Marine biology/zoology/vet

[warblersrule]

<p>As usual, LakeWashington gives terrific advice. Wherever you go, get a strong background in the basic sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, and geology) with a bit of math (both calc and stats) and computer science mixed in. Marine-specific courses can wait until graduate school. </p>

<p>First, be aware that your interests will quite likely change, despite how set on it you think you are. I’ve been posting about marine biology on this forum for almost a decade now, and MANY of the students on CC who entered college fascinated by marine biology switched majors fairly quickly after getting hooked on a subject they’d never been exposed to before. Before choosing a college for marine science, make sure it’s a college you would still want to attend if you switch majors.</p>

<p>

@Mny2015

I have also considered being a marine mammal vet or exotic animal vet. What would be good to major in for these careers?

Be aware that most such jobs are in oceanaria, and there are very, very few of them. Vet school requires hundreds of hours of animal handling and veterinary experience, including both small animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, etc.) and large animals (cows, sheep, horses, etc.). Exposure to marine labs or marine science research might be nice if you’re interested in that, but it would be of comparatively little importance to your application. </p>

<p>Schools with a vet hospital on/near campus (i.e. not elsewhere, like Tufts’) are typically the best bet for a pre-vet because they offer a lot of animal handling experience and the specialized courses (e.g. animal nutrition) that some vet schools require. The US has only 28 vet schools, and they are all very difficult to get into – it is more difficult to get into vet school than medical school.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.avma.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/Education/Accreditation/Colleges/Documents/colleges_accredited.pdf”>https://www.avma.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/Education/Accreditation/Colleges/Documents/colleges_accredited.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Land grant universities often have animal science programs and are also a good bet for pre-vet students.</p>

<p>

@jkeil911

I wonder if a marine science background and finance or economics or meteorology or engineering wouldn’t be more helpful.

I second majoring in an unrelated discipline. </p>

<p>Getting teaching certification is one option; private schools especially pay pretty well, and many schools are desperate for good science teachers. There are many other practical majors – statistics, geography, public policy, econ, business, etc. – that mesh well with both marine biology and medicine.</p>

<p>

@Mny2015

I have considered being a marine biologist or zoologist-- yes I know very few get to work hands on with animals.

LakeWashington, Zapfino, and I have written a lot about marine science and zoology programs over the years. Two past responses:

@Zapfino

There are many strong ecology & evolution (or zoology) departments at a wide range of schools. So,depending on your specific qualifications and preferences, some programs to consider: Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, Duke, Washington U, Emory, Purdue, Yale, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Dartmouth, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Georgia, Chicago, Indiana, Brown, Florida, Ohio State.</p>

<p>Since there are many strong ecology & evolution (or zoology) departments, you can narrow it down by focusing on those that also have marine science programs. This does not necessarily mean that a school has a separate major or department in marine biology, however. Instead, look at schools that have marine labs or field stations. Here are links to the marine labs in the US (and some elsewhere). Look at the ones that have a college or university affiliation. (The affiliation might not be readily apparent in the name, however.) You also should be aware that there are many summer programs for undergraduates at marine labs, where you can take courses even if the lab is not operated by the school you attend. There also are some exchange programs where you can spend a semester at some of these labs. Some marine labs are operated by a consortium of schools that draw students from several different schools.

@warblersrule

The important thing to take away is that you do NOT need to major in zoology or marine biology as an undergrad; a general major in biology is perfectly acceptable, provided you have at least some organismal biology coursework. What’s far more important is getting all of the general courses you need (which includes chemistry, physics, and statistics) and having access to good research opportunities. </p>

<p>To add to Zap’s suggestions, especially good marine biology programs at LACs can be found at Bowdoin, the College of the Atlantic, Eckerd, Swarthmore, Hood, Rollins, Occidental, and the 5 college consortium. Additionally, Ohio Wesleyan is decent for zoology, and many others - Middlebury, Conn College, Whitman, Davidson, etc. - are excellent picks for ecology.</p>

<p>For marine biology offerings among universities, I would add Miami, the College of Charleston, Stanford, Northeastern, and Boston U. There are many decent to excellent programs at less selective public universities (UNCW, URI, USF, FSU, UNH, Alaska, Old Dominion, etc.), but I think they are generally not worth out of state tuition for undergraduates. For zoology/ecology, I would especially add NC State, Oklahoma, and UC Davis – although again, less selective universities like Auburn, Washington State, Oregon State, Miami U, Humboldt State, Colorado State, Texas A&M, SIUC, U Maine, Oklahoma State, Wyoming, etc. are also very good. Hawaii is quite good at both zoology and marine biology.</p>

<p>Zap already suggested Duke, which is where I did my undergraduate work. It has excellent offerings in both ecology and marine biology, though zoology is unfortunately otherwise somewhat lacking (except primatology). My summary of the marine biology program at Duke can be found here:</p>

<p><a href=“Duke Biology - #2 by warblersrule - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>Duke Biology - #2 by warblersrule - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums;

<p>There are many summer programs (Shoals, Duke Marine Lab, and Woods Hole spring to mind) that you can and should participate in to gain some background in marine biology. Research is a MUST in this field for PhD admissions. There are many REU programs that focus on oceanography; graduates of the SURFO program at URI are virtually guaranteed good PhD admissions results.</p>

<p><a href=“Search Results for REU Sites | NSF - National Science Foundation”>http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5053

</a></p>

<p>If you’re a California resident, I’d be happy to discuss the program here at UCLA with you.</p>