How to Choose Humbio: BA or BS

Course of Study Design

Breadth Courses

A minimum of 10 units from the chosen degree option are required.

Depth & Upper Division Courses

5 total courses are required from within the chosen degree option. At least 3 courses must be within the chosen Depth.

What courses are you drawn to?

Which degree option - BA or BS - do these courses generally fall into?

BA Courses

Behavioral
Cultural
Humanities
Sociology
Psychology
Economics
Public Policy
Communications
Management
Ethics

BS Courses

Biological
Physiological
Engineering
Earth Systems
Chemistry
Physics
Quantitative Analysis
Scientific Methods

I think students are best advised to look at the overall quality and content of the curriculum offered by an institution more so than the degree awarded. Neither the BA or BS should be viewed as superior to the other. Rather, they should be viewed as ... comparable or equal in quality with a slightly different focus on the student's academic experience.

Kristi Wold-McCormick

University Registrar at CU-Boulder

What skills do you want to build?

Choose your courses to build skills relevant to pre-professional schools, employers, fellowships, and master's programs.

Employers in the fields of health and life sciences, may look for applicants who have bachelor degrees in the sciences, including Human Biology. Whether the degree is a BS or BA seems to matter less than the actual skills and experience a candidate brings.

Kathleen Cassidy

Associate Director at Stanford Career Education, Stanford University

Research Your Future Requirements

AADs and BEAM career coaches can provide guidance.

No preference is given to applicants who have majored in science over those who have majored in other disciplines. Students can be successful in their medical studies regardless of undergraduate concentration, providing they have had adequate science preparation. Students are urged to strive not for specialized training but for a balanced, liberal education.

Harvard Medical School