B.S. or B.A.?

Graduate School
1

<p>Do you have to major B.S. in chemistry, not B.A., to get admitted to the Ph.D program?
For graduate schools, what areas do people with B.A.'s in chemistry go to?</p>

2

<p>Good question. I never quite understood what the difference between the degree's contents is.</p>

<p>I have a BA Political Science. I think it would sound better to have a BSc. I'm not an artist - I'm hardcore;-)</p>

3

<p>Yeah, what exactly is the difference?</p>

<p>My school only offers the B.S. (although they call it S.B. to sound fancier)</p>

4

<p>The distinction between BA and BS can vary from college to college and for the purposes of graduate school admission probably matters very little. For the most part the BS refers to having a major in which the thrust is quantitative, laboratory based and empirical. Natural and physical sciences almost always grant BS degrees. Some social science majors, psychology for example, may offer BA or BS degrees depending on the overally department philosophy as well as the laboratory and quantitative requirements for the major.</p>

5

<p>To confuse the situation even further, Berkeley offers both a BA in chemistry (through the College of Letters and Science) and a BS in chemistry (through the College of Chemistry). The academic difference between the 2 is negligible - the 2 curricula are almost identical. What difference there is lies in what college at Berkeley you want to associate yourself with. The College of Chemistry is a smaller college and tends to provide you with more personal attention.</p>

6

<p>For another example, until very recently (as in, within the past couple of years or so), Rice only offered a BA in chemistry and physics. So, it really does differ from school to school. Grad schools look more at your curriculum than your degree's name, I think.</p>

7

<p>I was told by a physics professor at UVA who used to read grad school apps at MIT that it's the courses that matter, not the degree. In fact, he said he'd had plenty of applications where he'd never even looked to see if it was a BS or BA, or even if it was in physics.</p>