Going back for a few classes before applying!

[kuniklos]

I'm in my last semester of undergrad and a double major in Anthropology (archaeology), and Art History.  I have a 3.7, four years of archaeology experience abroad, two museum internships, I'm president of the Anthropology Club, President for our National Collegiate Anthropology Society, and a teaching assistant in art history.  I frequently attend

Comments

[tisiphone]

I don't think there's anything wrong with taking classes post-graduation to meet the requirements for a new major. People going into med school do it all the time, for example.

[coaldustcanary]

I don't understand your worry about "ruining your GPA" impacting your decision-making process as to where you take the classes. If you bomb chemistry at a community college, it, too, will hurt your GPA, just the same as if you bomb it at your current institution.

However, that said, the other reasons are very valid, and assuming you have a local solid community college where you can take the courses, totally do that to save costs.

[kuniklos]

I would have thought that since I will have my BA some one university, the new grades would not effect my graduating GPA coming from another be being separate from my degree. I know I only require a C (not that I am aiming for just a C, but I worry about struggling). The two grade sets would be two different transcripts.

If I stay at my current university another semester instead of graduating in December, and took those chem classes and not do well, it would affect my current GPA.

Does that make more sense?

[coaldustcanary]

The GPA you graduate with isn't separate and sanctified from future classes you take. They'll certainly calculate your GPA including your most recent credits, even if it's at a new institution, or on separate transcripts. They may even specifically ask you to do it on the application, or ask you to calculate a second GPA of only the last X number of credits of work you've done.

[everyoneiknow]

My field is something completely different, but none of the schools I applied to asked for this. They only asked that I list each institution and my gpa at each school.

[agentdanger]

sounds like a decent plan--but will you by any chance want a chemistry prof to write you a letter of recommendation?

community college profs are often more distant and less chummy and less invested in your success, in my experience. i had a hell of a time getting an LOR from a CC prof last year, as i was also switching fields and had taken CC courses to make it up a bit. i suspect he didn't write me a great LOR. not because i didn't do well in the class, but because he didn't care much.

anyway, an LOR might not be worth the extra expense of taking courses at your regular college, but it's just something to keep in mind!

(and to echo the above, your GPA at CC will also be taken into account!)

[kuniklos]

I wouldn't need a letter from a CC professor. I have plenty in archaeology and art history to choose from, including internship peers and field school directors if need be! :)

At least GPA wise they would look at my degree gpa, and my chemistry GPA separate since the transcripts wouldn't contain the same information. I know I need a C or better in chem to qualify for admission. But I don't want to end up struggling, getting a C, and lose my 3.7 by delaying my graduation and staying at my current school. I hope that makes sense!

[homericlaughter]

Conservation is a competitive field, so if you're serious about it, you need to take the steps to get there. The schools recognize that and adequate preparation for a chosen field never reflects badly on a candidate. I'd still contact the conservation programmes you're interested in and ask them about admissions requirements in case any of what you need could be folded into your programme should you be admitted.

Don't worry about it ruining your GPA, because (this may sound callous but it's true) if you can't master undergraduate chemistry, you shouldn't become a conservator anyway.

Organics, by the way, is an excellent field to concentrate in, since inorganics conservators outnumber organics conservators, so you may have a slightly improved chance of getting a job. Also, bear in mind that like many professions, permanent jobs are rare these days, so you may end up doing mainly contract work.

[kuniklos]

Ooh believe me! I know! Archaeology and Art History isn't much of a walk in the park either when it comes to finding jobs!

Good point about the chemistry. Having no experience with it I worry about how well I will understand it. I blew pretty hard at physics in high school. Biology and earth/space science was a breeze for me though.

Organics was fun, and I especially loved preserving medieval wooden crosses and tool handles this summer. I had no experience (just a butt ton in archaeology itself) and found it both interesting and easy to understand. But the application of chemical equations is going to be the toughie. Eek!

[everyoneiknow]

I have never heard of a community college that offers 16 credits of Chemistry. In fact, I don't know of many community colleges that offer more than one intro Chemistry class. If you've found one that does, that's awesome, but I will be completely shocked. Especially since higher-level Chemistry classes require pretty intense labs, and I don't think many community colleges would have that kind of funding. So most likely you're going to be at a college or university to take those credits. Also, most Chemistry classes, from my understanding, build on each other. This means you have to take them sequentially, and most schools aren't very cool about letting you double up in maths and sciences if the rules state that something is a prereq for the other class. Definitely look into all of this when you're making your decisions. Maybe you could take at least one Chem class and lab in this spring (in my experience that would be 4 hours - 3 for lecture, 1 for lab). Then you would only need one class each in the fall, spring, and summer next

[kuniklos]

The community college near my home town has Chem 1-2 with labs and an Organic Chem course with a lab, so I'll be in good shape thankfully!