BA or BS time to decide

[hamburger90]

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Hello everyone

Thank you all for taking your time to answer the following question. My school offers two types of undergrad chemistry degrees, a BA and BS. I am sure some of you are familiar with this but just in case you are not the BS is harder due to a strong emphasis on physical chemistry and physics calculus based. Also, a differential equation class must be completed. Now i am coming to the dead end. I need to choose before the summer which degree to complete. My main question is the following: WIll the BS look better on my application than the BA even with a lower GPA? please provide some of your opinions even if they are not related to the same question

Thank you all soo much!👍

 

[sfoksn]

I don't think it matters as long as you take the core pre-reqs and take additional "recommended" upper division science courses to supplement your application.

I did Anthropology major and it was just fine.

 

[hamburger90]

ur a genius you do not count! lol 😀

 

[Kahr]

Hello everyone

Thank you all for taking your time to answer the following question. My school offers two types of undergrad chemistry degrees, a BA and BS. I am sure some of you are familiar with this but just in case you are not the BS is harder due to a strong emphasis on physical chemistry and physics calculus based. Also, a differential equation class must be completed. Now i am coming to the dead end. I need to choose before the summer which degree to complete. My main question is the following: WIll the BS look better on my application than the BA even with a lower GPA? please provide some of your opinions even if they are not related to the same question

Thank you all soo much!👍

Nope, it will look worse.

I don't think it matters as long as you take the core pre-reqs and take additional "recommended" upper division science courses to supplement your application.

I did Anthropology major and it was just fine.

👍
Do what you find interesting/be true to yourself (this will not only make you a more interesting applicant, you'll do better overall in your classes and enjoy college more, this is 4 years of your life we're talking about), do well on your pre-reqs, do well on your DAT, you'll be good to go.

 

[lnngu]

Depends... do you want a DDS or a DMD?

j/k

Listen to skoksn. Being a genius means you're right pretty often.

 

[Kahr]

Depends... do you want a DDS or a DMD?

j/k

Listen to skoksn. Being a genius means you're right pretty often.

qft

 

[Odontos2015]

It makes absolutely no difference. At my undergrad institution, the B.A. majors are geared towards pre-health students. The type of bachelor's degree you obtain does not factor into your competitiveness as an applicant. A B.S. would only slightly benefit you if you were applying for a Ph.D program in a science-related field.

 

[camshaft]

Often it's just semantics. Penn only gives B.A.'s in biology just because that's the traditional degree. There's no B.S.

 

[persenmi]

It makes absolutely no difference. At my undergrad institution, the B.A. majors are geared towards pre-health students. The type of bachelor's degree you obtain does not factor into your competitiveness as an applicant. A B.S. would only slightly benefit you if you were applying for a Ph.D program in a science-related field.

I agree with this. If all you want to do is be a dentist, go with the BA. However, if you fail to get into dental school, a BS will help you be more competitive in the chemistry job market. Personally, I have a BA in Biochem and I was able to get into UPenn 👍.

 

[LaFleur]

I'm really surprised that there are schools that offer BA's in the hard sciences. I always thought they would all be BS's. Within my major I also have a choice between a BA and a BS, and personally I'm gonna get a BS just because I think that would make it slightly easier to find something research related to do after I graduate (since I'm gonna take some time off). I was talking to one of my bio professors about this, and his view was, "Why would anyone get a BA instead of a BS?" I guess it makes sense for the job market/if you're trying to go into science.

But for dental school, it makes absolutely no difference. My brother chose to get a BA instead of a BS, because he realised it was going to be easier to keep his GPA up, and that's really the most important thing. Now he's sitting pretty with acceptances to his top two dental schools (one of which is a school that's REALLY difficult to get in as an OOS applicant), and can't make a decision about which one to go to. 😀

So unless you want to do something that's heavily science related for a couple of years after college, I would say just go for the BA if it gives you a higher GPA in the end. I doubt adcoms are going to be thinking about or discussing whether you're getting a BA or BS, especially if you apply while still in college (then you won't even have your degree yet!).

 

[LaFleur]

Often it's just semantics.

I feel like it's not necessarily just semantics. For example, in OP's case the coursework requirement seems to change for the BA vs. BS. I feel like that's the norm with what I've seen is the difference between a BA and BS (unless your undergrad doesn't offer BS's or gives you a choice between the two for the hell of it)--that the requirements for a BS would be more heavily focused on math and more technical/hard science courses than the BA, which is probably not as math based and most likely gives you broader/different electives or requirements to choose from depending on the school. (Btw, by hard science, I don't mean that the courses are necessarily harder, I mean hard/natural sciences versus soft/social sciences.)

So since most job applications don't ask for transcripts before you interview (at least in my own and my friends' experience), I could see how a BS would be more beneficial than a BA in the job market. Since the adcoms see people's transcripts, coursework is evident from the applications so there a BA vs a BS wouldn't matter as much.

 

[camshaft]

I feel like it's not necessarily just semantics. For example, in OP's case the coursework requirement seems to change for the BA vs. BS. I feel like that's the norm with what I've seen is the difference between a BA and BS (unless your undergrad doesn't offer BS's or gives you a choice between the two for the hell of it)--that the requirements for a BS would be more heavily focused on math and more technical/hard science courses than the BA, which is probably not as math based and most likely gives you broader/different electives or requirements to choose from depending on the school. (Btw, by hard science, I don't mean that the courses are necessarily harder, I mean hard/natural sciences versus soft/social sciences.)

So since most job applications don't ask for transcripts before you interview (at least in my own and my friends' experience), I could see how a BS would be more beneficial than a BA in the job market. Since the adcoms see people's transcripts, coursework is evident from the applications so there a BA vs a BS wouldn't matter as much.

Sorry LaFleur, I realize I wasn't clear enough in my original post. Based on what one of the physicists at Penn explained to me, the original Latin degree was only a BA - even for any kind of science. The BS was basically made up later as a name to more accurately reflect the 'scientific' aspect of certain degrees. Some schools then decided to make a distinction between the two - but that's simply a decision specific to that school. There isn't an inherent difference in the degrees themselves unless a school decides to assign a difference. In schools such as Penn, and I believe also Rice, NYU, and Berkeley, only a BA is offered because that's the traditional degree, and the BS is seen somewhat as something that was just made up later. I know Penn is pretty old fashioned when it comes to degrees and diplomas, which is partly why I think they use the BA. In fact, my whole diploma is in Latin. I thought most other schools put it in English?

 

[LaFleur]

Thanks for explaining, camshaft!

I didn't know that--it's actually quite interesting! You learn something new every day. 😀