Area of focus vs Concentration or Major

I am finishing a bachelor of science in liberal studies with 2 areas of studies at excelsior.
Administrative/management studies and Insurance.
I was wondering how an area of study would be perceived in the marketplace.
Will it carry as much weight as a major or concentration.
How shall I list on a resume:
bachelor of science in
Administrative/management studies
Insurance.
Will that be acceptable or shall I state "areas of focus In".
One more thing between the 2 areas I do have more upper/ lower credits than an actual declared major.
What are your opinions on this?

 

Bachelor of Science with concentration in
Administrative/Management studies perhaps? I have same issue.

Dan

 

I doubt the difference matters much to employers. Many schools now have specilizations within majors. I would list them on a resume as:

Bachelor of Science, Liberal Studies
Specializations in Management and Insurance

 

I would use the same terms Excelsior uses.

 

IMHO

It would be honest to list any of the following as the degree:

Bachelor of Science (simple, to the point, hard to misunderstand.)

BS Liberal Studies (annoted this way on Excelsior documents such as your stutus report) -- I told someone that this was the degree I'm working on through Excelsior and she said "I didin't know you were a liberal". She equated this to women's studies or gay studies type programs. hmmmmmm

BS Liberal Studies (Administrative/ Management Studies and Insurance) (may be a touch long and only pertinent if the job requires a degree in a specific area.)

BS, BSc, BSLS, etc... as abbreviation. BSLS may be misunderstood to be Bachelor of Science in Library Science.

Remember, the point of a resume is not full disclosure but enough factual information to get you an interview.

As far as having more credits than a declared major -- that's probably not imporant to most employers and will only matter in those few cases when a transcript is going to be reviewed for program content anyway.

You can comment on specific areas of study and/or interest in the cover letter -- just don't appear appologetic about it... Saying "with significant coursework in accounting..." goes over better than "enough credit for a major in accounting..." (which would beg the question, "why didn't you major in accounting then?").

just a few thoughts....

 

I have a USNY(Excelsior) degree. I list it as "Concentration in Accounting". I never had an issue with anyone questioning it being an accounting degree.

Here is a good place to look at the differences, though. http://www.123collegedegree.com/bsintro.html
Once at the page do a search for "major vs. concentration".

 

Personally, I'd go with edowaves recommendation.
Jack

 

Ya know, I was just about to ask the same question. Today was Excelsior's 2005 July Commencement. I enrolled in October with 60 credits and finished June 8th, so now it is official!

If anyone needs study materials on exams...let me know.



I want to work in healtcare business, but this Liberal Studies degree was the quickest and cheapest so I went for it...So, for example...would this be an OK way to list my Excelsior degree on a resume?

Excelsior College
Bachelor of Science, Liberal Studies
(Specializations in Management and Marketing)

 

I list my degree from COSC as:
BS – Individualized Studies (Technology & Business)

My diploma reads "Bachelor of Science" and my transcript reads "Bachelor of Science - Concentation : Individualized Studies" It does not say General Studies anywhere.

 

Randall said:
"I list my degree from COSC as:
BS – Individualized Studies (Technology & Business)"

I like that!

 

I think I will go with:
Bachelor of Science
Management and Insurance
What about listing:
University of the State of New York
Excelsior College
What sounds better and would you list it?
Thanks

 

I don't think that would be right since Excelsior is not part of the University of the State of New York anymore.

 

I think it's still is.
It's written on the diploma:
See attached file!!

 

Every school in New York State is part of USNY. It's a State agency.

Here is the Wikipedia entry for USNY.

 

Pilot said:
"It's written on the diploma:"

Nice diploma. I like that they did not use old english lettering in school name.

Dan

 

That's the scan I made of my diploma. I actually wasn't thrilled with them using the college logo. I thought it made it look like a marketing brochure.

 

Pilot,
You say you would go with:

Bachelor of Science
Management and Insurance


Would that not be false advertising? Technically, your major would be liberal studies...not Management and Insurance. Does Excelsior even have a Management and Insurance Major?

I love to be able to do this as my 'areas of focus' are both business related, but I couldn't list business as my major unless I had the BS in General Business that Excelsior offers.


I would also enjoy putting University of the State of New York insead of Excelsior on my resume, but if all the universities in New York are apart of the USNY that would be false advertising too.


I think I will go with:

Bachelor of Science, Liberal studies (Specialization in Business)


I think you kinda get the best of both worlds. It is a touch long, but employers may look at it thinking, well...hes got a liberal studies backround, but he also has a business backround.


The only way I could think of listing University of the State of New York on a resume would be:

Bachelor of Science, Liberal studies (Specialization in Business)
Excelsior College
University of the State of New York

Or maybe:

Bachelor of Science, Liberal studies (Specialization in Business)
Excelsior College (University of the State of New York)


I'm very interested what opinions the experts have on this.

 

Hi Matt!
I am not really sure that it's false advertising, because the actual diploma does not state anywhere liberal studies.
However I think you might be right regarding the specialization I should probably try this:

Excelsior College
University of the State of New York
Bachelor of Science, Specialization in:
Administration & management studies
Insurance

P.S. Excelsior does offer a Bs in business with a major in:
Risk management and insurance.

Let me know what you think!
I am also interested to know how others are listing their BS in liberal studies with areas of focus.
As well as opinions on what sounds better:
Excelsior College
University of the State of New York
or may member of USNY
just excelsior college!!!
Thank you

 

Well, the diploma doesn't say Liberal Studies but your transcripts do.

I do really like your suggestion though.

So for me:

Bachelor of Science (Specialization in Business)
or
Bachelor of Science, Specialization in Business
or my original:
Bachelor of Science, Liberal Studies (Specialization in Business)

The first two may not be false advertising, but they could possibly be misleading. I dunno..

Another resume question:
What should be listed first? The degree? Or the school? I think I've read somewhere that you should emphasize the strength. So if you graduated from Harvard....obviously list Harvard above the Bachelor of Science. But if you have an MBA list that above the school...unless of course its from Harvard...

Is there a site or a message board that does for resumes what this site does for degrees?


Thanks

 

The best approach is identify the school as "Excelsior College" and forget the "USNY". At the same time, there is no reason to call the degree anything other than what it is officially titled. If your transcript says Area of Study or Focus call it that. Why cloud the issue?