Isabel Taylor likes helping people solve problems—so a risk management and insurance major was a perfect fit for her long-term law school goals.
A path to law school
Double majoring in Finance and Risk Management and Insurance at Tippie has been integral to junior Isabel Taylors’s future plans. She already has her sights set on a prestigious law school, then hopes to land a job with either a white shoe firm or a top financial service company.
“I didn’t really want to go into criminal law, and I’m interested in helping businesses and working with them to solve problems,” she said. “Once I started to enjoy my finance and RMI courses, I knew it was the place for me to be.”
Taylor said she always wanted to understand how the insurance industry works. Her principles of RMI class helped her start making the connection between risk-management and the law.
Ultimately, I'm interested in pursuing a career in corporate or insurance law, where I can leverage my finance and risk management and insurance education,” she said.
Hands-on faculty at Tippie a benefit
Taylor credits the hands-on attention from Tippie faculty, and the emphasis placed on real-world problem solving she has experienced as a Gamma Iota Sigma executive board member, for preparing her for what comes next.
“Vaughan Institute events have helped me get out there and network and see what the insurance industry is really like, not just what you learn in the classroom,” she said.
Likewise, the property and liability class she took in the Fall 2024 semester helped her expand her understanding beyond theory and discussion.
As part of the course, she was assigned a local business—in this case Big Grove Brewery—and asked to evaluate their current insurance policies to identify potential areas of concern.
“I was able to talk to the chief legal officer of an insurance company and have a real conversation about the issues," she said. "The classes I’ve taken have really let me apply learning to actual situations. It’s let me make my education what I want it to be.”
Taylor said faculty like the Vaughan Institute’s Jim Lewis and associate finance professor Petra Sinagl have been key to helping her chart her path, particularly thanks to their willingness to share their time.
“I don’t think of school as ‘oh you’ve got to go to this one-hour class.’ Instead, I think ‘you’ve got to go to Petra’s office hours today,’” Taylor said.
What comes next
Working ahead of the traditional timeline, Taylor will graduate a semester early next December. She then plans on taking the LSAT and applying to law schools with an eye on enrolling in the fall semester of 2026.
Because she hopes to land a big firm, she is looking at highly ranked law schools like Northwestern, Notre Dame and Michigan.
“I always say shoot for the stars and see where you land,” she said.