JEREMYCWILSON.COM

Breakfast with Second Year JD-MBAs and Northwestern Law Administration

Just over a year ago, I began my time in the JD-MBA program at Northwestern Law School.  Because we had the JD-MBA program in common, many of the JD-MBAs came together before school ever began, and bonded early in our first year as 1Ls, largely for three reasons. First because the school was smaller, so we ran into each other a lot more often. Second because there were fewer sections, so there were more JD-MBAs in each section. And third, law school is a lot of work, so we relied on each other a bit more.  All this of course, is in addition to the fact that we’re in a unique program so had an immediate connection. On the other hand, our time at Kellogg has been a slightly different experience so far.

For one, here at Kellogg, the student body is much larger, so we don’t naturally run into each other quite as often. Similarly, because there are eight sections (nine with the 1Y class), we don’t have as many JD-MBAs in our sections or elective classes. Add to that the fact that it always seems like there is a lot more to get done and a lot less time. And as a result, I’ve seen a lot less of the JD-MBAs than I did last year, or over the summer.

But this change was not unexpected. After all, during the summer, a lot of people began taking different classes, and after summer was over everyone’s summer ended at different times, everyone moved to different locations here in Evanston, and everyone attended a different KWEST trip (click here for my post on KWEST)(click here for my post on KWEST Mystery).

On the other hand, the good news is that we have 600+ new classmates here at Kellogg, all who come from impressive backgrounds and have interesting stories. And for most JD-MBAs it’s a very natural fit being here, because many of the students are more oriented to the MBA curriculum, as most were comparing the JD-MBA here versus other business schools.

In light of our tricky transition from the law school, the administration scheduled a breakfast today for the 2J (i.e. 2nd year JD-MBA) class, at the Allen Center. In addition to the 20 of the 2Js who attended, Dean Van Zandt of the law school came, as did Lesley Kagan and Cliff Zimmerman, both leading administrators at the law school. Similarly, a number of staff members from Kellogg were also in attendance, including a professor, a career services representative, and a couple of administrative personnel, including Dean Langewisch.

It was good to see some of my JD-MBA classmates again as well as see some of the staff members from the law school. Hopefully we’ll all see each other more often now that we’re starting to get into a rhythm at Kellogg.

Stay tuned to hear how it goes!