Going to be a senior in college, but area of interest has changed a bit. Advice on best direction?

Graduate School
1

I am currently majoring in biopsychology at my university and will be starting my senior year this coming fall. However, as i look forward, I’d much rather pursue a graduate program more in the evolutionary biology realm. The good thing is that I have all of the general classes needed (and I did well in them, all A’s and B’s), but I lack the upper-division biology/evolution classes like biochemistry, genetics, macroevolution, etc. required for grad programs as those aren’t called for by my current major.

Also, I’m a bit worried about grades. My lower division science classes are generally very good and I’m happy with them, but as I got into my upper-division courses for my major, I haven’t been doing as well as I’d like. I’ve received a couple of C’s and even a D all in these upper-division psychology/biopsychology classes. I honestly just do not enjoy a large majority of the material we learn and I’d rather be doing evolutionary biology which I truly adore, and these low grades and lack of motivation have only strengthened this feeling and encouraged me to change paths.

I will still complete my major as it is a bit too late to change at this point, but I’m not sure what I should do to prepare for a graduate education in evolutionary biology. One option is that I take some of the required classes along with my current major classes during my senior year, although that may create a tough schedule for me. I’ve also read about taking classes as a non-degree student or something which I would definitely need more clarification about.

Also, if I perform well in these upper-division biology/evolution courses, would that potentially outweigh my poor performance in the upper-divisions of my current major when applying to a graduate program?

I think I’d prefer to pursue a master’s degree in evolutionary biology before going for a Ph.D so I can get more valuable experience in the field. I have 2 years of research experience in a behavioral endocrinology lab right now, but that is more in line wth my current field and I’m not sure how much that would help me going into evolutionary biology.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I feel quite lost and worried at the moment.

2

You would have to take some upper-division courses in biology and evolution, as you’ve noted. You can try to take at least some of those in your senior year. What I would recommend is then applying to a few master’s programs in evolutionary biology and see if you get into any. If you do, then you can make up the deficiency in the rest of the classes once you are already in an MS program, while you’re getting research experience with professors and taking graduate-level classes.

If you don’t get into any MS programs, then you can take the additional classes as a non-degree student. all that means is that you take one class at a time, most likely, without trying to earn a degree. Most people do this while they work another job to pay the bills. You register for them one at a time and pay the per-credit fee for however many credits it is. Most colleges have an option for community members to take a couple of non-degree classes while not working towards a degree, especially public universities.

What’s your overall GPA and your major/science GPA? Cs and Ds aren’t great, but if you only have a few and your overall and major GPA are quite high, you may squeak by into an MS program and get an opportunity to prove yourself.

3

My science GPA consisting of all the general classes like chem, bio, physics, o-chem is around a 3.4, major GPA is probably closer to a 3.0, possibly lower because of the poor performance in the few upper-divs, and my overall GPA is at a 3.21 right now, which I will obviously work to improve with the remaining quarter and senior year.