<p>Hey all, this is going to be a longish post!!
I am a Bio major at Indiana University, graduating in August/May 2014. I'm interested in pursuing a career in conservation/ecology/botany/widlife bio, and going to grad school in a few years. I used to be a Bio BS, but Ochem 2 and Phys have taken their toll on me and I'm trying to decide whether to switch to a BA or not. Since I started as a BS, I have taken MANY upper level bio lects/labs- about 4 or 5 of each, all of which are relevant to my field of interests. I have also worked in 3 labs- 1 was a paid lab assistant job where I did perform molecular procedures, 1 is an unpaid research assistant volunteer/internship position, and 1 is a paid internship position. One of my questions is, of these, would any count as "research" experience?
Also, most of the grad students in my lab have advised me that a BS is not necessary. And most of the internships/ grad programs I've looked at never specified a BS is necessary- just all the classes they recommend. (All of which I have taken or are taking in the spring)
My gpa is about a 2.9, and my major gpa is a little lower. I have gotten on average, B's to A-'s in most of my bio classes. I'm thinking about switching to the BA to boost my gpa to higher than a 3, since I feel like that is more important right now than continuing with Ochem lab and phys 2. If i did continue with the BS, my gpa would surely decrease, and so would my quality of life haha. ** Basically, my question is this: in today's competitive market, would it be better to end up with a BS in Bio and a sub 3.0 gpa, or a BA with most of the BS required classes and a 3.0+ gpa?** I'm really leaning towards the BA just to graduate on time and have a better quality of life! haha. I REALLY REALLY appreciate any responses and input!!</p>
<p>tl;dr: Bio BS with a 2.9 GPA or a Bio BA with lots of extra upper level bio classes and a 3.0+ gpa? I have lab + researchish experience!
Again, I really appreciate any and all help!! Thanks!</p>
<p>Chill! It isn’t that urgent. If it is, you need to plan ahead better…</p>
<p>Re:research experience- The first two definitely are. Third depends on the nature of the internship. Doesn’t matter whether paid or unpaid. </p>
<p>The BA as it stands is fine for your general ‘any’ major careers where major is less important than the skills you bring to the job. This would include office roles in your areas of interest. </p>
<p>Given it’s just a few nasty classes you have to take in order, I’d recommend you grit your teeth and push through for the BS. Otherwise you’re just postponing the inevitable. See if you can make any improvements to your study habits and/or time management and look to raise rather than maintain your GPA. Don’t talk yourself down. If you aim for the stars, you’ll fall to the clouds rather than to Earth with a bump.</p>
<p>As for GPA- for the sake of a 0.1 improvement I’d still advise the BS route. People can and do get into grad school with 2.8 GPAs. They just have a strong application in all the other areas. </p>
<p>Gather up all the resources you can for this last bit. Speak to your professors about your career aims, about your weaknesses and how you can improve upon them. Get that study plan sorted out. </p>
<p>If you need help with the physics and o.chem, see if you can find a peer tutor to both keep you right with these new classes but importantly to do some ground work with you to sure up what you covered in the previous classes so you don’t start with a deficit. Would you even be able to retake the previous two? (I don’t know how/if that would work).</p>
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<li><p>what courses you take, and how well you do in them, matters more than whether you have a BA or BS. If you go the BA route, make sure you complete more science and quantitative courses than required. </p></li>
<li><p>your GPA is low for competitive graduate research programs. It is possible to overcome this if you have <em>stellar</em> reference letters which attest to your commitment to and talent for research. All 3 of your positions are in a research environment, and it appears you contributed to research efforts in all. If you can get 2 principal investigators from those positions to write you glowing letters, then graduate admissions committees will be encouraged to look past your grades.</p></li>
<li><p>if you are graduating this semester, but not applying to grad school for a few years, then what are you planning to do until then? If you are serious about grad school, then try very hard to find a research tech position and work really hard for that glowing reference letter. If your tech position is in a university, then try to take an upper level undergrad or a graduate course each semester that is relevant to your research (most universities have a tuition benefit which allows full-time employees to take courses if they are relevant to their job). Only take 1 class at a time so that it doesn’t take much time away from your work, you’ll need to have permission from your supervisor, and if you choose a class which is relevant to the research in your lab you can tell your supervisor that it will improve your understanding of the field and make you a more productive group member. For your future grad application, taking these classes will show an intellectual commitment to your research efforts, and also encourage the admissions committee to look past your undergrad grades. The classes will also keep you in “scholastic shape” for grad school, since typically you will be taking a fair number of classes your first 1-2 years.</p></li>
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