High school juniors: as you begin building your college lists, you should look deeply into the academic offerings at each college you’re considering. In fact, digging into the academic department(s) where you’re likely to major is much more important than the overall reputation or ranking of each college as a whole (more on college rankings, and why they don’t tell you what you really need to know, here). When I work with my clients, I teach them how to research colleges, showing them how to investigate what it would be like to be a XYZ major at each college.
Sometimes students will find that there’s more than one degree option available for the major in which they (think they*) are most interested. Sometimes there may be a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, as well as a Bachelor of Sciences (BS) degree. So what’s the difference between the BA vs the BS, and which one is the right choice?
I just returned from a visit to Rice University, a highly selective private research university in Houston, Texas. This is actually where the question arose, and I asked it of an academic advisor in the College of Natural Sciences. There were both degree options available for their Biosciences, Chemistry, Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences, Environmental Science, and Physics majors.
The Difference Between the BA and the BS Degree
The difference, the advisor told my counselor group, is that students who earn the BA degree will have a broad survey of the topic, and have room in their four years to study a second major or a minor. Students who earn the BS degree, however, will choose a concentration, and in addition to the subject overview courses in the BA degree, they’ll also be required to take 4-6 additional courses which will give them a deep dive into a specialized topic within the major.
For example, if you’re an Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences major earning a BA, you’ll have what Rice calls “a comprehensive overview of the discipline,” which “can be combined easily with other majors or professional career paths. If you choose the Bachelor of Science degree, you’ll have to choose one of three areas of specialization: Environmental Earth Science, Geoscience or Planetary Science. You basically have a minor within your major, adding depth to your studies.
Here’s a link to Rice University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.
Rice is not alone in offering both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in different fields. I wanted to see how this looked at a large public research university, so I selected the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I discovered that science-related majors were not the only ones with the dual BA/BS option! Wisconsin offers both degrees in a number of social sciences, including Legal Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Classical Humanities, Economics, History, English, Public Policy, Gender Studies and a number of languages including French and German and Chinese. Of course, both options are also available for a wide range of science majors as well.
As I would have my students do, I dug more deeply into the BA vs. BS degree descriptions for Political Science, which was my major in college.
Here’s what I learned:
If I were to pursue the BA in Political Science at Wisconsin, I would have to take three courses in each of three different concentration areas within the department: International Relations, American Government, Political Theory and Comparative Politics. I would need to complete four semesters of a foreign language, or three of one language and two of another.
If I were to decide to pursue the BS, I would need the same political science breadth courses above, plus electives. Additionally, though, I would need to take two more science courses, plus additional math, computer science or statistics courses than the BA candidates take. However, I would only need to complete three semesters of a foreign language.
For comparison, Johns Hopkins University, my alma mater, offers only a BA in Political Science and all majors within the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, including all of the sciences, computer science and math. Students can only earn a BS degree from the Whiting School of Engineering.
Which is Better, the BA or the BS Degree?
Our team of college counselors always jokes that the answer to pretty much every question parents and students ask us is, “it depends.” (Fun fact – I keep a piece of paper that says #ItDepends on my desk, and whenever someone asks me a question, I just hold it up!). This is the answer to this question as well, because both options serve their purpose, depending on what outcome or experience a student desires.
For some subjects, the Bachelor of Science might be preferable for those planning to apply to graduate school, as the specialized courses sometimes go deeply enough to be almost at the level of graduate school courses. They definitely show deep interest in the subject. If you choose a BS degree, you’ll take about 50% of your classes within your major.
For some students, though, the Bachelor of Arts is the preferable option, because they want to explore other interests. A BA will give you time to major in biosciences, with a minor in creative writing or philosophy, for example – disciplines that aren’t even close to each other, but which will enhance your skills and satisfy an intellectual desire. If you choose a BA degree, you’ll take about a third of your classes within your major, another third on general education courses, and the final third will be whatever you want to take – either another major, a minor or electives in areas in which you have interest.
So really, #ItDepends.
Hope this helps as you consider what to study, and how, in college!
Look for another article soon explaining the Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees!
And if you’re looking for support on your college application journey, please reach out to us. Magellan College Counseling’s professionally-trained team can guide you through the experience, with a focus on maintaining your sanity and getting great results!
* EIGHTY PERCENT (80%) of college students change their major at some point during their four years! It’s OK if you don’t know what you want to study in college when you’re in 9th, 10th or even 11th grade! You can be undecided when you enter college! And chances are pretty high that even if you do declare a major, it’s not going to be what you end up graduating with.