Admit One: Vault's MBA, Law School and College Blog

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Massachusetts One Step Closer to Having a Public Law School

A quick update on the possibility of a public law school in Massachusetts: the proposal passed 11-5 in the University of Massachusetts' Board of Trustees Committee on Academic and Student Affairs. A Mass. public law school is one more step closer! (In case you're learning about this for the first time, the Southern New England School of Law offered itself as a donation to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in October.)

Before a UMass Dartmouth law school can become reality, the proposal has to be passed by another university committee and the Board of Trustees before it reaches the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, which has the final call. If passed, students would matriculate to the new public law school in December 2010, paying $23,565 (for Mass. residents) and $31,209 (for out-of-staters), according to The Herald Tribune, which ran a piece about local Mass. delegates who support the proposal last week.

From the Boston Business Journal: "If approved, the public law school is expected to generate $673,576 for the Commonwealth in tuition revenue next year and more than $1 million annually within five years. The new school also would produce a university cumulative cash balance rising from $1.8 million in Fiscal Year 2011 to $10.2 million in Fiscal Year 2018." If the addition of the new school doesn't cost tax-payers anything--as its supporters say it will not--these numbers aren't too shabby.

More Competition Amongst MBAs for Jobs Overseas?

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) announced the GMAT results for the 2008-2009 testing year, which ended in June. According to their report, the number of tests taken reached an all-time high of 265,613.

What is most interesting about the GMAC report is that the number of tests taken outside of the United States exceeded the number of tests taken in the United States. There were 135,105 non-U.S. test-takers and only 130,508 U.S. However, a smaller percentage of the international students sent their scores to U.S. business schools than in previous years. From The Chronicle of Higher Education, only 59 percent of 2009 non-U.S. GMAT takers sent their scores to U.S. MBA programs, compared with 65 percent in 2008 and 75 percent in 2000. In other words, more students are choosing to study in Europe and Asia, where business school quality has been improving consistently in recent years. In addition, by attending an MBA program in Europe or Asia, these students may have better access to jobs in those areas after graduation.

What does this mean for U.S. MBAs who want to work overseas after graduation? With more high-quality graduates from local business schools, it may be harder for U.S. students to compete in the international market, particularly when recruiting at a nearby business school instead of in the United States may make economic sense.

That said, the United States is still the leader in graduate business education and jobs will be available for students interested in working abroad. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out at the beginning of the 2008-2009 recruiting season, MBA students will have a better chance of finding a job if they look overseas as well as at home. So dust off your resume, ace your global business midterm and you'll be able to find a job away from home.

Surge in Online Applications for Federal Clerkships

The Blog of the Legal Times reported on Friday that the number of applications for federal clerkships has increased 66 percent from last year. Using the online federal clerkship application, 10,722 recent law graduates and graduating 3Ls applied for an average of 38 clerkship positions each. That's 401,576 applications overall--a big jump from 241,529 applications last year, when 7,556 students averaged 31 job applications each.

In this economy, BigLaw and public sector jobs are hard to find for newly-minted JDs. Because of their relative stability, clerkships seem like a safe Plan B. As HLS clerkship advisor Kristen Solberg told Legal Times, "Clerkships have been relatively stable as an alternative and are attracting people who had not previously considered them." In fact, the clerkship application website registered a 42 percent increase in the number of individual applicants from last year.

Because of the rise in applications, competition will be steep for clerkships this year. Only 1,244 open clerkships were posted on the application website, so about 9,478 applicants will have to consider Plan C.

Government Internships Aren't Just for Aspiring Politicians

Ever wondered what it's really like to work for the government? Get a behind-the-scenes look at how decisions are made by interning for a national, state or local government office. And government interns aren't just for policy wonks and president wannabes. While positions in fields like advertising, marketing and publishing are hard to come by today, applicants who turn their attention to internships with government agencies may have an easier time finding openings. Unlike many industries that are struggling during the current economic times, the government is still looking for qualified candidates, and not just those who want to be the next great political figure.

Several government agencies and lobbying organizations across the country feature internship programs for students of all ages, including the Rhode Island State Government, Arms Control Association and the Connecticut Judicial Branch, just to name a few. Interns at these and other such organizations get the chance to attend Congressional hearings, work on political campaigns and even perform litigation. For any student interested in applying to law school, an internship in one of these prestigious offices is bound to get you noticed.

If law isn't your thing, positions are also available with parks departments, correctional facilities and international embassies. With responsibilities as varied as handling press relations, designing websites or analyzing budgets, there is bound to be a position that suits every student's interest. Plus, you don't have to be a political science major to score one of these top internships, nor must you plan to pursue a career in a government agency. Working in analytical chemistry for the FBI is great experience for a career in the sciences, drafting press releases for the French Embassy Press and Communication Office can be your entry into the PR industry and assisting economists at the Federal Reserve is a great launch pad for a career in finance.

But if you're considering an internship at a government agency or NGO, you'd better start applying soon. Government internship programs often have early deadlines, so start your search in the fall before the summer you plan to intern and be sure to get your application in on time. To help begin your search, below is a list of some top government internship programs whose deadlines are fast approaching.

Program:	Deadline:
Australian Embassy	December 10th
Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia	December 11th
United States Secret Service	December 15th
Federal Reserve Bank of New York	January 31st
The White House	February 7th

-Posted by Rebecca Zissou

While I Was Out...

A lot was written about the law school world when I was at home battling swine flu. Here's a quick round-up:

Above the Law posted a rundown of the University of California law school tuition hikes. UC Berkeley School of Law, UC Davis School of Law, UCLA School of Law and UCI Law instituted in-state tuition increases of 12 to 21.2 percent for the 2010-2011 school year, and they will continue to raise tuition by at least 5 percent through 2012-2013. Out-of-state tuition will increase more steadily over the next three years. The schools say they'll use the money for financial aid and faculty salaries.

The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog got a sneak peek at the Super Lawyers Top Law Schools ranking. The ranking is based on the number of super lawyers from each school--in other words, the number of "quality" lawyers produced. Not surprisingly, Harvard Law School came out on top. The Law Blog points out that because Super Lawyers' methodology is limited to counting the number of graduates, class size isn't taken into consideration, and smaller schools like Yale Law School or Stanford Law School may have been at a disadvantage.

On Tuesday, Super Lawyers released the full list. Check it out: Super Lawyers U.S. Law School Rankings.

The University of Massachusetts president announced that the university has approved the absorption of the Southern New England School of Law, which would create the first public law school in the Massachusetts. From MSN, the next step for the proposal is for it to be reviewed by the UMass Committee on Academic and Student Affairs, its Committee on Administration and Finance and, finally, by the UMass Board of Trustees in December. One step closer!

Finally, the University of Chicago Law School opened a time capsule from 1958. Enclosed were 13 letters from prominent scholars, U.S. Supreme Court justices and the then-publisher of The New York Times. The letters are on display at the law school. The law school is now working on a time capsule to be opened in 2059.

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