Cornell Law School MSLS

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by JoshD, Jun 10, 2021.

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  1. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Not even close to worth it. If you really want nothing but a working knowledge of law, take the first year course from one of the California correspondence law schools for a few thousand.
     
  2. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    After you finish the first year, you can even pass the FYLEX a.k.a. Baby Bar to show the world that you learned something.
     
    jonlevy likes this.
  3. Courcelles

    Courcelles Active Member

    I mean, at least it’s more honest than the “executive JD” some non-ABA law schools offer?
     
    Dustin likes this.
  4. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

  5. Courcelles

    Courcelles Active Member

    Yeah. I wouldn’t advocate anyone get this Cornell degree, but labeling it an MS is a lot more honest that the utter nonsense that is the non-bar JD. Which makes as much sense as a non-license eligible MD would…
     
  6. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I had the non Bar J.D. explained to me once by a legitimate school official. The reason for making it non Bar eligible was to make the expenses deductible. In those days, you couldn't deduct the costs of a degree program that qualified you for a new career which a Bar qualifying J.D. would do even if the only State that would let you take the Bar exam was California.
     
  7. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Of course, "explained" does not equal "justified".
     
  8. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    That's too expensive and worthless, in my opinion. Might as well complete a paralegal certificate at Penn Foster, Ashworth, or U.S. Career Institute for less than $1,000. Some people need the actual master's degree from an accredited school to check the box.
     
  9. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    No, I don't think so although it is a matter of opinion. I have taught and hired and I work with paralegals and they can be amazingly good but their paralegal education varies too widely to indicate much to a potential legal employer. Passing the Baby Bar would impress me much more. EDIT: I usually place almost all the weight on experience when hiring a paralegal.
     
    JoshD likes this.
  10. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    We're talking about the types of people who would go for an MLS. Most of them are not paralegals. If you just want a basic understanding of law, there are much cheaper ways to go about this than doing one year at a correspondence law school. I don't see the point in paying $3,000 to $9,000 for one year at an unaccredited law school when you could just earn an MLS or M.Jur for around $10,000. If you're applying for a job that requires or prefers a master's degree, saying, "Hey! I passed the Baby Bar," means nothing.
     
  11. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    One of my former coworkers got his GS-9 position with an MLS in Taxation. He's now a GL-9 special agent. Since he's enforcing tax law, his degree is relevant to what he does. You can't do that with the Baby Bar.
     
  12. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Well, the tax degree is not the same thing as the master's Cornell is offering, is it?
     
    jonlevy likes this.
  13. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    He didn't earn a Master of Taxation; he earned a Master of Legal Studies with a concentration in Taxation. MLS and M.Jur programs often have concentration options. I got the same job with no tax and no accounting degree, but I had a master's degree. One year at an unaccredited law school is not going to have the same utility as a master's degree.
     
  14. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    AH. Well, I'm glad it all worked out for you.
     
  15. Jahaza

    Jahaza Active Member

    What that calculation is leaving out though is that these legal Masters degrees are often vastly more expensive than credible MBAs from public institutions. I think they're partly being offered for people who are afraid of the fairly basic math in an MBA.
     
  16. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I haven't seen that MLS, MSLS, and M.Jur programs at public universities are much more expensive than MBA programs at public universities. MBA programs oftentimes cost more than regular master's programs at the same school. Are you comparing legal masters at private universities to MBAs at public universities? Wouldn't a fairer comparison be private law schools to private business schools?

    These programs aren't really a substitute for the MBA. Management and leadership programs are often sought by people who are afraid of the math in MBA programs.
     
  17. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    MBA program tuition is A LOT different than other types of programs. Private and public do not make much difference in terms of tuition in the Top 25 B-Schools. Example:

    Private School: Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Full-Time MBA is $70,000 per year, so $140,000 in total (excluding expenses).

    Public School: Michigan’s Ross School of Business Full-Tine MBA is $66,000 per year for residents and $71,000 per year for non-residents. This is $132,000 to $142,000 in total.

    So comparing private law schools to public business schools is not actually that bad in my opinion.
     
  18. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    It's still a bad comparison considering that most legal studies programs are much cheaper than that. Better comparisons would be top law schools to top business schools. As you have demonstrated, top MBA programs are far from cheap. Maybe Jahaza was referring to mid-tier or bottom tier MBA programs. In that case, it would make more sense to compare those programs to legal studies programs at schools like APUS.
     
    JoshD likes this.
  19. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    IIRC, and I don't really feel like looking this up to verify, the publisher of the website "The Art of Manliness" graduated from Law School and immediately went to work doing exactly that before he launched his own business. It's probably not uncommon. I get approached by vendors whose salespeople have JDs and where the service offered is quasi-legal in nature. I have likewise seen non-practicing pharmacists, nurses and other allied health professions selling pharmaceuticals or medical equipment etc. The interesting thing is that no one bats an eye when someone with a degree in accounting does something related to but not necessarily accounting. But when someone does it with a law or medical degree we wonder what they did wrong to "end up" there.
     
    JoshD and Dustin like this.

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