<p>while the engineering, nursing, and architecture are often separate, arts and sciences are grouped tgether in one college. Why? In my opinion, arts and science are totally different. What is th reasoning behind "college of arts and sciences" at so many schools?</p>
<p>I have also wondered this...</p>
<p>Not sure why they even call it "arts and sciences"...
At most schools I'm applying to, they have an a&s school as well as a school of art...</p>
<p>Arts in that context refers to the liberal arts, which doesn't usually include the fine or performing arts. BU, for example, has CAS (College of Arts and Sciences) and the CFA (College of Fine Arts); same with NYU's CAS and the Tisch school. Some colleges do group them, many don't.</p>
<p>"Liberal Arts and Sciences" is a term that frequently encompasses both the liberal arts (english, philosophy, art history, history) as well as the "sciences" such as psychology and economics which, while not "hard" sciences like biology and chemistry, are still social sciences. Arts in this context doesn't refer to the fine arts (acting, performance, production, etc).</p>
<p>Majors such as music, drawing and acting would usually be considered fine arts or performing arts majors, not liberal arts majors, which is one reason for the separation. Another has to do with curricular differences: fine arts colleges usually have far different core requirements than A&S colleges, because they serve far different functions in education. This is also the reason why most fine arts schools issue a BFA instead of the traditional BA.</p>
<p>It is important not to confuse the term "arts" or "liberal arts" with just "art" or the "fine arts." It is, historically, far broader than that.</p>
<p>^That makes a lot more sense now.
Being that I'm applying to engineering schools, I just tended to ignore the "arts" part of that...</p>
<p>But why are natural sciences such as physics stuck into the same school as humanities such as literature. If anything it seems like they would fit better in the engineering school.</p>
<p>Engineering seems to be more heavily career-oriented.</p>