Ask Me Help Desk - BA in bio.confused about which graduate program to pick?

Hi, I am going to graduate with Bachelors of Arts in Biology in two weeks and need to find a job meanwhile applying for graduate school... but the dilemma is I don't know what graduate program to pick? I wanted to do medicine initially, but have no interest in that anymore. I am interested in getting my masters in a health related/based career. I have thought about Health Care Administration and Public health. But I want to know about more programs that people with Biology can do and excel in. Also, not interested in research either! Someone please help! Any information will be great... anything you know, have heard, or seen people do after their bachelors in biology.

Thanks so much!

Okay, so you're really not interested in research or medicine as related to say, medications and not being a physician of some sort. Is that correct?

I do hope that you come back so that we can discuss this with not just I but also with others who know about these sorts of things.

If you Google "careers for biology majors" or "jobs for biology majors" you'll find a lot of sites that provide lists of careers that someone with an interest in biology might pursue (quite a few of them are on university/college web sites). Some of the kind of questions you need to consider in looking at your options are:

Do you prefer to work inside or outside?
Do you prefer to work more with people or more with things?
Do you prefer doing the work yourself or managing others?
Do you prefer working with organisms, parts, or biological systems?
etc.

Knowing yourself and your work preferences will help you narrow things down. Check out the career counseling department at your school; instruments (tests) like the Self Directed Search can help you examine options in greater detail!

Vasily

Thank you for both of your feedback... Yes I'm not interested in Research or going to Medical School anymore. But I still wanted to do something that would require me to use health knowledge in fields outside of Research and medicine. That is the reason why I thought that may be Public health is good, or Health Administration (altho HA requires both business and biology minded person, which I abs don't mind)... I just want to know if anyone knows people who have done Public health, or Health Administration or anything else after majoring in biology as an undergrad and if they are liking what they are doing?. I like working with people and around people, with computer, being creative, managing, and anything that lets me educate people on their health, etc... Also, as far as jobs after BS in BIO are concerned... wherever I've looked... everything requires a certification or MS of some sort... leaving me with only other option (Research) which I'm not really keen on doing.

Also, I'm a B+/A student... and held my GPA pretty high first two years of undergrad... and after I moved up into more major biology "core" courses, my GPA drastically fell... At my university, we have -'s and +'s given with our letter grades, so even a B- would take a toll on my overall GPA... now that I'm about to graduate, I can't do much about it... but would having a 3.17 overall GPA in biology be turned down when applying for graduate schools and for jobs..?. (I'm very concerned!) Please any feedback would be great!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirand

... I just want to know if anyone knows people who have done Public health, or Health Administration or anything else after majoring in biology as an undergrad and if they are liking what they are doing?

If this kind of career is a good match for you with regard to work preferences and personality type, it doesn't matter whether other people in the field like what they're doing... whatever the field, you'll find people in it who love it, and people who believe they're in the wrong field. The important thing is to know yourself and what you need in a career. That's why I suggest looking into the Self Directed Search, which maps your career preferences to a career satisfaction database and suggests careers that people with similar preferences tend to be happy with. You also might want to look for the book Do What You Are, by Tieger and Barron; it discusses the work characteristics that are the best match for each of the Myers-Briggs personality types. It also lists suggested careers to look into for each personality type. Or, as I said earlier, avail yourself of the career counseling services available at your school.

Quote:

.. I like working with people and around people, with computer, being creative, managing, and anything that lets me educate people on their health, etc... Also, as far as jobs after BS in BIO are concerned... wherever I've looked... everything requires a certification or MS of some sort... leaving me with only other option (Research) which I'm not really keen on doing.

You seem to be saying here that you're not interested in pursuing a career that would require a Master's degree, but I thought the goal of your question was to decide what kind of graduate program to apply for? I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

Vasily

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirand

Also, I'm a B+/A student...and held my GPA pretty high first two years of undergrad....and after I moved up into more major biology "core" courses, my GPA drastically fell...At my university, we have -'s and +'s given with our letter grades, so even a B- would take a toll on my overall GPA...now that I'm about to graduate, I can't do much about it...but would having a 3.17 overall GPA in biology be turned down when applying for graduate schools and for jobs.?..(I'm very concerned!) Please any feedback would be great!!

Well, my experience here in the USA is that GPA is only part of the picture... grad schools use a formula that includes GPA, GRE scores, and other factors in their selection process. Every grad school is different. If your bio GPA isn't great but you take the GRE and do a bang-up job on it, you may still get in (I'd suggest getting some good study materials for the GRE if you haven't already done so, BTW: it's well worth the investment - and if you've taken the GRE and aren't happy with your scores, I believe you can take it again after a certain time has elapsed). Let me tell you a story: When I decided in the early 1980s that I wanted to do an MS in Computer Science, I really wanted to go to the University of North Carolina. They rejected my application. Did I give up? No. I called the school and talked to the assistant department head (I think that's who it was, I can't recall his exact position in the department but he was a person with clout). I asked why they'd rejected me, he reviewed my application and said I didn't have certain math classes they were looking for. I told him that wasn't the case, that some of the courses he was dismissing did cover the material with sufficient rigor and depth, and asked him: what do I have to do to change the department's mind? He told me to provide a detailed syllabus for certain courses. I did, and guess what? They changed their mind and I was accepted. So acceptance in grad school is a complex issue: you need to know when to be persistent, and when to give up. Will you be turned down by some schools? Sure. That's why it's best to have a list of A schools and B schools and apply to them all.

Regarding the job market, no one will give a you-know-what about your GPA once you've left school. I've never been asked for my GPA and I'm 60 years old. In my opinion, your GPA doesn't belong in your resume or on your job application; neither do your hobbies and club memberships and other personal information, but that's a topic for a different question. :)

Vasily

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirand
... I just want to know if anyone knows people who have done Public health, or Health Administration or anything else after majoring in biology as an undergrad and if they are liking what they are doing?

If this kind of career is a good match for you with regard to work preferences and personality type, it doesn't matter whether other people in the field like what they're doing... whatever the field, you'll find people in it who love it, and people who believe they're in the wrong field. The important thing is to know yourself and what you need in a career. That's why I suggest looking into the Self Directed Search. You also might want to look for the book Do What You Are, by Tieger and Barron; it discusses the work characteristics that are the best match for each of the Myers-Briggs personality types. It also lists suggested careers to look into for each personality type. Or, as I said earlier, avail yourself of the career counseling services available at your school.

My main purpose for asking this question was to inquire more about these programs. People who like this stuff will obviously be able to tell me in depth about what people with PH or HA in the working field do. Also, the tests that you have mentioned... I have taken all that stuff a year or two ago... all those myer-briggs... and have been to the career center at my university several times... and each time I come out of there even more confused. These tests show something completely different than what i want to ahieve in life... and that is a stable career. It shows my career interest in arts and several other things that I would never think of pursuing as a career... I respect them all... but I don't think they are for me. I've found myself intersted in the health field since I was a child. I have great value for art, dance, and music... and I want to do all this on the side once a solid career with a steady income is set.

Quote:

Quote:
.. I like working with people and around people, with computer, being creative, managing, and anything that lets me educate people on their health, etc... Also, as far as jobs after BS in BIO are concerned... wherever I've looked... everything requires a certification or MS of some sort... leaving me with only other option (Research) which I'm not really keen on doing.

You seem to be saying here that you're not interested in pursuing a career that would require a Master's degree, but I thought the goal of your question was to decide what kind of graduate program to apply for? I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

By this statement... I was talking about Jobs that I'm looking for as of now (with bachelors at hand only) meanwhile looking at programs to apply for in grad school. Sorry about the confusion. Its just that I graduate in December and if I apply for grad school for Fall 08... I have 8 months with nothing to do... I need to find job in health related field so I can earn up for grad school.

Also, thank you for the story you told me. Its very encouraging! I am planning on getting the GRE materials ASAP and get started on studying for it!

Thanks so much.

Umm

Mayb you like.. pharmacy, optometry, dentistry, podiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant...

If all those don't interest you then I suggest you keep doing your masters in public health route..

U can also go into teaching..

Or since you have your BS u can go into law.. dealing with environmental or medicine cases

Best of luck I hope you find something you like...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirand

Also, the tests that you have mentioned... I have taken all that stuff a year or two ago... all those myer-briggs... and have been to the career center at my university several times... and each time I come out of there even more confused. These tests show something completely different than what I want to ahieve in life... and that is a stable career. It shows my career interest in arts and several other things that I would never think of pursuing as a career... I respect them all... but I don't think they are for me. I've found myself intersted in the health field since I was a child. I have great value for art, dance, and music... and I want to do all this on the side once a solid career with a steady income is set.

If you have an artistic bent as well as an interest in medicine, you might consider combining the two. For example, there are graduate programs in medical and biological illustration like this one that are usually associated with medical schools. There are therapists who specialize in art therapy, dance therapy, and music therapy. None of these jobs are going to pay a surgeon's salary, but plenty of people find stable careers with steady income in fields like these.

I really encourage you to focus long term on what you love to do, the kinds of tasks that fit with your personality, and what you're talented at as you think about long term career options. Given your continuing struggles here, you might want to ask yourself if you're really ready to commit to a graduate program? Perhaps you could consider taking a year or two off and finding a job associated with PH or HA and table the grad school application process for a while?

Quote:

By this statement... I was talking about Jobs that I'm looking for as of now (with bachelors at hand only) meanwhile looking at programs to apply for in grad school. Sorry about the confusion. Its just that I graduate in December and if I apply for grad school for Fall 08... I have 8 months with nothing to do... I need to find job in health related field so I can earn up for grad school.

If you're looking for an eight month filler job, I'd suggest finding something that pays the most. Why does the filler job have to be in a health related field? My guess is anything you find with a new BS will be quite low level. The fact that you worked in some entry-level job for eight months won't buy you any leverage in the job market when you finish your graduate degree and are looking for a position.

If you're going to put off grad school for a year or two, however, I definitely would try to find an entry-level job in the PH/HA field to expose myself to the field and gather data that would help me focus on the grad school decision.