<p>My daughter is a sophomore majoring in Chemistry and is trying to fit in a semester abroad in England next spring. She is considering getting a BA in Chemistry, rather than a BS in Chemistry because she cannot fulfill all the requirements for a BS in Chemistry in time to graduate as expected in May 2013. (At her college, not all classes are given both fall and spring semesters, and some are prerequisites to others). Her goal is to go to grad school in chemistry. Will her chances be significantly reduced in getting in a good grad school program in chemistry if she doesn’t get a B.S.?</p>
<p>My daughter was not able to do a semester abroad as a chem major for the scheduling reasons you described. She did however do a summer research internship abroad. She will be getting her BS degree in Chemistry and is now making final decision on which PhD program of the ones that accepted her to attend. I don’t know about the BA/BS part of the question, but I think having the research experience plus lab assistant and tutoring experience was a big plus in her overall application package.</p>
<p>My daughter is first-year graduate in the sciences. Because she attended an LAC, she has a B.A., not a B.S., so I would answer that no, it doesn’t matter. If your daughter can swing a semester aboard, she should go for it since she won’t have this opportunity again.</p>
<p>But she must spend as much time at school and over the summer doing research if she wants to be a competitive applicant.</p>
<p>Doesn’t matter at all. The difference between the degrees is highly arbitrary and totally non-standard - the same course sequence might earn a student a BS at one college and a BA at the other.</p>
<p>Agreeing with the others that the degree designation doesn’t matter. In a science field, however, research experience seems to be a MAJOR factor, (as well as good grades and awesome letters of recommendation).</p>
<p>thanks for the comments-- She hopes to do some research next summer, and I passed on the suggestion of considering doing a summer research program England, in lieu of studying abroad during a semester.</p>