Hey! Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to help. My girlfriend majored in Russian Lit at a great school back in the day, but she wants to go into animal behavior now, and a humanities BA doesn't count for a lot. We're trying to figure out what the best way is to get her into a graduate program and could use some advice.
What she has going in her favor:
- Several interesting internships/volunteering stints with conservation orgs, wildlife vets and a zoo.
- She's completed quite a number of online (non-credit) courses that probably won't do much to bridge the fundamental skills gap, but show a pretty substantial dedication.
- She went to an excellent school (UChicago) and graduated with a great GPA.
- She's super smart and is capable of doing whatever work needs to be done to get where she's going.
What might be trouble:
- Her GREs were good, but not great. I don't remember the specific scores, but I think they were ~55th percentile in math, ~70th in reading and a 4 in writing. She could probably take these again if they're really necessary. She hasn't done the Biology GRE, but I've heard that this might also be useful.
- There are probably some pre-requisite courses that need to be completed, but the school's she's researching don't appear to be very upfront about what those are.
- She's hoping to work with mammals, which is difficult.
What we're considering:
Basically, she could go straight for a Master's, which seems more likely to take her than a PhD program. I think that, eventually, she's going to want a PhD, but I suppose most of the credits from the Master's would feed into the PhD anyway. What's not clear is where she should apply or how qualified she is for any given program. If she were going for something in Russian, say, she would be a pretty clear fit for very competitive programs. It seems likely that the switch from humanities to STEM is going to make her a less competitive applicant though.
Alternatively, she could try to get a second bachelor's degree and then use that to go straight into a PhD program. I'm not sure how that works, what financial aid looks like for that, or how many of her previous credits would transfer, but if she could do just the science courses she needs in, like, a year of full-time schoolwork, it might actually be cheaper (because PhD programs tend to be free). This might also give her access to professors who could help her navigate the advisor finding process for grad school, which is pretty much Kafka-esque from what I can tell.
Any advice on this decision or any part of the process would be really appreciated!
Question
MalenkiiMalchik
Hey! Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to help. My girlfriend majored in Russian Lit at a great school back in the day, but she wants to go into animal behavior now, and a humanities BA doesn't count for a lot. We're trying to figure out what the best way is to get her into a graduate program and could use some advice.
What she has going in her favor:
- Several interesting internships/volunteering stints with conservation orgs, wildlife vets and a zoo.
- She's completed quite a number of online (non-credit) courses that probably won't do much to bridge the fundamental skills gap, but show a pretty substantial dedication.
- She went to an excellent school (UChicago) and graduated with a great GPA.
- She's super smart and is capable of doing whatever work needs to be done to get where she's going.
What might be trouble:
- Her GREs were good, but not great. I don't remember the specific scores, but I think they were ~55th percentile in math, ~70th in reading and a 4 in writing. She could probably take these again if they're really necessary. She hasn't done the Biology GRE, but I've heard that this might also be useful.
- There are probably some pre-requisite courses that need to be completed, but the school's she's researching don't appear to be very upfront about what those are.
- She's hoping to work with mammals, which is difficult.
What we're considering:
Basically, she could go straight for a Master's, which seems more likely to take her than a PhD program. I think that, eventually, she's going to want a PhD, but I suppose most of the credits from the Master's would feed into the PhD anyway. What's not clear is where she should apply or how qualified she is for any given program. If she were going for something in Russian, say, she would be a pretty clear fit for very competitive programs. It seems likely that the switch from humanities to STEM is going to make her a less competitive applicant though.
Alternatively, she could try to get a second bachelor's degree and then use that to go straight into a PhD program. I'm not sure how that works, what financial aid looks like for that, or how many of her previous credits would transfer, but if she could do just the science courses she needs in, like, a year of full-time schoolwork, it might actually be cheaper (because PhD programs tend to be free). This might also give her access to professors who could help her navigate the advisor finding process for grad school, which is pretty much Kafka-esque from what I can tell.
Any advice on this decision or any part of the process would be really appreciated!
2 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now