Anthropology or Biology?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I am currently a third-year Anthropology student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. My minor is biology. </p>

<p>I absolutely love biology, and I have been considering a double-major - however, I would have to do an extra year of college in order to complete it. So, I am not sure if it is the wisest thing for me to do.</p>

<p>I am mainly interested in three directions:
1. Go to graduate school in biological anthropology
2. Go to graduate school in biology w/ focus on zoology/ecology/animal behavior
3. Go to veterinary school</p>

<p>My interest is really animals, especially primates (not from an anthropological perspective but rather a biological perspective).
I really need to know if anyone have experience w/ anthropology and biology graduate schools and if I even have a chance for such a thing - and whether there will be a job for me. I am worried that I will go into deep debt and not be offered a job when I reach the end of my education. Also, I am worried that no graduate school will be interested in me - like Duke, Emory, or Columbia. Do I even have a chance?</p>

<p>The other problem is that I am an international student. So if I don't get in, I will have to return to my country. </p>

<p>Vet school is another option I have thought of. The reason is, that there are at least better job opportunities. I have been shadowing vets as well as interned at the zoo for getting a better experience of behavior and veterinary medicine. </p>

<p>However, I have to admit that my passion lies in academic research and conservation rather than medicine. </p>

<p>I need to make a decision as I am getting more and more behind, and if I choose the anthropology path I have to apply for field schools this summer to build experience. If I choose biology, I will have to take summer classes to catch up with chemistry and physics. What direction is the wisest to choose? Which field is more crowded? Has anyone else had a difficulty choosing between two completely different paths?</p>

<p>Thanks and hope to hear back from someone!</p>

2

<p>First of all, if you are interested in vet school, read this:</p>

<p><a href=“High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Veterinarians - The New York Times”>High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Veterinarians - The New York Times;

<p>The short version is that vet school is very expensive and veterinarian salaries are not keeping up with the costs.</p>

<p>If you are really interested in primates, then biological anthropology doesn’t seem to be the choice for you. You said you aren’t interested in them from an anthropological perspective, but from a biological one.</p>

<p>However, one thing I will put on the table is psychology, particularly an animal behavior program. There are people in my department right now (I’m at Columbia, btw) who study primate behavior - I’m sure you’ve heard of Nim Chimpsky or Washoe. So my question is, are you primarily interested in primate biology or primate behavior (which is influenced by brain and genetics, also which psychologists study)? You could also join the interdisciplinary neuroscience program, if you were interested.</p>

<p>Another question is: do you want to care for animals? That’s what vets do. Some of them do research, but the focus is on animal care, and the majority of vets in the US either care for small domestic house pets or care for farm animals. Both fields are saturated. There are very few vets that care for primates, mostly on reserves or zoos, and I’m sure the competition is steep.</p>

<p>The other thing is, do you have any research experience? If you start doing some research assisting, you may discover what you like and narrow it down more.</p>

<p>AS for your last question, yes. Towards the end of my junior year in college, I was choosing between these:</p>

<ol>
<li>Social work</li>
<li>Clinical psychology</li>
<li>Social psychology</li>
<li>Public health</li>
</ol>

<p>I knew that I wanted to do research, these were all just different paths to get there. I eliminated social work partially because most of the MSW programs I looked at were very practice-oriented, even though I knew that several MSWs went on to get PhDs later. I eliminated clinical psychology because the competition for PhD programs is ridiculous, and I knew I didn’t want to counsel people, so I didn’t see a point in jumping into that fray if I could do the same research.</p>

<p>Then I kind of cheated and found a way to combine the last two. I’m in an interdisciplinary PhD program in social psych and public health.</p>