<p>So right now I’m a Junior History major at a private college in a major city far away from my home state. During the past two years I’ve taken several science courses and realized I really enjoy Biology, and (personally) it would be a much better path to pursue after graduation. </p>
<p>There is no way for me to complete even a science minor at my school- with three semesters of institutional aid left, I need to focus on finishing my major and a few graduation requirements if I stay here. </p>
<p>Now, I could transfer- my home state is Fl, full of decent schools, and my GPA is strong. With Pell Grants, I could afford to finish as many semesters as necessary to complete a public school degree. The issue is I can’t live in Florida- I have epilepsy and can’t drive. There is no public transportation anywhere in Florida, and without it I can’t take care of myself. </p>
<p>What do I do? I don’t want to continue with the Humanities, but unless I transfer to a public college in Florida it is not possible to transfer. After I graduate, my eligibility for Pell Grants evaporates and I could not afford to pay for an out of state public college postbacc program with just federal loans. Can I get a MA in Biology with a History undergrad degree and then apply to grad programs? Any academic/financial aid advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>When I was in college, a friend of mine wanted to change majors about halfway through, but she needed a couple more courses in her new major than she would be able to take in the remaining semesters. She was on a very tight budget, so spending extra semesters as a full-time student would have been impossible.</p>
<p>She took a leave of absence, got a full-time job working for the university (as a lab technician), and took the courses she needed, one a semester, through the university’s Employee Degree Program. When she had finished the extra courses she needed, she came back from her leave of absence and finished her degree as a full-time student in her new major. </p>
<p>If you only need a few more courses than you could take in the semesters you have left, this type of plan might work for you.</p>
<p>If you aren’t able to drive due to epilepsy, the first thing you should consider is whether your condition would also make it difficult for you to do the work as a biologist. Such work is likely to involve routinely carrying around and handling things that really should not be dropped as they may be very expensive, very delicate, hazardous, impossible to replace and/or quite heavy.</p>
<p>You might not like this advice, but here goes: take as many biology courses as you can while finishing up your history degree. </p>
<p>You might enjoy Bio 101, but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to be in love with immunology research for the rest of your life. It also doesn’t mean that the biology track is one that you really want to be on. (My understanding is that it involves a PhD, then a constant scramble for a professorship, research funding, grants, and publish-or-perish. Or if you go the corporate route, you’re going whatever research work you can, for whomever will hire you.) </p>
<p>My personal opinion is that some more advanced biology courses will clarify at least some of this for you, as well as giving you access to students who are considering, or are doing, the biology-as-a-career track.</p>
<p>There are other things you can do with a science degree besides being a scientist.</p>
<p>I, for example, am a science writer and editor. I work for a government contractor. Admittedly, I didn’t exactly plan to be in this career field – I sort of drifted into it – but I like it.</p>
<p>Marian: that is true, but that’s something for the OP to figure out. I still maintain that (s)he should get a history degree, but take as many biology classes as possible. Often, the introductory classes are fun ways of learning a bit about the subject; the higher-level courses are harder and often involve deep study of really specific things. The OP may not enjoy those higher-level classes, which would render this entire discussion moot.</p>
<p>Agree with Aries. Finish the history degree with as many electives in bio-related (don’t need or should not be all bio) courses and then re-evaluate. Lots of kids who theoretically want to be bio majors discover they hate bio. They may want a career in health sciences or some field of allied health; they may think it’s a short cut to med school, or they may have romanticized what research is really like (hint- light on the days where you get to yell “eureka” because you’ve found a cure for cancer, and VERY heavy on the days where you are doing the rounds to try and get funding to keep your lab alive for another year.)</p>
<p>Seems to me you’ve found a campus which works for you vs. having to figure out transportation and financing at another school. You are a junior.</p>
<p>Finish your BA and then decide what comes next. And make sure you’ve taken micro and macro economics, and maxed out on statistics. Regardless of what comes next, you will be grateful. A TON of science related careers are now all about statistics (and econ helps you figure out how and why the money operates the way it does.)</p>