BS or BA
- Thread starter staygolden
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I am not sure how much difference there is between an MA and an MS. However, when it comes to my school, a b.s. does has a much heavier focus on math and science. For the BA at my school, you only need basic statistics but you have to take 4 years of foreign language. For the BS, you need basic stats, calculus, advanced stats, and 2 science labs (bio, chemistry, physics, etc) but no foreign language.
If you want to go to grad school, the BS seems to be the way to go. The BA students seem to fall pretty far behind by the time they get to the psychology research labs, at the end of the undergrad work. Most seem to have a lot of trouble understanding research methods and the stats involved.
If you want to go to grad school, the BS seems to be the way to go. The BA students seem to fall pretty far behind by the time they get to the psychology research labs, at the end of the undergrad work. Most seem to have a lot of trouble understanding research methods and the stats involved.
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I disagree. You can stil get plenty of research experience with a B.A. I'm getting a B.A. and I'm taking a bunch of bio classes, research methods, statistics, calc, neuro, and I have expereience working with a bunch pof research projects. B.A. and B.S. are only letters, what matters is what you make of your college experience and that's what grad schools look at.
Quoted for truth. I don't think I've ever once experienced any degree of prejudice based upon the fact that I have a BA instead of a BS.
Although the alluring nature of a BS in BS was ever-present in my mind (Biological Sciences BS). 🙂
Well i suppose that is all well and good for you but I don't typically see other students going beyond the math and science requirements, if they are earning their BA. They usually stop after their one required math course, which i think can a problem if you are trying to understand or conduct research. Having a stronger math and science background give you better odds of figuring that stuff out, which again, I see quite often. The science students seem to have an edge over the arts students.
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Definitely a bias toward your own degree here.
The reality is that the difference is more of one between a broad education and a focused math-science one. To be honest, though, while I have a math/science background as well as a strong arts background, I got far more positive remarks about my "arts" degree strengths than my math/science/research background during interviews ('though they did mention that as well; they just didn't tend to dwell on it for as long). My fluency in a second language was especially interesting to many of my interviewers, but so was my second degree in a field related to my research interests. While I think a strong math/science background is critical, I don't really see a BS or BA as better. They are simply different.
