Psychology (BA or BS)

What is A Psychology (BA or BS) Degree?

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processing–the mind.  It’s a field that people really enjoy studying because what’s not to like about basically learning about you?!  The field has a very broad application, even though many people think it’s mainly about counseling people and helping them with their problems.  Psychology is a science—a young one compared to physics and chemistry—because it uses established research methods in its quest to understand why people behave and think the way they do.

To earn either the BA degree or the BS degree in Psychology, you will cover the basics of the field. The BA degree in Psychology, however, is a broader-based program in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, possibly requiring you to study a foreign language. You’ll take courses from various specialties in the field, like social psychology, child development, neuroscience, and gerontology. The BA degree is the degree most students who are planning either to go into some kind of applied psychology work—teacher, therapist, counselor, social worker—or to study applied psychology in grad school will choose.  The BS, as opposed to the BA, degree in psychology will require more science and math, in addition to the core psychology courses, and is more likely to be pursued by students who want to work in business applications like human resources, industrial/organizational psychology, management, or marketing.

The videos below discuss “typical” programs, so they should help regardless of which school you are considering.