a meeting with my internship for the summer. It just so happened that the conversation turned to undergrad degrees. I was talking to the VP of Finance and the Manager of Finance and both echoed on sentiments that we discussed in this thread. The VP got an Economics degree, but she basically said it is worthless. She got her MBA, which gave her a marketable skill set. The Manager said "it would be cool to get a degree in a more liberal arts type field, but you just don't have a skill set to market. It is really tough to market that a liberal arts degree makes you a great 'thinker' while an accounting and finance grad has a tangible skill set."

I just chuckled inside when they were making those comments. Literally the exact thing that we have written in this thread.

Yeah, they're similar to the place I just applied to, just on a larger scale. They've got a ton of people with CPA/CFAs, and are highly respected within BV industry. I get newsletters from them a few times a week. I would love to work there, but I would be a non-traditional guy, and I don't really want to live in Memphis anyway. I'm hoping I can get in at this place here, and be exposed to similar work. I'm getting more BV stuff at the internship now that tax season has winded down a little. Its also nice to have legit back-up on my opinion of relevant degrees.

Back to the OP's question though. Going to a specific place will only open doors (obviously going to UC, Wharton, etc.) are going to open a lot of doors in certain industries, for instance VC. But as for a major, I feel like it only helps with that first job experience, after that you can get so many certifications that will specialize in certain areas that the Undergrad degree becomes somewhat of an afterthought. Getting a CPA, CFA, CIMA, CFP, any of the series 6, 7, etc. would seem to benefit a potential employee more than, say choosing Finance over Econ/ITF.

Just my two cents

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Yeah, they're similar to the place I just applied to, just on a larger scale. They've got a ton of people with CPA/CFAs, and are highly respected within BV industry. I get newsletters from them a few times a week. I would love to work there, but I would be a non-traditional guy, and I don't really want to live in Memphis anyway. I'm hoping I can get in at this place here, and be exposed to similar work. I'm getting more BV stuff at the internship now that tax season has winded down a little. Its also nice to have legit back-up on my opinion of relevant degrees.

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Surprised that they are as well respected as you speak. They do have a TON of certifications on staff. It is basically a requirement to have a full time job there. I wouldn't mind looking at them once I have the "CPA" title behind my name.

Wouldn't want to live in Memphis? It really isn't as bad as the rep it has. Certain parts are horrible, but the city, on the whole, is awesome, IMO. I love it here and wouldn't have any problem living here for a few more years post graduation.

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Good to know...now tell my boss that I need to be VP of Finance like her and i'll be all set.

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She isn't all that old. Her son is graduating high school this year. She's probably mid 40s I would guess.

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She isn't all that old. Her son is graduating high school this year. She's probably mid 40s I would guess.

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Honestly, the only thing I am focused on right now is the CFA (that, however, is going to be a 3 year ordeal).

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Honestly, the only thing I am focused on right now is the CFA (that, however, is going to be a 3 year ordeal).

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Good luck

I flirted with the idea, but it just isn't in-line with what I plan on doing. Too market based for me.

I'll sit for the CPA in the next year or so and probably also sit for the CMA. I may sit for the CMA during my senior year--I just have to figure out the time line.