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There are many different kinds of bachelor degrees. In my country, there seems to be no difference between bachelor of science in engineering and bachelor of engineering. There is only one kind of degree for undergraduate majoring in engineering. I am now applying to graduate program in the US, and I want to know which one I should choose to correctly get my background known by people in the US.

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  • Although you are asking about the US, in Holland, a BEng and BSc in Engineering are different. A BEng degree is generally obtained at a more vocational type education, so more practical than theoretical, and that could for example mean half a year of study of theory is required before being admitted to a MSc programme at Uni. Nov 13, 2015 at 12:47

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Basic answer:

usually it does not matter for anything whatsoever.

Personal anecdote:

Sometimes such degrees differ in minutia that few (i.e. no one) would care about. At my US undergraduate institution, I took majors in philosophy and chemistry, but I made the chemistry major first on some sort of form to insure the BS rather than the BA. I did so because my school offered both BAs and BSs in chemistry that differed insofar as the BA was easier to earn. At the time, I imagined someone would care.

Longer Explanation

I went on to earn a MA and then PhD in philosophy (at different institutions), and I would say in retrospect that no one would probably have cared in the slightest unless they specifically wanted that coursework difference for some reason.

Moreover, the terms used for undergraduate degrees differ so markedly by institution that no one would depend on the title of your degree to figure out what you did or studied.

Explanation of Degree of Interest

If I were to guess, I would venture that a BS in EE has more humanities than a BE and that the former might be in a college of arts and sciences and the latter in a college of engineering. I would be willing to venture $0.01 x 10^-6 on this.

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In the United States there are a number of different types of bachelor's degrees that are essentially interchangeable, and which one a person gets depends primarily on the history of their institution. As such, the particular name of your degree is not likely to confuse anybody, as long as it has the word "Bachelor" in it, and the correct thing for you to do is to simply name your degree as it has been given to you.

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