Importance of degree title vs content

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[Pragma]

I'm in a situation and I would certainly appreciate some input from those of you knowledgeable in this area.

My goal is to get into a graduate program in psychology. A PhD program would be nice but a Masters is more realistic for me.

I have completed the degree requirements for a Bachelor of General Studies with a major in Psychology at my university. I have not yet graduated. I have been considering changing my degree plan to a BA with the same major. The difference between the BGS and the BA at my university is in essence 5 courses. Two languages, an additional science and two further humanities.

As I have had no research experience my plan was to return for two semesters to complete the honors thesis in psychology and to obtain research experience. I was also planning on retaking a core psych course that I received a "C" in and taking some additional courses like advanced stats. This is what I am currently on track to do for the semester.

My second option as far as I see it would be to complete the 5 required courses for the BA along with the honors thesis. In this case, I would not be doing the retake of the core psychology course and I may not do the advanced statistics.

My question is.. Would I be better a) retaking the core psych course and adding additional upper level courses or b) completing the BA

My feeling is that additional knowledge in psychology would put me at an advantage for graduate programs but I fear that for those who view a "BGS" as an online degree my application may be tossed aside without consideration.

How important is the degree title to admissions? Which path (if any) would you recommend? Any advice would be very much appreciated 🙂

It seems to me that your first description would give you the best overall set of skills and make you the most marketable to graduate programs. I am not sure about the BGS thing - is there a way for you to go for the BA AND do the stats/thesis? How much longer would it take?

In the long run this isn't going to matter much, and you would be best served by the research and stats training. I'd say do the practical option and apply for schools. Perhaps there is a bias against a BGS on some search committees, but I doubt it would hold you back everywhere (especially master's programs). Perhaps other posters here disagree and would say do the BA - it's a tricky one. But things like honors and research and stats will look good.

 

[Marissa4usa]

I wouldn't worry about the title. I doubt many people even look for that.
I have a BGS in "Human Services" but did an Psychology Honors Thesis and got multiple interviews. I think it's much more important that you have a wide range of experience than two (or three letters) after your name.

While I can image that there are a couple of profs out there that have a problem with the letters after your name (rather than taking into consideration what you have actually accomplished), I doubt that in most cases it's going to be a problem if you can speak about your experience in an intelligent manner. Most schools vary so much in their requirements for BAs, BSs, BGSs, and what not anyways, that it doesn't sense to rule out a candidate just because of that.

 

[mewtoo]

I'm just curious, what in the world is a BGS? Whats the difference between it and a BS or BA? My school only offers a BA or BS so I don't really know about the BGS or any stigma that may be attached to it.

 

[Marissa4usa]

BGS = Bachelor of General Studies.

In some, but not all, cases it's a degree for non-traditional students who are returning to school- often part-time. Often times they have credits from attending college previously. The stigma comes from the fact that the requirements for the BGS are less stringent, i.e. you need to take fewer courses in your major than somebody going for a more traditional bachelor degree (but you still need as many credits).

Some schools allow you to only attend part-time, others don't care. Some only allow you to take specific classes for BGS students, but then some don't.

IMHO, it depends a little bit on what the schools regulations are but for the most part it's up to you what you make out of it. I chose that route because it made sense financially; I was able to do all the classes I wanted to take, participate in research and do an honors thesis, but only paid about one third of my school's tuition for a "regular" bachelor degree. Given that a undergraduate degree in Psychology is essentially worthless and the fact that I planned to go on to grad school it made total sense to me to spend as little as possible.

 

[mewtoo]

BGS = Bachelor of General Studies.

In some, but not all, cases it's a degree for non-traditional students who are returning to school- often part-time. Often times they have credits from attending college previously. The stigma comes from the fact that the requirements for the BGS are less stringent, i.e. you need to take fewer courses in your major than somebody going for a more traditional bachelor degree (but you still need as many credits).

Some schools allow you to only attend part-time, others don't care. Some only allow you to take specific classes for BGS students, but then some don't.

IMHO, it depends a little bit on what the schools regulations are but for the most part it's up to you what you make out of it. I chose that route because it made sense financially; I was able to do all the classes I wanted to take, participate in research and do an honors thesis, but only paid about one third of my school's tuition for a "regular" bachelor degree. Given that a undergraduate degree in Psychology is essentially worthless and the fact that I planned to go on to grad school it made total sense to me to spend as little as possible.

Hmm, I wonder if this degree varies by state? From my understanding, in my state everyone has to have the same amount of hours in their major, minor, core requirements, and BA/BS requirements. The courses that comprise the hours are variable by university, but the amount of hours spent in each of those sections are relatively the same whether you have a BA or BS or majored in psych, chemistry, or underwater basket-weaving. As far as I know I haven't heard of any uni's offering this degree in my state, although I'm no expert.

Hey, I can't knock anyone for saving money. Its the reason I went to a small no-name state university where I could live with my family instead of going somewhere like UT (although at times I regret it because I think I'd have a better chance of getting into phd programs with a big name school). If they had a cheaper degree I would have probably gotten it too. 😛

 

[Marissa4usa]

Hmm, I wonder if this degree varies by state? From my understanding, in my state everyone has to have the same amount of hours in their major, minor, core requirements, and BA/BS requirements. The courses that comprise the hours are variable by university, but the amount of hours spent in each of those sections are relatively the same whether you have a BA or BS or majored in psych, chemistry, or underwater basket-weaving. As far as I know I haven't heard of any uni's offering this degree in my state, although I'm no expert.

Hey, I can't knock anyone for saving money. Its the reason I went to a small no-name state university where I could live with my family instead of going somewhere like UT (although at times I regret it because I think I'd have a better chance of getting into phd programs with a big name school). If they had a cheaper degree I would have probably gotten it too. 😛

I honestly don't know whether and how this would vary from state to state. But again, it's a Bachelor of General Studies and not "of Arts" or "of Science" and there may be no or different requirements. It's also geared towards non-traditional students and thus it is unlikely that you would come across this degree if you're a traditional college student. Also, usually, you wouldn't be able to live on campus or enjoy other privileges that is available to traditional students since in most cases it's already included in their tuition. Of course, that most likely varies from school to school

Also, it was cheaper in my case You get a BGS at a private university and still pay a lot. Here is a list of random schools I came across just typing it into Google.

http://cetl.uconn.edu/bgs/
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/degrees-certificates/undergraduate-degrees
http://www.miami.edu/dcie/index.php/bgs
http://www.twu.edu/genstudies/
http://sspa.boisestate.edu/generalstudies/

 

[mewtoo]

I honestly don't know whether and how this would vary from state to state. But again, it's a Bachelor of General Studies and not "of Arts" or "of Science" and there may be no or different requirements. It's also geared towards non-traditional students and thus it is unlikely that you would come across this degree if you're a traditional college student. Also, usually, you wouldn't be able to live on campus or enjoy other privileges that is available to traditional students since in most cases it's already included in their tuition. Of course, that most likely varies from school to school

Also, it was cheaper in my case You get a BGS at a private university and still pay a lot. Here is a list of random schools I came across just typing it into Google.

http://cetl.uconn.edu/bgs/
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/degrees-certificates/undergraduate-degrees
http://www.miami.edu/dcie/index.php/bgs
http://www.twu.edu/genstudies/
http://sspa.boisestate.edu/generalstudies/

I just looked it up in conjunction to my state and found one uni's website that spelled it out for me. It does basically the equivalent of the BA and BS hours for my state like I was talking about earlier. I'm surprised my uni doesn't have a BGS as my uni has a huge non-trad population. Thanks for the info!

Sorry for thread hijacking. 😛