Universillege.

[fire_of_avalon]

BAs are definitely not less respected by normal people. By petulant nerds who get their rocks off by talking about their BS degrees, maybe.

The real difference in a BA and BS degree is that one is related to science and the other is not.

BA and BS degrees are academically and professionally equivalent. The denotation of your degree means a whole hell of a lot less in using that degree than... actually using that degree. Certain courses of study may be more challenging to some, but that doesn't mean people with BS degrees are any better or have any better shot at a job outside of their specific training.

When deciding upon what type of degree you want, and what course of study you'll pursue, I advise against focusing on what makes you look smart. Focus on what you would like to be doing in 10 years and then pick what'll get you there.

[Imperfectionist]

I am hopefully going to do a joint honours in English Lit. and French starting this September at either Nottingham or Birmingham University. That is given that I don't screw up my grades which i'm pretty sure I will.

I'm oozing with confidence as you can see

[BarelySeeAtAll]

=) Okies! My family aren't that academic, so I can't really ask people here about it =_= they have high hopes.

Sorry! I totally misguided the direction and intention of this thread!! That's that cleared up ^_^'

[I Took the Red Pill]

I am pursuing a B.S. in either Mathematics or Applied Mathematics, haven't decided on that yet, likely with a minor in Physics. I might also squeeze an English minor in there if time permits 'cause other than math and physics classes I'll only be taking english classes.

So yeah, BSc. is more widely respected.. Because it's science, not literature or philosophy or other BS you don't use in real life. Gun to your head, what's harder and more useful, English Lit. or Physics?

give me a break man

[Namingway]

Currently studying for a B.Sc. in molecular biology at Lund University in Sweden. Planning for M.Sc. and maybe Ph.D. studies later. There are no tuition fees in Sweden so it's great, but on the other hand I have to pay back student loans of ~$35K when I'm done. :/

[fire_of_avalon]

=) Okies! My family aren't that academic, so I can't really ask people here about it =_= they have high hopes.

Sorry! I totally misguided the direction and intention of this thread!! That's that cleared up ^_^'

I was in that boat before I went to college, too. No one in my family aside from two cousins had even graduated high school, so it was pretty hard to transition for me. But I managed, and I'm sure you will too!

[Rye]

That's why I'm trying to do a five year masters degree program. I think I'm charged the same amount I pay in undergrad, so it'd be much cheaper than doing it elsewhere and for 3 years.

If I do go onto having a career in education on the university level, then I'll have to get a PhD. If not, I'll probably stop at my Masters degree. I'd loooove to get another BA/BS degree in one of my other interests, like Psychology, Graphic Design, or Biology.

EDIT: I'm in a similar situation, BarelySee. I'm the first person to go to college in my family, and my parents really don't seem to understand college at all.

[Jessweeee♪]

Oh man. I lost interest in CS and math and my grades showed, which is why I got put on suspension. I saw an advisor about changing my major to Psychology towards the end of last semester. I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I decided to major in something that I had a lot of fun learning about. I posted something about it on facebook (leaving out my grades) and my parents called and threw the biggest fit. It was like I said I was dropping out and working at Seven Eleven. They went on about how I was making this huge mistake and I'll never get anywhere with a Psychology degree. I stopped answering their phone calls for a month because they would only ever talk to me to nag about it. Even now when I talk to my dad about other schools he'll go on and say something like "oh and I'm sure they have plenty of basketweaving if that's what you wanna do, whatever."

If I can ever afford it I want to stay in school forever. Just take one or two classes a semester while I work.

EDIT:

I am also in that club. My parents never finished high school.

[Christmas]

I have been in the university of working adults for the past few years. I studied about working with people and various lessons not listed in the text books. But it's sure is a good experience I will say!

[Rye]

Psychology is a great thing to go into, provided you go in for your PhD after. Psychiatry, even more so. =O

I considered going to school for an art, when I was still thinking about what I wanted to do for a major, and my parents refused to allow me to go. They said that I'd end up jobless in that market. ;O

The more I hear about your parents, the more I'm convinced that they're my parents' Texan alter-egos.

[Jessweeee♪]

Sometimes I think you're an alternate universe me one year in the future xD

[Fujiko]

I used to study medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, but switched majors and enrolled at another university where I could count the medicine courses I had taken before, to my new major. As of now, it's only a few more months left till I have my Master of Science in molecular biology.

My whole family and every single relative are science/math nerds; if they're not doctors they're professors and PhDs in chem and math and computers, and esp medicine and engineering. The pressure was really too much from the family about how medicine or engineering or science was the only way, but science is what I decided upon in the end after all; it's not that I don't like science (I love it), but I think I'm more of an art/language person than a science person, to be honest. ;/ But! I still don't really regret choosing science; it never ceases to interest or amaze me.

[Madame Adequate]

My parents both went to uni, but I'm the first to go beyond undergrad, so I kinda count in that club

[fire_of_avalon]

No, no you are not in our super special secret awesome club. You having previous knowledge of the college experience through stories told to you by your parents!

[rubah]

my uncle and his brood have college educations, and my parents have both went, but neither finished any degrees, and both started as "adults". Hell, I doubt the majority of people I graduated high school with have gone on xD

anyway, I've got one year left at the University of Arkansas for a BSME, I've taken an intensive French program at the Centre de Linguistique Applique, which is a part of the University of Franche-Comte, and right now, I'm doing undergraduate research at the Georgia Institute of Technology.