I have the opportunity to pursue a BA or a BS in chemistry at my university. If I go with the BA, I will be finished a semester early. But if I do the BS, I will finish a semester late. I’m not sure what I want to do career-wise, so any advice would be appreciated!
What are the differences in the curricula at your school, and what courses would you have to omit if you chose the shorter version?
Are zero, one, or both versions of the major ACS approved?
Do your potential post-graduation plans include those which require chemistry knowledge and skills (e.g. PhD program in chemistry, teaching credential in chemistry, work in chemistry)?
Thanks for the reply! The main thing omitted from the BA is two semesters of physical chemistry. The BA requires one semester of survey. As for my post-graduation plans, I’m not sure yet, and I think that’s my biggest problem.
You may want to ask the faculty and other advisers about how the differences in curricula matter if you choose to go in a direction where a chemistry undergraduate major is required, preferred, or useful. Some physical chemistry is generally expected in that case, though.
What matters more than whether you pursue a BA or a BS is whether the courses you choose will prepare you well for the next step. If you do not enjoy p-chem, then choose BA for flexibility, and then take more electives than necessary to complete your degree. E.g. if you think you might head in a biomedical direction, choose some genetics, bioinformatics, pharmacology, cancer biology, etc. courses. If you think you might head in an industrial, non-pharma direction, take some materials science courses. If you have no idea, take some of both. The advantage of a BA is that there are fewer required courses, so you have the flexibility to take more courses to follow your interest. Instead of graduating early, consider using that time to take extra courses to explore different possible future paths.