Mirus

At my school, I've heard the advice that cell+molec folks are generally better off not contacting potential advisors, whereas ecology folks are as good as rejected if they don't have someone agreed to work with them at time of application.

I'll have to disagree with mtlve. It really depends on what your career goals are whether a masters is beneficial or not. Hatem's list is far from exhaustive, too. My program (College of William and Mary) is fully funded, and I believe University of FL can be too. You just need to do your research and figure out who's accepting masters students. In my experience, it's not terribly difficult to find funded MS programs. However, I will agree with mtlve that if you for sure want/need a PhD, working would be a better option than school, even if you do find funding.