<p>My S is interested in majoring in Bio and the school he is most interested in offers a BA in Bio rather than a BS. I'm kind of surprised by this since I assumed bio major would recieve a BS.
Is this normal or should this be a red flag? The school is known more for the arts than the sciences but S has eclectic interests and would like to also concentrate on creative writing.</p>
<p>I believe Harvard only offers a BS in engineering - so I don't think it's a red flag. Here's an amusing tidbit I found while looking this up. It's from a 1954 issue of The Crimson:
[quote]
The proposed B.S.(in Engineering) is entirely different from Harvard B.S. degrees in the past. Until the class of 1950, any student who could not pass the Latin requirement, regardless of his field of concentration, was automatically granted the B.S. instead of the B.A. degree.
[/quote]
So in essence the BS was the degree for those not smart enough to pass Latin! Who knew?</p>
<p>^^Now no one at Harvard, except Classics concentrators, has to be smart enough to pass Latin.</p>
<p>I would guess that if that's all that's offered, it's not such a big deal. However, IMO, if one is a bio major at a school that offers both and expects to do something science-related for a career, it's probably best to do the BS over the BA (especially if it's one's only major).</p>
<p>My school has both a BA and BS track, but I'm on a BA track (I'm double majoring in kinesiology, though, and can only be recognized for one or the other, so I'm going with the kinesiology BS). I was about halfway done with the bio major when I decided to add kinesiology, and decided to go ahead and finish the bio major too. I don't need to do the BS track in bio and take the extra physics/chem/math for my prospective career, and I didn't really have time built into my schedule to do it anyway. :)</p>
<p>I got my BA in chemistry from UW-Madison eons ago- I met reqs for both and liked the white tassel better than the yellow- seriously. I obviously met the BS reqs through my major reqs but also had the extra foreign language credits and whatever else I needed for the BA. Any medical or graduate school, and hopefully employer, will look at the coursework and not the silly letter in the bachelor's degree. Great to have more than just science as an interest.</p>
<p>Friend is a Biochemisty major at Case Western Reserve University who plans on getting a Phd. She was advised by the head of the department to go the BA route, not the BS as the well roundedness would make her more desirable in future endeavors. (They have a choice at CASE of BA of BS.)</p>
<p>If BA is all they give then it is equivalent to a BS. Don't sweat it.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone for the reassurance. I feel much better.<br>
I'm really happy S has a clear favorite, and even happier that it should be a match/safety for him, but I was a bit concerned that a BA in Bio from Skidmore might not be well regarded.
I know Skidmore has always been strong in creative arts and I never thought of them as being strong in science.</p>
<p>Keep in mind too that content will always win over title when it matters - the courses taken, the quality of the work, the recommendations and so forth will all be more important than BA/BS. </p>
<p>Keep in mind too that few undergrads keep to their major all the way through. College is about learning and discovery in many ways.</p>
<p>A BA in bio is not an uncommon situation, and if it's all they give, it won't hurt (as others said).</p>
<p>Schools vary a lot on this sort of thing.</p>
<p>In the reverse situation, MIT gives a BS for all majors, including creative writing, literature, foreign languages, etc. Makes sense when you consider that everyone has to pass the science core regardless of major.</p>
<p>Tufts' computer science department offers a BA through Arts & Sciences, a BS through Arts & Sciences, and a BS through Engineering. I find this bewildering, but it illustrates how much schools and departments vary on this.</p>
<p>This has been very educational for me; I thought a BA in bio meant that they didn't offer enough science courses to be called a BS.
Thank you all.</p>
<p>Many Liberal Arts colleges give BAs to all of their undergraduates, whether the major is physics or philosophy. This is fine. Grad schools and med schools know this.</p>
<p>The distinction between BA and BS in Biology at most colleges and universities is no big deal. Typically it means that to receive the B.S., you'll enroll in a few more sciences classes. For example, the BA may not require a second semester of Organic Chemistry.</p>
<p>I thought a BA meant one had gained a certain amount of proficiency in a foreign language. That was the case 'back in the day' at my state U, but may not be the case at other institutions.</p>
<p>At Columbia, every student in the liberal arts college receives a BA, whether it's bio, astrophysics, molecular bio, etc. And believe me, some of those programs have incredibly rigorous requirements. Every student in the engineering school receives a BS. So, a BA does not necessarily mean less or less rigorous requirements.</p>
<p>It varies from school to school, department to department, and major to major. At my alma mater, you could earn a BS or a BA in chemistry or physics. You could only earn a BS in neural science. All other majors were BA only.</p>