Getting a Science Degree is Harder Than an Arts Degree

Undergraduate students can find university life challenging for a number of reasons. Many experience homesickness, have trouble making friends and struggle with the pressure of adult life. They balance all this while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree — or the more demanding Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.

Science degrees are among the most difficult to obtain because exams, homework and heavy course loads can take up all a student’s time. In many science courses, exams determine most of your grade and typically require precise, technical knowledge.

This isn’t to say that BA programs are not difficult, as many require their own applied knowledge, but the structure of BS coursework — exam-heavy and technical — often makes the path more demanding.

Personally, my decision to double-major in writing and paleontology was easy. Writing comes naturally to me and it's one of my many hobbies.

However, my BS track requires summer courses and heavily weighted exams, as well as classes that require significant amounts of coursework. This is most evident in my math and chemistry courses, where exams make up the majority of my grade.

Castillo Rodrigo, a junior BS psychology student, said tests are significant portions of his grade and require him to apply concepts from research papers.

“That’s pretty difficult, because some [researchers] don’t know how to write papers, but I have to remember they’re published,” he said.

Colin Pipinich, a junior mechanical engineering student, said that the tests from these classes can be troublesome. According to him, mechanical engineering exams could be 90 percent high-level math and only 10 percent other concepts covered in class.

Pipinich said he remembers an exam where one wrong answer could take your grade from a C to a D.

“We have a lot more of these fundamental things that if we don’t have a 100 percent grasp on, then [grades] fall apart,” he said.

Pipinich noted that it's also possible for science course content to be backpedaled, meaning that something taught last semester gets corrected by new research. That constant evolution can make students feel like they studied certain principles or concepts for nothing.

Despite the rigor required for BS degrees, earning a BA can pose its own unique challenges. Whereas a BA in film, photography, art or writing might appear on the surface easier than a science degree, this might not be the case for every student.

Simon Gatte, a senior film and photography student, said that most of his coursework consists of writing essays on film theory and other concepts.

According to him, many film and photography students enter the program knowing how to use a camera or edit, but lack interest in higher level concepts or theory. As a result, they tend to find those courses more challenging.

“So when they get faced with this kind of stuff, it’s a little bit more difficult because they don’t get interested in that side more going into it. They get interested more after,” Gatte said.

Rodrigo acknowledged that those pursuing a BA might encounter challenges that BS students don’t have to face, such as presenting their homemade work to a class or professor. “They’re getting criticized for something they love,” he said. “BSs crush your soul and BAs crush your dreams.”

Nico Newman, an architecture professor who studied environmental design, said that the most difficult part of earning his undergraduate degree was developing good time management skills. “Nobody showed me how to do that,” he said. “I didn’t really seek help to figure that out.”

According to Newman, his students struggle with this same issue, and also tend to overestimate their understanding of architecture before they’ve taken courses.

“There’s a lot of preconceived notions of what an architectural program is,” Newman said. “They have an idea of what something should be before they know what it is.”

Despite the challenges some BA students may face, such as time management and mastering abstract concepts, students studying science face more pressures from their degree track — difficult exams, a lack of choice in schedules and an inability to partake in hobbies.

All degrees have their pros and cons — whether we choose to pursue a career in the sciences or in the arts, there may be bumps in the road shaped like exams and midterm essays. In the end, we hope to leave here doing what we love and having our diplomas to prove it.