<p>Does Williams offer B.A. or B.S.?</p>
<p>Both. It depends on what your major is. A philosophy major is going to get a B.A. A chemistry major is going to get a B.S.</p>
<p>Williams calls all of its degrees BAs, including those in the sciences. You can confirm this by Googling for resumes - there are lots of Williams physics, chemistry, etc. grads who have their resumes online and list their degree as a BA.</p>
<p>That said, it doesn’t really make any difference. A physics degree from Williams is a physics degree from Williams, whatever you call it. Grad schools and job recruiters know the value (or lack thereof) of Williams degrees in their particular fields. The distinction between BA and BS is only meaningful at universities which award both degrees.</p>
<p>Whoops. I stand corrected.</p>
<p>It’s quite typical for top northeastern liberal arts colleges (not just Williams) to offer BA degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level. </p>
<p>The only exceptions that I know of are LACs with engineering programs (e.g. Swarthmore, Smith, Trinity). These schools confer BA degrees for most majors (including science majors), but BS degrees for engineering majors. They make this exception because their engineering programs are professionally accredited, and the BS is the expected professional degree title for engineers. If they used BA for their engineering degrees, it would incorrectly imply that the degrees lacked professional accreditation.</p>
<p>At least some Ivy League universities, like Princeton and Dartmouth, do the same thing. All undergraduates get BA degrees, except for engineers.</p>
<p>Okay…then does it mean that it will be difficult for me to get into grad/professional school with a B.A. degree? And what exactly is the main difference between a B.A. and B.S. degree?</p>
<p>
No. Schools like Williams or Princeton are among the most successful in the country at graduate and professional school placement.</p>
<p>
There is no fixed rule, it just depends on school policy and tradition. </p>
<p>Some schools only confer the BA, e.g. Williams confers a Bachelor of Arts in Physics. </p>
<p>Other schools only confer the BS, e.g. MIT confers a Bachelor of Science in Literature. </p>
<p>Other schools might confer the BA to humanities majors, and the BS to science and math majors.</p>
<p>Other schools offer a choice between BA and BS in a given major. Both degrees would require the same amount of total work, but the BS typically has more specialized course requirements within the major, while the BA typically has fewer major requirements and more opportunities to take courses outside the major. It’s generally easier to double-major with BA programs.</p>
<p>For practical purposes, the distinction between BA and BS is not normally important. Engineering is an exception, as noted previously, but you presumably aren’t interested in engineering if you are posting in the Williams forum.</p>
<p>I graduated from college in 1974 with a BS in math. The college that I went to offered both BA and BS in Math. The difference was that I had to take 2 additional courses in applied math.</p>