Umpteenth question re: undergraduate major Forum

[sonocuriosa]

Hi everyone. I'm coming from a very non-traditional background--I'm an American/dual Italian citizen living and working in the Netherlands. At 26, I have spent the last 10 or so years growing a business I started in high school, and through that business I've come into contact with legal writing and have come to love studying law for studying's sake. At this point I have a burning desire to go back to the U.S. and become an attorney.

My question is this: I'm looking at applying for undergraduate schools very soon. I don't want to go back to the U.S. because I refuse to take out loans, and I'm willing to put in a lot of hard work to avoid that. I'm going to absolutely bust my ass and make sure I get an excellent GPA. I have a choice of the following:

History
International Studies
Dutch Language and Culture
Global Law (not U.S. law)
English Language and Culture

All of them seem equally interesting to me, and all of them are subjects that I could easily do well in. I especially like the Dutch program because I wonder if an extra language will be an asset on a law school application personal essay somehow (my goal is to work for an international U.S. firm). Which degree out of the above would lend itself best to a law school application? If it is at all relevant, I am currently studying Italian law (in Italian) via distance learning from an Italian state university with the goal to qualify in at least one EU jurisdiction as well.

Thanks so much.

[General_Tso]

Whichever one will get you the highest GPA.

If it were me, I would major in something that has some backup usefulness (economics, finance, STEM) just in case you change your mind about law school. Out of your choices, only international studies may have some application in the job market (e.g., consulting, policy work).

[sonocuriosa]

I definitely think you're right. International Studies could be parlayed into some form of diplomacy or policy work.

[Maplesyrup]

since all of those are equal in terms of the job prospects they will provide if law school doesn't work out, i would personally go with a history degree because it sounds like fun.

[A. Nony Mouse]

If your BA is from a European school, your GPA won't get reported to American law schools. It will be rated on a scale from "superior" down (I don't remember the others) and schools won't be able to report it to USNWR. So your LSAT will take on an even greater significance.

[sonocuriosa]

That's really interesting. What if I'm able to get the degree evaluated for its American equivalent? Where can I find more information about that?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Check the LSAC website. I'm pretty sure that if it's not an American or Canadian degree, no GPA. But it may be that if you were doing an American program that happened to be set in Europe it would be different, I don't know about that.

[Hand]

That's really interesting. What if I'm able to get the degree evaluated for its American equivalent? Where can I find more information about that?

LSAC forwards non-US and non-Canadian degrees to AARCAO, which is a recognized credentials evaluation agency here, which will state a degree equivalency, like all these agencies do. A few things to keep in mind:
(1) Schools will probably not care about what other evaluation agencies think of your degree. Most use more or less the same standards anyway.
(2) Schools will also not care an awful lot about how exactly your foreign transcript will be evaluated. AACRAO's categories are superior, above average, average, and below average; for the Dutch ten-point grading system, an average grade of 8-10 is superior, I'm guessing above average will be 7-7.99 and average 6-6.99; I'm not sure you can graduate with an average grade below 6, so maybe below average has no application. If you manage to get an average above 7, you'd be fine.
(3) The Dutch 3-year bachelor's degree is not considered equivalent to the 4-year US bachelor's degree by AACRAO. We've had a few conversation on the board here in various threads about whether schools are free to admit you with a three-year degree, but I'm suspecting that most won't. That means you would need to get not just a 3-year Dutch BA, but also an MA with a minimum length of 1 year.
(4) Het kan niemand iets schelen of je Nederlands spreekt, so pick whichever major seems to make most sense otherwise

[sonocuriosa]

Het kan niemand iets schelen of je Nederlands spreekt

LMFAO. My Dutch SO would also agree with this.

Thanks for your information.

[TheSpanishMain]

I realize this isn't what you asked, but if you have a successful business up and running I'd be really cautious about leaving that to jump into the tepid US legal economy. Just food for thought.

[sonocuriosa]

I totally understand that. My business is completely online and can be taken back with me to the U.S. The way I see it: I'm not taking out loans, so I'll try for law school and see what happens. Maybe I'll get some money.

[jbagelboy]

Dutch language and culture sounds awesome

International studies and History are definitely the safest and most traditional. But it's not likely to make much difference