Grammar question: BA or B.A.?

[LaFille]

in cover letters or the like, do you generally refer to your undergrad degree (or sciences, whatev) as a BA, or a B.A. ?or do you spell out Bachelor of Arts?

BA

extraletters

[WorkInProgress]

I write B.A., but I don't think it actually matters. I've seen Ph.D. and PhD, so meh.

[LaFille]

i see them both, but i wasn't sure which one was actually correct...

like how it's technically Harry S Truman, not Harry S. Truman, but both are understood...

Originally Posted by LaFille

i see them both, but i wasn't sure which one was actually correct...

like how it's technically Harry S Truman, not Harry S. Truman, but both are understood...

Well, I work for a top university and our style guide says to leave out the periods. Just a perspective.

[CTGirl]

I would assume its B.A. and that's the way I always write it, it's like U.S.A.

[WorkInProgress]

Originally Posted by LaFille

i see them both, but i wasn't sure which one was actually correct...

like how it's technically Harry S Truman, not Harry S. Truman, but both are understood...

Understood, but only the one is actually correct, since it's his name. The social convention for abbreviating a degree is something that seems to be less prescriptive.

[LaFille]

ok, so what about GPA? or G.P.A?

i think that people are moving toward a 'less is more' philosophy when it comes to grammar. but i just don't want to potentially piss off the people reading my resume/cover letter if they are grammar enthusiasts!

[SmilesSoSweet]

As long as your consistant, then it shouldn't matter. So if you mention you have a BA in your cover letter then happen to mention it in your resume or somewhere else, stick to BA and not B.A. or vice versa.

I always use BSLA instead of just BS. The LA part stands for Landscape Architecture.

[WorkInProgress]

Originally Posted by Kitty

Well, I work for a top university and our style guide says to leave out the periods. Just a perspective.

There you go! Somebody who might actually have some clout! (Rather than the rest of us who just do whatever because we like it.)

[wordsmith]

Associated Press Style Book says B.A.

It also says, "If mention of degrees is necessary to establish someone's credenitals, the preferred form is to avoid and abbreviation and use instead a phrase such as, John Jones, who has a doctorate in psychology.

Use an apostrophe in bachelor's degree, a master's, etc.

Use such abbreviations as B.A., M.A., LL.D, and Ph.D. only when the need to identify many individuals by degree on first reference would make the preferred form cumbersome. Use these abbreviations only after a full name, never after just a last name.

When used after a name, an academic abbreviation is set off by commas: Daniel Moynahan, Ph.D., spoke.

Do not precede a name with a courtesy title for an acedemic degre and follow it with the abbreviation for the degree in the same reference:
Wrong: Dr. Pam Jones, Ph.D.
Right: Dr. Pam Jones, a chemist"

[LaFille]

Originally Posted by wordsmith

Associated Press Style Book says B.A.

ok now i'm thrown off ha ha...

i would think that in journalism you'd be trying to save the spaces the periods take up. guess not?

[wordsmith]

We're far less concerned about it now that we don't set type by hand, is my understanding. Also why journalistic style no longer demands that you harvest most commas, necessary or not. Which is good, I hated that.