<p>I'm a third year college student with a 3.7 gpa from a top ten school. I was not clear about my future grad studies until recently. I would like to pursue graduate studies in Ecology and Evolution but do not have a strong biology background ( I'm doing a minor) and have very limited research experience. I was thinking a MS might be the way to correct this on my way to a PhD. Any programs that you may recommend?</p>
<p>Usually it’s pretty hard to get funding for MS degrees. You may be able to get a TA position or a scholarship if you are fortunate, but it is likely you would have to pay the full amount of the degree. As an alternative, I would suggest taking a year or two off after you graduate to do some biology research as a paid research assistant. I was a physics major as an undergrad and took only two bio courses in college, and after a few years of bio related research after college, I will be going to a bioengineering program in the fall. I also completed an MS during that time, and in retrospect I’m not sure it was a great decision.</p>
<p>Alternatively, there are many interdisciplinary areas within biology that may directly recruit non-biology majors into their PhD programs, such as bioinformatics, biophysics, mathematical biology, etc. If you have a science/math major, you may be able to squeeze some bio research into your last year of college and be a good candidate for one of these programs. Many of these programs will ultimately let you work with professors in evolution/ecology, but that may not be the case at every school and depends on how the departments and graduate student funding are structured.</p>
<p>Thanks, anyone else?</p>