Re: Schools

[smithjb@sas.upenn.edu (Joshua Smith)]

Phil Bigelow wrote:
> 
> Keep in mind that there are no undergraduate programs that
> offer a BS in paleontology.  You should major in either geology
> and/or biology as an undergraduate.  Then specialize in
> vertebrate paleontology as a graduate student.
> 
        This is actually not true.  You can major in paleobiology at the 
University of Pennsylvania through the Committee on Paleobiology.  This 
requires a joint appointment through the Departments of Geology and 
Biology and involves a coursework component from both.  The degree 
offered through this program is an A.B. in Paleobiology.  
        The reason that this degree is not a B.S. or an Sc.B. is historical
only.  Of the Ivies, only Yale, Cornell, and Brown (and maybe Columbia, but I
don't think so) offer a Bachelor of Science in geology the rest of us 
give an A.B. only because it is tradition, dating back to Colonial days 
when the only education offered in the U.S. was a "classical" program, 
heavy on the theology.  There is no real difference, however, 
between the A.B. in geology and a B.S. or Sc.B.  



-- 
__________________________
Josh Smith
Department of Geology
University of Pennsylvania
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smithjb@sas.upenn.edu