<p>I attended a large public University in TN and graduated in 2009 with a BA in Journalism. When I graduated, I was a little unsure and concerned about finding a job in that field. Now a year later my fear has become reality, I'm still unemployed and unfortunately I've lost all my passion for journalism and writing. The thought of doing that for the rest of my life literally makes me ill.</p>
<p>I know you're thinking, "oh you can't find a job and it's getting you down." That's really not the case this time, I liked writing as a hobby when I picked my major but now I"m such a different person. I want to do something where I feel like I"m contributing in society in some way and the journalism path I was taking (print: editing, layout and design) was leaving me with an empty feeling. It didn't challenge me at all.</p>
<p>Now that I've had all this time to think and research other fields, I've decided to go back for grad school, the same school I got my undergrad. Both of my parents are in the medical field and did biology. In high school I excelled in Biology, Anatomy and Chemistry. However, I was really rebellious in HS and didn't make great grades and when I went to college I was a little punkish. I seriously considered switching to Biology in my undergrad, but didn't feel confident enough to do well (side note: bc of my bad grades in my private HS, my advisers and guidance counselors were not encouraging at all and didn't help me one bit when it came to college. When I graduated my counselor actually sent me an email saying, "Congrats. Didn't think you'd actually graduate." )</p>
<p>I've thought long and hard about what I could actually see myself doing all day, everyday for the rest of my life and it points to Biology (with an interest in Ecology). At first I considered getting a 2nd Bachelor's, but time and money are not on my side. There's hardly any funding for 2nd Bachelor's and no one will give me a scholarship because I had an almost full scholarship for my first degree.</p>
<p>The biology program at my school has many requirements to be accepted into the Grad program and I decided to enroll as a non-degree seeking student to get my prerequisites out of the way and gain some experience before I applied.</p>
<p>Here are their requirements and my stats. Please chance me and let me know if I actually have a shot at this.</p>
<p>Grad Requirements:
- min 500 on GRE (all subjects)
- 5 courses within the following nine areas: General Chemistry I, General Chemistry II, Organic Chemistry I, Organic Chemistry II, Biochemistry, Physics I, Physics II, Calculus, and Statistics.
- 3 Upper Division Biology Courses
- then all the usual stuff: application, letters of rec, etc..</p>
<p>My stats:
- GPA 3.4
- Current volunteer experience in ecology/zoology
- I'll be taking Chem 1&2 this Summer
- I'll be taking Organic Chem 1&2, Elem. Calc, Stats and 2 lower division general bio classes this Fall/Spring</p>
<p>I'll be deficient 3 UD bio classes (I might be able to take one or two the summer I apply to the program)</p>
<p>Do you think they would accept me with those deficiencies? My school isn't prestigious for Biology and I don't think people are knocking down the door to get into their program or anything. But I anticipate it being somewhat competitive.</p>
<p>Also, I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I think I'll do average (is 500 low? Is it difficult to get that?). I'm not great at math but I made A's in my undergrad math courses. </p>
<p>Finally, do you think potential employers would look down on my if I got my Master's in Biology but not a BS?</p>