Would appreciate advice on a silly grammar issue in my SOP and Personal Statement

[vvvd]

So, I've written my Statement of Purpose and Personal History Statement for a Ph.D. application. But there is ONE issue that I can't figure out, in writing these essays:

Do I have a Master's Degree in Biology? Or a Masters Degree in Biology? Or perhaps a Master's degree in biology? Or maybe a master's degree in biology? Or is it masters degree in biology?

If anyone could help me out with the proper spelling of this, I would be grateful! 

[fuzzylogician]

I'd write "I have a master's degree in biology". I'd also not worry that much, because this isn't going to be important. Or, I'd use google to find pages such as this one: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/masters-degree-or-masters-degree/ and that one: http://coe.unm.edu/uploads/docs/writing-studio/09-capitalization-page.pdf. 

[vvvd]

Thanks so much. That second link really helped.

I'll be writing, as you suggested, that "I have a master's degree in biology."

Even though this goes against the suggestions in the second link (and your own preference, as far as my initial question was concerned), it still seems that I should capitalize the field of study in the following sentence:

"I am writing to express my interest in pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) at the University of California, Berkeley."

...would you agree?

[fuzzylogician]

I assume this full name of the degree appears somewhere on the program's website? Just do what they do. 

[vvvd]

Thanks again.

It's hard to believe, but the exact phrasing that I'm looking for (i.e. "a PhD in environmental studies, policy, and management) appears only twice on UC Berkeley websites, and one of those times doesn't count because it's in a heading (where everything is capitalized)  In the other one, the degree name is not capitalized.

However, the degree name is capitalized in all other phrasings (e.g. Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) Graduate Program). And I haven't seen it written in lower-case letters when it is followed by the acronym. So I think I'll be capitalizing it.

...but you're probably right that this issue will be the least of the Admissions Committee's concerns    

[TakeruK]

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised that even if the website listed the phrase 10 times, that you would find that even they use 3 or 4 different styles for it. These matters are of very little concern and people don't generally spend energy or effort on it so you might find lots of inconsistency even on their own pages.

For your Masters degree wording question, if the spelling of "Masters" is the main concern, just use an abbreviation, e.g. "I completed a Biology MS degree from XYZ..." Since you are writing to academics working at an academic institution, abbreviations like BS, MS, PhD is fine (for example, even in your post above, you say PhD in xyz, not "Doctor of Philosophy degree in xyz".)

[vvvd]

I think you're right!

And thanks so much for the advice regarding abbreviations.