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Hi all,

I went to register for CAS today and noticed that I can't enter in two bachelors degrees into the "institutions attended" section. I am receiving two coterminal but very different degrees from my undergrad institution (a BA in Philosophy and a BSBA in Business Administration). I don't really want to put them in as two majors because double majoring seems different from dual-degreeing. Does anyone in a similar position in the past (or currently) know of a fix or a good way to enter in the degrees?

Sounds close enough to a double major to me. You fulfilled the requirements for two majors at once. But I don't really know.

If you really want to know, call LSAC. (The answer is pretty much always to call LSAC and ask.)

The thing is, I get two separate diplomas and it shows up as two distinct degrees on my transcript (just as if one of them was from another school or from a graduate school). Double majors are typically put on a single diploma (if it was history and philosophy, I would get a single diploma that says BA in Philosophy, History). One of the degrees has a double major within it and the other has a major and a minor (they are from two separate schools within my university - the arts & sciences school and the business school):

BSBA - Business Law major, Organizational Behavior major
BA - Philosophy major, Music performance minor

Each degree has different cutoffs for latin honors, dean's list, etc.

LSAC wasn't too helpful when I called, they said to try adding the institution again but when I do that I don't have the option of adding the degree type and major for that degree.

shadowofjazz wrote:The thing is, I get two separate diplomas and it shows up as two distinct degrees on my transcript (just as if one of them was from another school or from a graduate school). Double majors are typically put on a single diploma (if it was history and philosophy, I would get a single diploma that says BA in Philosophy, History). One of the degrees has a double major within it and the other has a major and a minor (they are from two separate schools within my university - the arts & sciences school and the business school):

BSBA - Business Law major, Organizational Behavior major
BA - Philosophy major, Music performance minor

Each degree has different cutoffs for latin honors, dean's list, etc.

LSAC wasn't too helpful when I called, they said to try adding the institution again but when I do that I don't have the option of adding the degree type and major for that degree.

Well, I'd probably add a triple major or something, at one institution. If both diplomas were awarded on the same date, then all your classes will count toward your LSAC GPA, and making sure LSAC counts them all is the important part. (If one degree was awarded later, classes taken after the first degree was awarded won't count.) Then write an academic addendum explaining your weirdo degrees and submit it with each application. LSAC doesn't care about them; the schools might be slightly interested.

rinkrat19 wrote:

shadowofjazz wrote:The thing is, I get two separate diplomas and it shows up as two distinct degrees on my transcript (just as if one of them was from another school or from a graduate school). Double majors are typically put on a single diploma (if it was history and philosophy, I would get a single diploma that says BA in Philosophy, History). One of the degrees has a double major within it and the other has a major and a minor (they are from two separate schools within my university - the arts & sciences school and the business school):

BSBA - Business Law major, Organizational Behavior major
BA - Philosophy major, Music performance minor

Each degree has different cutoffs for latin honors, dean's list, etc.

LSAC wasn't too helpful when I called, they said to try adding the institution again but when I do that I don't have the option of adding the degree type and major for that degree.

Well, I'd probably add a triple major or something, at one institution. If both diplomas were awarded on the same date, then all your classes will count toward your LSAC GPA, and making sure LSAC counts them all is the important part. (If one degree was awarded later, classes taken after the first degree was awarded won't count.) Then write an academic addendum explaining your weirdo degrees and submit it with each application. LSAC doesn't care about them; the schools might be slightly interested.

The diplomas are indeed being awarded on the same date and all the grades are supposed to count toward my LSAC GPA. One of the reasons I decided to do the dual-degree was that it would allow me to stay a 5th year and have 4 years worth of grades to show law schools (to make up for a less than stellar freshman year). I guess writing an addendum is the best course of action to explain it if there's a problem. Thanks!

I have a dual degree (BS and BA, two diplomas), and I just listed them as majors. (0L here)

I had the same question and emailed LSAC about it a while back. Here's the (rather disappointing) response I received.

LSAC wrote:Thank you for your inquiry to LSAC:
 
A copy of your transcript showing both degrees will be sent to the schools as part of your CAS report.
 
LSAC
Candidate Communications
LSACinfo@LSAC.org

Looks like it'll only be noted on the copy of our transcript that nobody will look at. Sad day.

x

totgafk180 wrote:I am in the same situation. I have a BA in English and a BBA in Business. I graduated with both degrees on the same date.
Schools should be able to distinguish differences in applications related to double majors vs. double degrees. I had to complete 173 credit hours to graduate with two degrees. In any case, the LSAC GPA is what counts.

If it's any consolation, nobody cares about two simultaneous bachelors degrees any more or less than a single degree with two majors, so don't get too concerned.

x

Thanks guys, I decided to just list one degree and hope the colleges will look at the transcript and see the other. I'll look to see what my academic report looks like once they process my transcript (called LSAC again and they said it should show up there correctly).