Psychology: B.S. or B.A.?

Applying to College
1

<p>I am a pre-psychology major in the Honors College at a public research university in my state. It's not the best university (University of Houston), but I selected it because of its outstanding graduate clinical psychology program. </p>

<p>The differences between B.S. and B.A. at my university are solely Gen Ed requirements; the psychology courses are exactly the same. B.S. students take 2 more hours of natural sciences, and 6 more hours of math. B.A. students take 6 hours of a foreign language at the sophomore level instead of the extra math and science. I'm really not very good at math outside of stats, and the B.A. requirements line up more with the Honors requirements (they both have the foreign language requirement). However, I have heard that receiving a B.A. in psychology looks terrible for graduate school admissions, or at least that they prefer B.S. students. </p>

<p>Do you guys think that it will matter for grad school admissions whether I receive a B.S. or a B.A.? I am looking to study either clinical or counseling psychology at the doctorate level.</p>

2

<p>For graduate school in psychology, a B.S. is better. The extra math is important.</p>

3

<p>Quantitative skills are valued in graduate psychology admissions. More and more undergrad programs require calculus and many applicants will have taken calculus. However, it depends on the graduate programs to which you apply. If you apply to clinical psychology programs, especially to PsyD programs, it probably will matter less. As long as you do well in statistics, you should be fine.</p>