What's the difference in a B.A.and a B.S. for college degrees?

Question

plan to study biology

Answer 1

B.A. - Bachelor of Arts
B.S. - Bachelor of Science

It all depends on your major to determine if its more Art or Science.

Answer 2

The different courses of study at colleges across the US will usually be classified under two broad catagories: Either a study in the Arts, or a study in the Sciences. Any career that requires intuitive thinking as a part of its makup is considered and Art, which is why things like Music, Art, Marketing, and Business Management are a part of this class. Those careers that require more structured thinking fall under the sciences catagory. Biology, Medicine, engineering, and Information Technology are Sciences. I myself have a BS IT-- A Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.

I hope my viewpoint has given you some light to your question.

Answer 3

A B A is a Bachelor of Arts; a B S is a bachelor of science.

For degree programs that offer both, the B S is more mathmatically rigid and uses more of an analytical, mathmatical approach.

A B A in Business would be more likely to be less analytical in the degree program and more focused on the more artistic side. The student would likely take less math and less sophisticated math. They may perform well in their math courses but they are not the "numbers" type and their view is more feeling and image than hard numbers. Many are in sales and marketing of lesser technical product where image, sizzle, etc are what attractst the customer. Many are not in the manufacturing, technical, or engineering management areas.

A B S in business would be more analytical in the degree program and more focused on numerical, measurable ends (units made / hr, Return on Investment, P/E ratio, Labor cost / production unit, etc). They are focused more on the data than the feeling or image. These types are less often seen in Sales and Marketing unless the product is very technical. They interface well with manufacturing, engineering, technical, product development departments as they speak the numeric language better than they do image and style.

So what is best for you? The probable answer is your like or dislike for numbers. Do you make major purchase based on image or performance may be the question to ask? If you buy a car based on style, color, etc you may be best served in a BA degree. If you buy a car based on miles / gallon, repair costs / mile, reliability data, and other numeric info, a B S may be better for you.

Answer 4

A BA stands for Bachelor of Arts degree while a BS signifies a Bachelor of Science degree (BS).

The BA degree is a liberal arts degree. It provides general knowledge in many fields and emphasizes intellectual skills such as thinking, problem solving, reasoning, and judgment. The primary goal of a liberal arts degree is not to prepare the student for a specific job but to develop an educated citizen, the traditional objective of a college education.

The BS degree is narrower and more specialized than the BA, emphasizing mathematics, science, and computer skills. It is most appropriate for students planning research careers in areas of psychology, general medicine, mathematics and the sciences.

Answer 5

BA - Bachelor of Arts
BS - Bachelor of Science

Today, the most common undergraduate degrees given are the Bachelor of Arts (Artium Baccalaureus) (BA, AB) and the Bachelor of Science (Scientiæ Baccalaureus) (BS, BSc, SB, ScB). Originally, in the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Trinity College Dublin all undergraduate degrees were in the Faculty of Arts, hence the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Since the late 19th century, most universities in the English-speaking world have followed the practice of the University of London in dividing undergraduate degree subjects into the two broad categories of arts and sciences, awarding the degree of Bachelor of Science to students of the latter category of subjects.

In the United States, many colleges (particularly what are known as "liberal arts colleges") and universities award the BA for all "academic" subjects (whether English or Chemistry) — often these colleges and colleges within universities only offer academic (rather than pre-professional) courses. Schools that have professional training ("Police Science", "Finance", "Nursing", and so on) often reserve the BS degree for these subjects. Some schools award the BA for humanities academic courses and the BS for courses in the natural sciences; in some cases a student may choose between a BA course of study and a BS course of study in the same subject at the same college (for example, at the University of Chicago). At least one American university (Caltech) awards the BS for all subjects, including, e.g., Literature.

Answer 6

The difference is like so a B.A. is an easier degree to acheive I study Geology but I can get either a B.A. or B.S. Now I saw an answer totally wrong you can get a B.S. in psycology it is a behavioral science.

Answer 7

Traditionally what the answers say are true. But if you go to a prestigious university like Harvard, they will offer a BA in Mathematics. The difference? None. Its like the difference between a DO and MD now. It just depends what the university wants to call the degree. The requirements to be accredited are the same regardless. But you won't usually find a BA in engineering just as you won't usually find a BS in Classical Languages.

Answer 8

B.A means Bachelor in Arts, and B.S. means Bachelor in Science. When you go for the B.S., the courses you take will be focused more into what it is that you are studying as opposed to taking as many liberal arts classes.

Answer 9

There used to be more of a difference... but these days a science course may be loaded with humanities type course and thus reward you with a BA... and I studied Speech and received a BS although I had many art type courses.

Answer 10

just in case you don't get a better answer, I think you take more math and science classes for a BS than for a BA. In the end, there's real-world difference that an employer would care about.