Oxford and Cambridge are certainly exceptions. In general, if an institution offers both a BS and BA in the same subject (at least in the sciences), the BS tends to be more technical.
I'm not saying this to diminish the value of a BA, because what their curriculums lack in technical equivalence are often compensated for in breadth and general well-roundedness.
Of course this is not hard fact, but it's a generally correct pattern in American universities.
I hope that it was clear that I wasn't trying to diminish the value of a BA either. There is definite merit to wanting more breadth than depth, especially if you already have a job. I just wanted the OP to be aware of the biases out there. The school he's looking at doesn't offer a BS in Math, but it does offer other BSes.
The reason the latter three offer both is that you can take these from two different colleges. You can get your computer science degree, for instance, from the College of Engineering, in which case it is a BS, or from the College of Letters and Science, in which case it is a BA.
There are also schools where the only difference between the BA and BS is in the requirements for electives outside your major. For instance, I recall one school where a BA required a certain number of units in a foreign language. The BA and BS required the same total number of units and the same required courses in the major--the BA simply required that you include in your electives a foreign language.
There are even schools where the requirements for BA and BS are exactly the same. When you fill out the form where you tell them how you want your name spelled on your diploma, you also check a box to say whether you want it to be a BA or BS.
When interviewing a candidate, you really should place no stock whatsoever in BA vs. BS, unless you know that his school offers both and you know the differences between them. There are just too many exceptions to make any kind of generalization about the two that won't give too high of a misclassification risk.
No I think you were perfectly reasonable. I was just afraid that my statement of "BAs aren't as technical as BSes" could be misinterpreted as "For a given technical subject, a BS is superior to a BA," when in reality there are often more important considerations than technical rigor.
>Oxford and Cambridge are certainly exceptions. In general, if an institution offers both a BS and BA in the same subject (at least in the sciences), the BS tends to be more technical.
Are you sure? In my case the difference between a BA and a BS was taking two biology courses and one English course, versus taking two of English and one of biology.
The mathematics requirements for my degree in mathematics were no different.
I'm not saying this to diminish the value of a BA, because what their curriculums lack in technical equivalence are often compensated for in breadth and general well-roundedness.
Of course this is not hard fact, but it's a generally correct pattern in American universities.