What are the benefits of having a 4 year BA over a 3 year one?

February 7, 2006 11:34 AM

What are the benefits of having a 4 year BA over a 3 year one?

After getting the bureacuratic runaround on campus...
Im at a university in Canada that offers a 3 year 'general' BA that if i take enough courses in one subject i can get a 'general degree with an area of specialization'. But im in psyc and they dont offer a 3 year specialization in psyc so it would just be a general degree.
So i can think of needing a 4 year for continuing on to grad school, or becoming a teacher because i need a 'teachable' as my friend told me, but thats all i can think of...

posted by baking soda to education (12 comments total)

From what I've seen of 3 year degrees in Canada, is that they are mainly "Bachelor of Applied blah blah blah" which isn't often accepted for Masters, and doesn't have the "shiny" reputation of a regular BA.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:42 AM on February 7, 2006

If you know what you want to do with your degree when you are done you can better answer this question. Like you said, if you are interested in grad school the extra year can be handy especially if you can do some sort of senior thesis that can make you a better looking applicant. If you don't really know what you want to do, then it seems like a 3 year degree might be sufficient, especially if it really is a "real" BA. In most areas of employment, the details of your college degree will be pretty irrelevant to your employer or to places you are applying to once you have 5 or more years or real work experience. Therefore the degree only has to be sufficient to get you that first real job.
posted by Tallguy at 11:46 AM on February 7, 2006

I believe a 4 year "honours" degree is generally required for postgrad studies (Masters/PHD), which is the usual path if you would like to stay in the psych field. Also, the professional schools (i.e. law/meds/rehab/teacher's college) likely look more favourably on a 4 year degree. Potential employers likely would as well. If in doubt, I would suggest asking anyone in an admissions department of a program you might like to take, or someone in an HR department of a company you might like to work for.
posted by shucks at 11:47 AM on February 7, 2006

Oddly enough almost without exception undergrad degrees in the UK are three year
posted by A189Nut at 12:29 PM on February 7, 2006

The biggest benefit I see is avoiding being in the "real world" for another year.
posted by piratebowling at 12:52 PM on February 7, 2006

Oddly enough almost without exception undergrad degrees in the UK are three year

Nonsense. Almost without exception, honours undergrad degrees take 4 years in Scotland.
posted by the cuban at 1:10 PM on February 7, 2006

Being able to get into grad school is the major one.

Some employers will descriminate 3-year vs. 4-year degrees, but many won't notice.

English 3-year degrees are considered equal to North American 4-year programs because A-levels are considered equivalent NA first year/freshman curicula. The same is true of CEGEP in Quebec.
posted by bonehead at 1:27 PM on February 7, 2006

"Oddly enough almost without exception undergrad degrees in the UK are three year

Nonsense. Almost without exception, honours undergrad degrees take 4 years in Scotland."

Er, that's because Scottish Highers are not equivalent to A-levels, thus requiring an extra year of UG study in order to count. To claim otherwise is like saying that a degree with a year's study abroad is a four year degree - technically yes, but academically, in credit terms, no.

Or to put it another way, almost without exception undergrad degrees in the UK are three year.

The only meaningful exceptions would be degrees with a foundation year, but IIRC nowhere even offers those any longer.
posted by A189Nut at 1:35 PM on February 7, 2006

You will earn more money off the start as a teacher (in Ontario at least) if you have a four year degree. Teachers with three year degrees eventually have to take another five courses if they want to reach the top of the pay scale.

It is almost universally agreed that it is much, much easier to do the four year degree than to try to catch up by taking part time courses while teaching.
posted by davey_darling at 1:40 PM on February 7, 2006

Whatever way you dress it up, an undergrad hons degree takes 4 years in Scotland. This is regardless of any overseas study component or if the student sat Highers or A Levels.
posted by the cuban at 2:03 PM on February 7, 2006

What do you plan to do with your degree 'in psyc'?

If it's nothing to do with psyc, then the only significant impact is on highly competitive employers who will be more impressed by a four year degree, and very unimpressed by a degree in nothing, which is what a general degree is going to look like to them. But even that only matters for your first job. Once you've got a year or two of experience under your professional belt, nobody will notice or care what your BA is in or how long it took.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:06 PM on February 7, 2006

Er, that's because Scottish Highers are not equivalent to A-levels, thus requiring an extra year of UG study in order to count.

Nope,the Scottish universities have offered four-year degrees since well before the days of A levels.

What's more, rather than supplementary work at a lower level, the MA offered by the big four actually consists of an additional year of work at honours level. (more on that)
posted by bonaldi at 4:11 PM on February 7, 2006