Major vs Degree
Those who are desirous of taking admission in colleges and pursue higher studies past their high school are often confused by words such as major and degree. Degree is a term with which most people are familiar. However, at the undergraduate level, degree is a general term that just clarifies the stream like arts, science, commerce, or engineering that a student is pursuing. There is another term major which makes it clear that the student is getting deepest knowledge in that subject. This article attempts to highlight the differences between degree and major.
Degree
After completing high school, students take admission in a college or university to go for higher studies and get a degree at the undergraduate level, to open doors of success in industries. It is a fact that students having got a degree from a college are considered to be more knowledgeable and industry ready than those who have stopped past their high school course.
A degree is a term that tells that a student is pursuing higher studies in a college or a university. At the undergraduate level, there is the degree that is called Bachelor’s degree while the master’s degree is a rank higher and specifies the level of specialization in a particular subject. The highest level of competence of course in a field of study is considered the doctoral degree or PhD, as it is called.
Major
If someone asks you what subject you are majoring in, do not be confused. The person is not asking about the degree at the undergraduate level that you are completing. He is actually asking you for details of the subjects that are being covered in this degree. For example, just letting a person know that you are doing BA from a college is not enough to let the person know the subjects that are being taught to you or the main subject that is the centre of focus in your degree course.
If you are doing BSc, it doesn’t tell the subject that you are majoring in unless you tell that Biology is the subject that is at the focus of studies. It thus becomes clear that major is the subject that is the main subject in a cluster of subjects being taught in an undergraduate bachelor level degree course.
What is the difference between Major and Degree?
• Major is the subject that a student gets specialized knowledge in, during his degree level course in a college.
• If a student is pursuing BSc, it simply tells that the student comes from a science background. It is only when he tells that he is majoring in biology that others come to know about his subject or field of study in his degree level course
• Thus, while degree is a blanket term, major is a specific term that tells about the subject in which the student is specializing.