Quote:
Originally Posted by rick-l
They are two very different career paths
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I don't understand this comment. An undergrad degree is a stepping stone to a career and/or graduate school. Typically the difference between a BA and BS in a particular discipline is the number of units in the discipline. A BA will require less specialized courses and more general education requirements. In the end a person will still have a degree, eg in chemistry, but one will have a BA, the other a BS. You could argue that the person with the BS is better equipped to work in the field (due to the extra courses in the major), but they will also be less exposed to non-major fields unless they choose to overload.
So in the short term, a BS may have an advantage over a BA. But in the long term, and if one wants to change fields, the BA may provide more insight/breadth/etc. In my case a BA from a small liberal arts college did not hinder me in getting into any/all of the phd programs to which I applied. And in fact an inordinately high percentage of my classmates for my incoming phd class had BA degrees from small liberal arts colleges.