Hello everyone, I am graduating in December with a degree in Anthropology. I love the subject, I really do, but I cannot help but feel that the degree will be useless when looking for a job. I am looking to continue my studies by enrolling in graduate school. Is a school likely to accept me into say… the biological sciences program? Or am I stuck pursuing an MA in Anthropology? Any input it welcome.
Think I found my answer;
Baccalaureate Field No restrictions. It is recommended that prior academic work include courses in biological sciences beyond the introductory level to provide sufficient preparation for the proposed area of study. Admitted applicants may be required to remedy specific course work deficiencies by enrolling in undergraduate classes during their first year.
Do you want to continue your studies for real, or are you only continuing them because you think you can’t get a job? And if that’s the case, then why on earth would you pick the biological sciences? Biology isn’t exactly a major that fast-tracks you into any specific job.
First of all, I think you should at least try to look for a job with a major in anthropology. Lots of anthropology majors find gainful employment after college; your major matters less than what you actually did in college, and most jobs don’t require a specific major.
Secondly, if you want to get a graduate degree, I think you should be a bit more planful. Like, why do you want a biological sciences degree? Graduate degrees are a means to an end, so you should pick a specific career or set of jobs first that you want to do and then think about what graduate degrees lead to those kinds of jobs.
Thirdly. Yes, some programs will say that you can make up some deficiencies in your first year. BUT. The caveat is that those conditional acceptances are usually reserved for otherwise outstanding students who have compelling reasons for changing field AND who only have a little bit of coursework to make up. If you have never taken a single biology class, you are unlikely to get even conditional admission. If you had already taken like 3-5 biology courses and only had line 2-3 more to take, maybe they’d try you on for conditional admission.
But that doesn’t mean that you’re limited to an MA in anthropology (if you think that a BA in anthro wouldn’t give you a job, why would you go into more debt to study anthropology on the graduate level?). There are many professional degrees that don’t require a specific major, like an MPA, MPP, MPH, etc. However…again, make sure that you actually want to enter that field.
What makes you think prospects will be so much better with an MS in biology?