<p>What are the differences, yo no comprendo (understand).</p>
<p>Latin to English</p>
<p>AB=Artum Baccalaureus
SB=Scientia (I think) Baccalaureus</p>
<p>Essentially, AB/BA = bachelor of arts and SB/BS = bachelor of science.</p>
<p>Also, Oxford awards the D. Phil. instead of the Ph.D. Same degree but just in Latin like A.B.</p>
<p>AB and BA are the same. SB and BS are the same. It just depends on the school. Some schools try to stick with the traditional latin instead of translating. I know UChicago has the AB/SB.</p>
<p>What difference does it make if you graduate with a B.A. vs. a B.S.?</p>
<p>one major difference is that i dont think you can get a BA if you havent fulfilled a foreign language requirement..</p>
<p>at least this is how it was explained to me at NU.. which awards a B.A. for all the liberal arts disciplines (even science ones like physics, i believe) but my degree will be a B.S. because in the journalism school there is no foreign language requiremet. </p>
<p>thats how a student explained it to me.. so it could be way off.. im sure there are probably more subtleties than that.</p>
<p>each school is different. Many schools will offer a BA w/o foreign language, some of the UC's for example. But, of course, UC requires two years of HS FL prior to application.</p>
<p>what? everyone in the college of letters and science at UCLA needs to fulfill the foreign language requirement (either by finishing level 3 in college or passing AP exam only). this encompasses BA majors like economics, political science, english, history, etc etc etc as well as BS majors like biochem, geology, math, psychobio, physics, etc etc etc.</p>
<p>B.A. requires a larger breadth of classes taken.</p>
<p>yup....UCLA's requirement is specific to that campus -- it is not a UC system grad requirement....that's why I used the word "some".</p>
<p>For example, Berkeley Letters and Sciences ("L&S") does not have a FL competency requirement beyond third year of HS.</p>
<p>Is either degree superior to the other? Also i have got the impression that a B.S. is generally a more specialized education, while the B.A. is more well-rounded, is true? Also would a B.A. need to go to a grad school more than a B.S. because of the lack of specialization?</p>
<p>i had the feeling that a B.S. is more desirable, from what I have read...</p>
<p>I have got the same impression, but i'm still not sure...</p>
<p>on CNN at least today, they were talking about how a B.A. has poor job prospects compared to B.S, hence the specialization i guess...</p>
<p>The BA/BS distinction matters ONLY, ONLY, ONLY for engineering degrees... BS degrees in engineering have to satisfy ABET requirements for accreditation.</p>
<p>Note that there is NO DIFFERENCE for BA/BS distinction in pure sciences... astro, geo, physics, chem, math, etc.</p>
<p>There is no inherent difference between a BA and a BS. For any given major, most colleges only give one or the other. When both are offered, the BS usually requires more depth and the BA requires more breadth.</p>
<p>BS is more math for Econ, more Physics in Bio, more calc in Chem, etc.</p>
<p>thanks bluebayou, i didn't realize that. </p>
<p>"on CNN at least today, they were talking about how a B.A. has poor job prospects compared to B.S, hence the specialization i guess..."</p>
<p>it's not that a BA has inherently worse job prospects than a BS, it's just that there are more BS majors out there that are suited for the economy. this includes engineering, computer science, as well as other science and math majors that can be coverted into high demand jobs. on the other hand, liberal arts type majors in the BA category, such as classics, ethnic studies, philosophy, history, sociology, etc. don't have a big job market. </p>
<p>i also agree with im_blue's post.</p>
<p>"Also would a B.A. need to go to a grad school more than a B.S. because of the lack of specialization?"</p>
<p>not lack of specialization but lack of job market. for example, political science majors as well as say, some english, classics, history, and philosophy majors may want to go to law school to increase their job prospects. but hey, if you majored in biology, what are you going to do? if not medical school, then researcher? teacher?</p>
<p>Is BA or BS better for applying to top medical schools?</p>