<p>I majored in American Studies (incidentally a major which one commentator here incorrectly characterized as "easy") with a 3.9 from a liberal arts college ranked in the top ten of the U.S. news ranking. I was recently accepted into a one year Masters program at the London School of Economics for a program that focuses on political economy. Putting the unreasonable cost of the program aside, while I am very interested in the program, I was wondering if such a degree would be looked favorably upon by top U.S. law schools, have no influence, or worse, be a disadvantage? Thanks a lot!</p>
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<li><p>I doubt that London School of Economics would hurt you for admissions. Maybe it would... but isn't it a pretty prestigous programme?</p></li>
<li><p>If you are really interested in the programme, do it anyway. Just my guess, but you could work it into a really interesting essay for your personal statement. Generally, the effect it will have on your admission is speculative at best; it might help at some schools and make no difference at other ones. If you've read these boards, the most important things in admissions are GPA and LSAT scores.</p></li>
<li><p>I did say that American Studies is perceived as easy, and I stand by that. As an engineer, I think that most liberal arts majors are pretty easy. You go to class, do some work, write a few papers, and you're going to get at least a B. A major with "Studies" tends to indicate that the majority of the courses are survey courses or are lower-level courses, not intense upper-levels. Furthermore, it's not what I think that matters - nor is what you think important. The important thing is what the person reading your file thinks of your major, and I can't imagine that American Studies has a very good reputation - neutral at best. </p></li>
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<p>Some advice (take it or leave it), but if you have a non-standard major (which could be anything from communication to engineering - basically, outside of your usual English/history/psych/poli sci/philosophy group) then you should write a supplemental thing about your courses. If Am. Studies is courses from the English & history departments, then make a small note of that. Be sure to include a note if they include heavy amounts of upper-level courses which require a lot of prerequisistes or background and not just a survey of lower-level courses. The people reading your application probably have never been to your school and certainly haven't taken your major there. If American Studies happens to be a tough major where you are, then explain that.</p>
<p>I doubt there are many law school admissions officers who make blanket judgments like "American studies is a soft major." My best guess is that they'll read your transcript, and come to a reasonable decision about whether you've chose challenging courses. </p>
<p>If you do well enough on the LSAT, you could well be in the running at the hyper-selective law schools (Yale, Harvard, and Stanford, in that order), with or without the master's degree. I don't see how it could hurt you to get it, and could imagine it tipping the balance in your favor.</p>
<p>Thanks for both of your advice. I guess what I was concerned about was 1) does the fact that it's a foreign school hurt and 2) does the one-year aspect of the degree make admissions officers think it is not rigorous because from what I have been hearing LSE has rigorous programs - the questions is, is this generally known?</p>
<p>Also, to briefly return to the debate over "xxx studies" majors, is there evidence that admissions officers look down on it. This isn't meant to be combative, I'm just curious. An answer either way would not have changed by decision to major in American Studies as one of the principal reasons I chose it was because it was an incredibly flexible major that would have allowed me to take all the courses I was interested in.</p>
<p>I think that with most "studies" majors, there is probably a significant number of people who see them as opportunities to take easy classes - I'll admit that - but the freedom to take courses that interest you (regardless of their rigor) is also a solid reason to concentrate in such things. Just my two cents. I do understand where you are coming from.</p>
<p>As an American Studies major at one school I know, you have the opportunity to take things like American Film and the American suburb, or you can take courses on race and ethnicity (also offered in the politics department). I think it depends a lot on the courses. Also, Ariesathena, I am puzzled by your comment because I thought I had seen previous posts by you suggesting that you felt you were at a disadvantage applying to law school as an engineering major. </p>
<p>I am biased against worrying about the major because a close relative of mine went to music conservatory and ended up at a top 5 law school.</p>
<p>I don't think you should select a major based on what you think others will think of it, and in any event, what's done is done.</p>
<p>The association I personally make with American Studies is that it was the undergaduate major of a law professor of mine who studied at Yale, then clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The American Studies program at my school (and I would bet most schools) also allows students to take courses in American film, literature, history, as well as classes in race and gender and such.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I'd disagree with the assertion that "studies" majors involve many introductory or survey courses. Besides, don't admissions people see an applicant's transcript with their courses listed on it? Or am I being naive and do time-pressured reviewers look only at LSAT scores, GPA, undergrad school and major without much attention to courses.?</p>
<p>From everything I've heard, foreign study is fine. Some law schools might like the experiences because it makes you a more interesting person; I have a hard time imagining that you would be penalized for it. It's not like you are replacing your entire college curriculum with study abroad and cross-registration courses.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about how they analyze courses - not even sure if they see which courses you take. LSDAS condenses your transcript, and they might eliminate the courses in all of that. Even if they don't, if there is some doubt about a major, why not let them know? Why not point out that you didn't take the easy route? Show that you've taken upper-level courses when you could have sandbagged with intros or surveys. Mention big research papers on your resume. The one thing I've learned is that you can't count on admissions people to scrutinize and analyze your application. It's up to the applicant to really be forthright with the relevant info.</p>
<p>Thanks ariesathena! You've been really helpful and I definitely appreciate it very much.</p>
<p>Greybeard, thanks to you too!</p>
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Besides, don't admissions people see an applicant's transcript with their courses listed on it
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<p>The answer to that question is unclear. It is true that they do get copies of all your transcripts from LSDAS. </p>
<p>The question is whether they bother to read through those transcripts. It seems that they don't exactly spend a whole lot of time combing through those transcripts trying to weigh course difficulty.</p>