If the school only offers a BA in Biochemistry, is a BA in Biochemistry more practical than a BS in biology for scientific fields. Assuming I continue on to some sort of masters program? I’ve always heard that Biology degrees are practically useless in the real world, so I was just wondering if a BA in biochem would be more useful.
So, I’m not 100% sure about the exact differences between bio/chem/biochem either (I’m trying to decide between biochem and chemistry actually), but here’s what I’d say:
– Biochemistry is really just a combination of biology and chemistry, so at most of the schools I’ve looked at, you basically do either a bio or a chem degree and then add on a few extra classes from the other subject. I would try to figure out if the BA in Biochemistry is bio + a little chem or chem + a little bio, which might affect your decision.
– A BS degree is a bachelor of science, so it’s more “rigorous” in terms of STEM courses (more requirements, more credits needed, etc.) compared to a BA, which is a bachelor of arts. Some people like that because it gives them more flexibility to double major, explore more, etc, but it’s not always the best for grad school/employment. Make sure that the degree is ACS certified if it’s a chem degree. IMO, the BS/BA difference is more important that the bio/biochem difference.
– I’ve heard biochem is more useful if you want to go into research or industry, so I do think it’d be more practical. A master’s degree might help, although you’ll also have to compete with people who earn PhD’s too.
Also, could you get a BS in biology with a minor in chem? That might be a solution too if you like biochem but still want a BS degree.
I am actually double majoring with a BS in math economics so a minor is not possible for me at the moment
And the degree is mostly chem with a little of Bio, the only difference between the BA and the BS is that I don’t have to take physical chemistry, that’s the difference between the Chem BA and BS, the biochem is like the Chem BA, but you take more biochem focused classes like drug discovery, Bio molecules, and chemistry of high polymers
In that case then I think it depends on what you want to do – are you interested in polymer chem or pharmaceutical research? What kind of master’s program will you do? If you’re going on to get another degree, your undergrad probably won’t matter as much, from what I’ve heard.