<p>How common is it for a graduate program to require the undergrad degree to be in the same area? D is thinking about graduate school in physical anthropology but her undergrad is chemistry with a minor in anthropology</p>
<p>Depends on the program and the relationship between the undergraduate major, professional experience and intended graduate degree. Like most things in grad school, you really can’t generalize because it’s very heavily variable from field to field and program to program.</p>
<p>My guess is that a minor in anthropology should be enough, depending on the rigor/number of courses taken in the minor. To be certain, your daughter should contact the schools she’s interested in applying to and inquire as to their admissions requirements.</p>
<p>FWIW: My BS is in journalism and I’m pursuing an MS in outdoor recreation. Had internships/work experience in the field and was accepted at several highly-regarded programs.</p>
<p>not super rare to switch… I applied to engineering schools from math/physics (albeit not a very big jump), but I’ve also heard of someone who went from a French degree to a MA in material science.</p>
<p>Son was just accepted into grad school for Speech/Language Pathology. Undergrad degree in music performance!</p>
<p>Some programs don’t really have undergrad analogues and so switching is easier. There aren’t many undergraduate public health programs, for example, and the foundations of the field are in the life and social sciences so a major in any of those will help - although we also had an English literature major getting her MPH in my year. Professional programs like speech-language pathology usually begin on the graduate level, so while some study of communication should help (a friend getting her SLP MS majored in communication disorders) it’s not necessary.</p>
<p>Anthropology is a different beast in that it’s a discipline with many established undergraduate departments - but a minor in anthro should be enough. Now if she was just majoring in chemistry with no anthro coursework, it probably wouldn’t happen. But if she can justify the chem major/anthro minor (especially with some physical anthro research) then she should be fine.</p>
<p>Depending on her particular interests in anthropology, a degree in chemistry might be a significant advantage for research in anthropology. Some examples:
[Bone</a> Chemistry](<a href=“http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~rtykot/Bone.html]Bone”>Bone Chemistry)
[Why</a> Cultural Anthropology Students Should Learn Quantitative Research Methods](<a href=“http://www.drabruzzi.com/Quantitative_Methods_Rationale.htm]Why”>Why Cultural Anthropology Students Should Learn Quantitative Research Methods)
[Chemistry</a> in Archaeology: The Importance of Carbon and Strontium to Archaeologists | Suite101.com](<a href=“Suite 101 - How-tos, Inspiration and Other Ideas to Try”>Suite 101 - How-tos, Inspiration and Other Ideas to Try)
[Chemistry</a> as an Archaeological Tool](<a href=“http://archaeology.about.com/od/chemistry/Chemistry_as_an_Archaeological_Tool.htm]Chemistry”>Archaeology)
[Archaeology</a> meets chemistry](<a href=“http://www.gerstel.com/en/GSW9-archaeology-meets-chemistry.htm]Archaeology”>http://www.gerstel.com/en/GSW9-archaeology-meets-chemistry.htm)
[The</a> chemistry of archaeology | COSMOS magazine](<a href=“http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/profile/4611/a-thousand-words]The”>http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/profile/4611/a-thousand-words)
[Analytical</a> Chemistry in Archaeology - Academic and Professional Books - Cambridge University Press](<a href=“http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1161028/?site_locale=en_GB]Analytical”>http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1161028/?site_locale=en_GB)
[LABORATORY</a> FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY](<a href=“http://www.anthropology.wisc.edu/LARCH/index.htm]LABORATORY”>http://www.anthropology.wisc.edu/LARCH/index.htm)
[Further</a> applications of chemistry to archaeology - Journal of Chemical Education (ACS Publications and Division of Chemical Education)](<a href=“http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed012p577]Further”>http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed012p577)
[Archaeolog:</a> Alpine Archaeology: Soil Chemistry Theory and pH Testing](<a href=“http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/archaeolog/2006/01/alpine_archaeology_soil_chemis.html]Archaeolog:”>http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/archaeolog/2006/01/alpine_archaeology_soil_chemis.html)
[Cracked</a> pot chemistry: The role of analytical chemistry in archaeology - Journal of Chemical Education (ACS Publications and Division of Chemical Education)](<a href=“http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed062p37]Cracked”>http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed062p37)
[So</a> You Want to Be a Forensic Anthropologist?](<a href=“http://www.nakedscience.org/foranth.htm]So”>So You Want to Be a Forensic Anthropologist?)
<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_anthropology[/url]”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_anthropology</a>
[Molecular</a> Anthropology at Oregon](<a href=“http://molecular-anthro.uoregon.edu/]Molecular”>http://molecular-anthro.uoregon.edu/)</p>
<p>More important than the name on the BA is the experience that your daughter has. Researching or working in the field will do a lot to make her competitive for what she is interested in. It will be harder if she hasn’t demonstrated that interest in some way.</p>