BS or BA in bio??

[dr1989]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

im gonna be applyin to ALL calif schools

should i get a BS in bio or a BA?
(i believe a BS takes a bit longer to attain)

will it give me more of an edge over someone who has a BA-or does it not matter?

my main focus is on ucsd, ucsf, loma linda, western and usc

 

[themulya]

whoa cowboy slow it down a little. I know you have many questions about pharmacy, but some of the questions you're asking have already been addressed in another thread or could be done by doing a little research.

 

[kae32]

i wish i knew that pharmacy was the path for me when i was a freshman... but i didn't

i graduated with a BA in theater....
...got accepted to ucsf.

It's good that you're starting out strong and have a career path to follow, but i think it's best if you major in what you truly are interested in.

There's no right or wrong way to approach getting into pharm school.

...as long as u get all your pre-reqs done
🙂

 

[dr1989]

^^thanks!!

im actually in my 2nd year at my cc so i really didnt know until....recently

i do like biology-i just dont know if i should go for the BA or BS
which would schools like most? i dont mind doin the extra year if it will increase my chances of gettin into ucsf or ucsd<--my main one

so which one? BA or BS?

 

[dr1989]

whoa cowboy slow it down a little. I know you have many questions about pharmacy, but some of the questions you're asking have already been addressed in another thread or could be done by doing a little research.

well i DID search before i posted this topic. but i couldnt find any relevant to this subject

sorry-i guess im just a bit anxious to know

 

[Passion4Sci]

Truthfully, the difference between the BA and the BS will not matter one iota.

Not a single Pharmacy school is going to care about whether your degree is from the College of Letters and Science or whether it's a BS from the College of Biological Sciences - What's going to matter is your scores on the pre-requisites, like Calculus, Physics, Chemistry (Physical and Organic), Biology and more. Just as there are these tougher pre-requisites there are also other ones, such as History, Public Speaking, and English, which are in the "domain" of a BA. But you don't see any preference given to one degree or the other.

Much like law, you'll have students with degrees in all sorts of disciplines, from theater, to psychology, sociology and so on. Now, some degrees, like a UG major in biochemistry, will expose you much more to the "hard sciences" than would a UG course of study in, say, Psychology (What I happened to get my BA in). In THAT respect, a BS would be to your advantage.

But really, and I know everyone else has taken a round-about way of saying this, you need to go with what you're comfortable with. As long as your science GPA reflects an interest in what you're learning (and comprehension thereof), you can get a BA in Basket Weaving and I do believe even UCSF will consider your application. Consider the following data:

Majors
Top 2 majors: biology and biochemistry.
Non-traditional majors: accounting, anthropology, architecture, art history, biotechnology, business, english, environmental studies, law, literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, sociology, theatre/cinema.


You can plainly see, from UCSF's own website, that whether it's a BS or a BA, what matters is this,



Breadth of coursework

Attendance at a 4-year college
More than 190 quarter units of completed college coursework
Completion of a bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degree
A cumulative grade point average of 3.63
A grade point average in prepharmacy requirements of 3.56


That should quell your inner turmoil.


Source: http://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/pharmd/admissions/aboutstudents/

 

[UES Girl]

well i DID search before i posted this topic. but i couldnt find any relevant to this subject

sorry-i guess im just a bit anxious to know

If you think a BS will give you a strong edge over someone who has a BA, I doubt so. There are people that have MS degrees that don't get accepted and people that have only 2 years of pre-reqs that do. Pursue whatever will suit your personal educational goals best and good luck !

 

[eightonesix]

I guess my only opinion would be.... hypothetically and in the case that (hopefully doesnt happen) where you don't get into pharmacy school. What are your plans with your degree and will a BA over a BS or a BS over a BA make much a difference?

 

[UES Girl]

I guess my only opinion would be.... hypothetically and in the case that (hopefully doesnt happen) where you don't get into pharmacy school. What are your plans with your degree and will a BA over a BS or a BS over a BA make much a difference?

That depends on the major, some majors only offer BA and not BS degrees.

 

[stkyrice]

Honestly, as long as you fulfill the requirements, it honestly doesn't matter. I have a BA in ethnic studies and chemistry and an MA in sociology. I didn't get in the first year I tried, and made it into UCSF this year.

On the other hand, I have friends who got straight into UCSF from junior college without finishing their AA/AS degree. You have to take a lot of things into consideration when you're preparing for your app, not just your GPA or your degree or lack of one.