Chippewa? Rhodie? Blah.
So the hunt for grad school continues. Dr. Ballard told me to search for schools comparable in size to OU, as that would give me a better chance of being accepted somewhere. That was pretty much my basic plan, I wasn't going to apply to Harvard or Yale or anything. His number one suggestion was Central Michigan University. That is where he got his masters and he said they have a pretty solid conservation biology program. He gave me a few other schools to look at, including most of the MAC schools, and also University of Rhode Island.
I checked out CMU's biology webpage, and I meet all of their requirements for grad students except two. They want applicants to have a 3.0 GPA overall, and a 3.0 GPA in biology courses. My overall GPA was 3.125, but my biology GPA is only a 2.86. My biology GPA would just barely make the 3.0 minimum if I were permitted to include a plant biology course I took and received credit for, but not a grade. The low biology GPA is due to the fumbling during freshman and sophomore years, during which time my intro biology grades were all on the order of C+, and I got a D in my first plant biology class ever...because I didn't really go. I had all mostly B's, a few B+'s, and a few A's in everything else after my sophomore year. However, those five classes (4 C+'s and 1 D) totally destroy my biology GPA as a whole. The other requirement is a full year of organic chemistry, and I only have one quarter because that was all that was required of my plant bio degree.
I took Harvey's advice and emailed the CMU biology department's graduate student coordinator to see if it would be a waste of my time to even apply.
I feel really anxious about the whole thing, because I know that I am fully capable of being a really good student, I am eager to learn, and ready to really focus on getting the career that I want. It just sucks that my academic record doesn't really reflect that same image. I sometimes wish that I would have waited a few years after high school before going to college. I was far too immature to be at OU at the age of 18. I wasn't responsible, and I did stupid things that now have the potential to hinder my further development academically.
Whatever, hopefully I will find someplace that is willing to take me. If not, I guess I will just have to run away and live in a tree for the rest of my life. Because I refuse to play quality services chemist for the rest of my life.
I checked out CMU's biology webpage, and I meet all of their requirements for grad students except two. They want applicants to have a 3.0 GPA overall, and a 3.0 GPA in biology courses. My overall GPA was 3.125, but my biology GPA is only a 2.86. My biology GPA would just barely make the 3.0 minimum if I were permitted to include a plant biology course I took and received credit for, but not a grade. The low biology GPA is due to the fumbling during freshman and sophomore years, during which time my intro biology grades were all on the order of C+, and I got a D in my first plant biology class ever...because I didn't really go. I had all mostly B's, a few B+'s, and a few A's in everything else after my sophomore year. However, those five classes (4 C+'s and 1 D) totally destroy my biology GPA as a whole. The other requirement is a full year of organic chemistry, and I only have one quarter because that was all that was required of my plant bio degree.
I took Harvey's advice and emailed the CMU biology department's graduate student coordinator to see if it would be a waste of my time to even apply.
I feel really anxious about the whole thing, because I know that I am fully capable of being a really good student, I am eager to learn, and ready to really focus on getting the career that I want. It just sucks that my academic record doesn't really reflect that same image. I sometimes wish that I would have waited a few years after high school before going to college. I was far too immature to be at OU at the age of 18. I wasn't responsible, and I did stupid things that now have the potential to hinder my further development academically.
Whatever, hopefully I will find someplace that is willing to take me. If not, I guess I will just have to run away and live in a tree for the rest of my life. Because I refuse to play quality services chemist for the rest of my life.