Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science vs. Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Science (1 Viewer)

[pendragon]

What's the difference between them (besides no. of years and ATAR)? Which is better? Pros and cons of each? Personal experience?

 

[izzy88]

I don't have personal experience from either, but from what i've heard/seen on the usyd website...

The first basic difference is that the BA/BSc you finish with two separate degrees whereas the other one is just one degree 'Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences'.

Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences:
- In first year you have to do 'Analytical Thinking' and 'Academic English' (2 subjects out of 8)
- You only major in either an arts field or a science field. Ie. you only have one major and you do a lesser number of subjects in the other area.
- you also have to do a couple more compulsory liberal stream subjects from the areas of rom the areas of Analytical Thinking, Communication, Ethics, Scientific Enquiry, Technological Literacy and Culture, Society and Global Citizenship.

Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts
- no compulsory subjects as such (eg. no 'academic english'
- you get an arts major and a science major

If you don't know what you want to do (or you want to do both science and arts and may want to continue further study), I believe the Bachelor Arts/Bachelor of Sciences is a better broader degree and it also doesn't lock you into doing compulsory liberal studies subjects.

Whilst a liberal studies degree can come across as offering lots of choice etc, I had a friend that started doing a similar degree but ended up transferring out because although you can do lots of subjects, there are so many requirements that you have to follow that it can be frustrating ie. you may have to think out your major in better detail because you have to include the compulsory liberal studies subjects which may not be in your major area. In my mind, having to do a subject called 'Academic English' would also be a deterrent, but that's just my opinion... (it sounds like a very boring kind of subject to do..)

However they are, in the end, quite similar. The benefit of the BA/BSC (which I find pretty amazing) is what would normally take 6 years (to get two degrees) you can do in 4, and if it was offered when I started university I may have considered it (I was unsure about whether I wanted to do science or arts).

Hopefully someone who does the degrees will be able to pipe up who actually does one of the degrees. However the only thing is I'm not sure how many people there will be- I believe the BA/BSC (4 years) only started 2010 or 2011 and the Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences was a couple of years ago. The degrees in their current guises weren't around at usyd in 2007 when I started in any case (I think it was just called a Bachelor of Liberal Studies then and probably had different requirements).

 

[spence]

I looked into transferring into the BLAS, one thing it has going for it is it requires a lot less senior credit points than other degrees, so if you were interested in lots of areas you can do that course and do lots of first year subjects. Of course, if you do that you don't go as in depth in the areas

 

[breanna1992]

I'm so glad someone else is thinking the same thing as me... I'm having the hardest time choosing what to go for atm.
are you applying for mid year intake pendragon ?

I unfortunately didn't get the atar for arts/science, luckily BLAS is more appealing to me

but I'd really like to hear from people who have experience with both of these degrees too... Uni is such a big commitment, and I don't want to change courses again :/

 

[gobbledigook]

The double degree requires first year maths because it's a requirement for any science degree.

 

[UncoKane]

I did Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (the degree before Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences) but I had to transfer out to BSc/BA coz it was just so restrictive and so many compulsory units and just ugh. Such a limited choice of other subjects other than what's required.

Don't do the BLAS. BSc/BA is much better.

 

[sharnakins]

I'm in the BSc/BA .... if you have an idea of what majors you would like to do and enjoy the idea of arts and science subjects its much better because its freer then BLAS. It also results in a better timetable than full on science students - but if you like both areas of study its a great degree ... and the combination of majors you do could be really beneficial in setting you aside from other people who want a job.
Also with BSc/BA you can choose which one you want to do honours in ... or even both if you want to do a year for each.