<p>I was looking up and down on Berkeley’s list of majors but can’t seem to find a Physics B.S.! Is it even offered?</p>
<p>There is absolutely NO difference between the B.A. or B.S. in physics, chemistry, math, biology, or ANY of the pure sciences.</p>
<p>The B.A./B.S. distinction ONLY matters in engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>Isn't a B.S. more focused in the field though in that you take more upper division classes whereas a B.A. is not as focused?</p>
<p>The B.A./B.S. distinction ONLY matters in engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>how so?</p>
<p>The BA/BS distinction has to do with general education, not with the major itself (in math and comp sci anyway).</p>
<p>BackToReality</p>
<p>Edit: According to Professor Harvey, the only job you need the BS for (in Comp Sci) that he's ever heard of is at the US Patent Office</p>
<p>But both a B.S. and a B.A. are offered for Chemistry?!?</p>
<p>KupMup, both degrees are offered for Chem because two different divisions of the university offer the degree. The College of Chemistry offers the B.S., whereas Letters and Science offers the B.A. Visit this page for an explanation of the difference between the programs: <a href="http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad_info/pros_ugrad/degree_choice.html%5B/url%5D">http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/ugrad_info/pros_ugrad/degree_choice.html</a></p>
<p>Chemistry at Berkeley is not representative of most universities... how many other universities have a separate College of Chemistry?
At Berkeley, you can major in Chemistry through the College of Chemistry and get a B.S., OR you can major in chemistry through L&S and get a B.A.... but there is NO REAL DIFFERENCE. L&S makes you take a broader set of distribution requirements, but the chemistry courses are EXACTLY the same. Grad schools and employers DO NOT CARE. </p>
<p>As for Physics, you get a B.A. through L&S. I believe you can get a B.S. in Engineering Physics through the College of Engineering.</p>
<p>In engineering disciplines, which tend to be a bit more pre-professional, the B.A/B.S. distinction actually means something... B.S. degrees have to meet certain requirements for ABET (Accreditaion Board for Engineering & Technology). B.A. degrees in engineering have less requirements in engineering, and offer more flexibility for outside courses. Grad schools will NOT care, BUT employers in engineering probably do. If you know you are going on to grad school in engineering, but want more flexibility in courses, then a BA degree might be right for you. But if you want to get a job right out of undergrad, SOME engineering employers may care about the difference whereas others may not.</p>
<p>For the record, I have a BA in Physics (Harvard) and a PhD in Astrophysics (Berkeley). In Physics, I know for a fact that there is ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE between BA/BS.</p>
<p>As far as the distinction between the BS and the BA (actually the AB) in computer science, the BS in computer science is, actually a BS in EECS, and, as was stated previously, is a fully ABET-accredited engineering degree. That's important for some government jobs (i.e. the US Patent Office). That's also important if you ever want to earn the status of a Professional Engineer (the PE), because there is a stipulation that you must have an ABET-accredited engineering degree to qualify, and the AB in computer science is not accredited. Yes, I am aware that most computer science people are not interested in PE status, but it is still something to be aware of. Also, there are certain government regulations that give preference to those with accredited engineering degrees, or companies that have such accredited people. For example, if you ever want to start your own engineering consulting company that has the government as a customer, you may be better off with an accredited engineering degree, because you'll be eligible for more projects and so forth.</p>
<p>Sakky: B.A. stands for Bachelor of Arts. What does A.B. stand for? What is the distinction between the two?</p>
<p>It's the same thing. There's no distinction , and many times you will see them used interchangeably. I think that A.B. stands for Artes Bacheuloreus or something like that (you can ask somebody who studie Latin. It's just that when you get your diploma, it will say AB and not BA. Or, at least, it was true in the old days, maybe they changed the diploma wording recently</p>
<p>As a point of reference, Harvard also does not give out BA degrees, but instead gives out AB degrees, and so does Stanford. Perhaps even more strange, MIT doesn't give out BS degrees, instead the bachelor's degrees are "SB" degrees (although many MIT alumni will simply say they have a BS degree, but formally speaking, what MIT actually gave them was an SB).</p>
<p>Sakky said:
"As a point of reference, Harvard also does not give out BA degrees, but instead gives out AB degrees..."</p>
<p>I see your point, but you are making more of a distinction then there really is... it's not quite right to say Harvard doesn't offer a BA... because the AB IS the same as the BA... AB and BA are COMPLETELY interchangeable... the order just depends on your preference for English vs. Latin... Harvard and MIT go for the Latin preference on the diploma for historical reasons, but I usually list BA on my resume just because that is more the standard nowadays in the real world... (and believe it or not, there are some who actually confuse AB with an Associates degree...)</p>
<p>Look, I'm not trying to make any distinction more than is necessary. Somebody asked what an AB is, and what the difference is between that and the BA, and I answered his questions. Nothing more, nothing less.</p>