Hi all,
I’m planning on majoring in Chemistry at Berkeley, and because I’d also like to get a double major in Economics or Business, I’m attempting to get a BA in Chemistry from the Letters & Sciences school as opposed to a more intensive BS from the College of Chemistry. At this point, I don’t want to go into post-graduate chemistry research, but I also wouldn’t like to rule that out as a possibility. Most likely, however, I see myself applying chemistry in either a legal or business setting. This leads me to my question: for non-PhD post-graduate studies (law school, business, etc.), will a BA in Chemistry appear the same as a BS? Also, if I do end up going into PhD research, will I be tangibly hindered by my BA compared to a BS? I’ve scoured the internet trying to find answers to this question, but Berkeley seems unique because it is one of few schools that offers both a BS and a BA in the same topic. Thanks in advance!
Danny
BA in L&S:
http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad/degrees/chem/ba
BS in CoC:
http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad/degrees/chem/lower-courses
http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad/degrees/chem/upper-courses
The BS program has more required chemistry courses, but a student in the BA program could take additional chemistry courses to have the same one that s/he would take in the BS program, if the goal is graduate study in chemistry.
Professional schools like law and business tend to be agnostic to undergraduate major, so the BA versus BS program is unlikely to matter for them.
@ucbalumnus thanks for your response. I’m very familiar with the differences between the two degrees, just not quiet as familiar with how those differences will manifest themselves after graduation. Do you have any experience in research? If so, could you speak to the gap in opportunity (if any) that would result from getting a BA as opposed to a BS? Thanks!
Not in the chemistry field.
The career survey combined the BA and BS majors, since the total number of chemistry graduates is small:
https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2016Chem.pdf
https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2015Chem.pdf
https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2014Chem.pdf