College for this stuff

Liz

Liz

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Mar 25, 2005
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I want to go to college for Marine Biology or Marine Science or whatever you want to call it. I want to go to community college first and get some credits out of the way.

I don't know anything about this.

The school I am looking at transferring to only offers Master's and phD degrees... can you get a bachelor's degree in marine biology/science whatever? If anyone did this or has any information at all, please reply
 
I don't have one, but UCSD's Scripps college may offer a BS in Marine Biology.
 
Yes, there are many state and private universities which offer a Bachelor of Science degree in MArine Biology. Unfortunately, without a graduate degree, you will likley be limited in your ability to conduct fiedlwork. Not to mention the pay is terrible, unless you can receive grant funding. However, most grant funding is reserved for the post-professional degrees.

It is a long road to obtain such credentials, but worth it if you are resolute and determined.
 
You can get a B.S. in Marine Science / Biology. I don't know where you're located, but there's multiple universities in South Carolina (where I'm at) that offer such programs.

I go to USC (the other USC, as in South Carolina), but I'm in a different field of study. Here's a link to the school's marine science department...
http://www.msci.sc.edu/

EDIT:
Found a link to one of the other schools in SC...
http://kingfish.coastal.edu/marine/

And, it's sad, but true... without further education, it's unlikely you'll ever make much money. It's more a career to choose out of love, not for the income. A masters would be the minimum, with a PhD. and some post-doc work being pretty much required to really "make it" in the marine science world (or most environmentally oriented careers for that matter).
 
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Well will a B.S. in marine biology get me a higher income than just a GED?
 
My first guess: No, unless you find a way to apply the background to another field (chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical labs & the like).
 
Maybe I'll go for a Master's then.

I dunno if I am intelligent enough for that though. I mean statistically I am on the upper end but I don't know if I'm smart ENOUGH.
 
Well, you should be asking the people at a school about most of this stuff. I dont know why anyone would say that a BS in any field wont bring more income than a GED, unless I am missing something. In my little part of the world, a GED is a high school diploma for people who dropped out of an actual high school.

You have to enroll in and be nearly complete with a bachelor's degree before you can really even apply for a Master's program and they most times need to be somewhat related to each other. For example, I have an associate's degree (from a community college) in Business Mangement, a Bachelor's Degree in Project Management, and about to get my Master's degree in Business Admin - Operations management. There is a direct "flow" of degrees is what I am trying to get at.

There are tons and tons of great programs out there for anyone to get started and acheive the degree program that he or she wants. I really suggest that you start talking to a school official about it so that you can get going. Even if the school does not have a Marine Biology program, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

There is nothing as valuable as an education in my opinion.
 
Liz said:
Maybe I'll go for a Master's then.

I dunno if I am intelligent enough for that though. I mean statistically I am on the upper end but I don't know if I'm smart ENOUGH.
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Whether you get paid more with the degree or not is really not the point, but I understand the practical nature of your question. A lot of the trades make as much, or more, then do college educated professionals, but without the debt. There are too many variables to answer that question in this forum.

If you have a passion for something and you think you can also make a decent living performing at it, pursue that passion.

As far as being smart enough to obtain an advanced degree. Take it from me, it is more learning when and how to apply yourself than it is pure intellectual capacity.

I agree with TOmmy Gun, you should be talking to people far more qualified to discuss these questions than any of us. We are all just a bunch wannabe Marine Biliogists. LOL!

Good Luck
 
Liz said:
Maybe I'll go for a Master's then.

I dunno if I am intelligent enough for that though. I mean statistically I am on the upper end but I don't know if I'm smart ENOUGH.
Click to expand...

Honestly, if you can make it through a B.S. program, getting a masters in a similar field may not be that difficult for you. I'm currently finishing up my masters and found this masters program to be less stressful, more rewarding, and less time consuming than my undergrad program. My experience in this particular program may not be all that typical, but I feel that overall it has been easier for me and on me than getting my B.S.

BTW, in case it's helpful, my B.S is in biology and my M.S. is in environmental health science. While neither are marine science, my B.S. focussed on aquatic ecology and the work for my M.S. was centered around estuarine science.
 
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