Just want to get others thoughts / opinions.

[eatgoodfood]

So I am a little unsure what I want to do with my future. I will give a little background and some options I have. I'm 28, will be 29 in april and I am married without kids. I live in Germany, and am recently separated from the military. In about 1.5 years I will be complete with a bachelors in environmental science through an online university. I was studying through an online university because of being in the military. Environmental science is a very interesting, but it is not really what I want to do. I chose the subject because it was the closest to a biology/ecology or zoology degree I could get through an online university. I also feel disadvantaged because my lack of hands on experience one would get in actual labs.

So here is the thing, I had considered studying at a German or British school but because of the entry requirements I would have to take a number of semesters more of school to transfer in, at which point I will be so close to finishing my current degree I would be kind of stupid not too. I also do not know if my degree will be accepted in Germany or the EU, meaning I do not know if I could get into a masters program or how potential employers will view an online degree from an American University.

What I am considering is completing my current degree and then starting a second bachelors at a normal university. Zoology as a major does not really exist anymore in Germany so that leaves biology. The local university, also a very good one, offers studies in biology, but all the areas of focus are cellular or molecular biology, not so much my interest (you can get a general biology Bsc). This seems to be the issue at most German Universities. I then stumbled upon Bangor University in Whales. They have a four year zoology with herpetology masters program. There is also a professor there, Dr. Wüster who does studies on the evolution of venomous snakes and venom among other related things. Bangor also offers a Phd program in this study area.

I want to work with venomous snakes if possible, and I am very interested in conservation/conservation biology.

I am trying to figure out what I want to do. My wife is willing to move with me wherever, but moving means giving up our life here, at least for a time. I suppose that is what bothers me more than anything, I am a bit scared of change. So what would you do, what are your opinions? If you were me would you find a masters program after completing a bachelors or would you consider another four years of school to earn a second bachelors and a masters in a field that more interests you? I have no idea how I will finance going to school full time for four years, but thats a whole other issue.

Thanks in advance for your opinions and thoughts!

[satomi325]

If your degree is a 'general' bio or Environmental Science, I would still try to apply for the masters program of your choice. A lot of universities do not provide specialty majors such as Zoology/Herpetology for undergrad. Thats why there are masters programs for those specific fields. Check out what their requirements are and talk to an academic adviser from your school of interest.
If you are able to do that, don't waste another 4 years for another degree. Although you might have to do so depending on their requirements and past courses you've taken.

Is there an option of transferring whatever course units you have to a 4 year university program and just continuing your schooling there?
Sounds like you still have some time before you get your degree. If you have all the basic pre-reqs and general ed, you might be able to transfer to a university with a major that is more linked to your interest (zoology/herpetology/ecology/etc).

[eatgoodfood]

My degree is a general Bsc in Environmental Science. The problem is europe. I cannot just transfer what credits I have to another university, I likely would have already done so if that were possible. EU wide university requirements are the same. It is possible to transfer to another bachelor program and shorten it by one year (Bachelor programs in europe are usually 3 years, they do not do gen ed as they learn that in their normal schools). The problem is that your coursework has to match 100% of the coursework in that first year, and I do not have that. I could complete my current degree sooner, but having to work and goto school makes that harder, I am taking 6 semester hours at a time, but my classes are fast classes, their only 8 weeks so its a lot of material. I am looking for a new job and a way it would be possible to do more.

Currently I do not know if my degree will be accepted in Germany, and I can only find that out when I graduate and submit all my transcripts to the office. That will determine if I am even eligible to apply to a masters program here. I am fairly certain it will be accepted, seeing as I will soon meet the requirements for a bachelors.

And thanks for the response!

[Archimedes]

I'm nowhere near as far along as you in my education. I completed two years of a theatre degree before having to leave school for health reasons. I just applied to a small local college for an associate's degree in animal center management. I don't really know where I was going with this, aside from sharing my plans and wishing you luck!

Sent from my warm hide using Tapatalk

[Pythonfriend]

hard to tell.

basically if you want to be a zoologist, or for any other specialisation, biology is the foundation for that. studying zoology would limit your options.

in zoology, there are so many different areas. some only study spiders, or fungus, or birds. the foundation that will help for all of them is biology. i wonder how studying zoology would look like, i guess its mostly biology, leaving out stuff not needed that much in zoology, and then some examples in detail.

about the specialisation, there are so many different fields a zoologist could spend an entire career in, its just too many for an university to offer lots of specialisation. also, thats considered your job. the job of the university is to provide you with the best possible foundation for WHATEVER you do later, and to open doors for you, to expand your mind. to get specialized is your job.

with that in mind, that they only offer specialisation in cell biology and molecular biology makes sense. these are still broad areas that allow for further specialisation. also these areas require a lot of extra skills, and they are important for many areas of research that are hot. like pharmaceuticals, stem cell research, genetic engineering. curing cancer, removing gene defects, engineering drought or flood resistant crops, getting bacteria to produce complex and hard to otherwise produce chemicals for us, growing new organs for transplant, that kind of stuff.


its the same in physics. you can study physics, and you can often only choose two specialisations: theoretical physics, or meteorology/climatology. theoretical physics is for the mathematical geniouses: you get everything a normal physics student gets and have to do all that, but on top you get a lot more advanced mathematics and advanced quantum mechanics, you just go deeper into all the mathematics problems. and in meteorology, the first two years are similar to what any other physics student gets. then it branches off to a degree, more programming and computer science, and, well, meteorology, storm systems and simulations on supercomputers and sattelite data and such.


so, especially since you said you are a little unsure.... just go for biology and pick the university that is best in biology. go for the best foundation, and venomous snakes is what you do in your free time, and studying biology will open doors to do just that while you study biology.

under perfect circumstances, with all options, the perfect way would be: study biology at one of the universities that is considered to be the best in biology, be good at it, and then get a ph.d. , topic: venomous snakes. that is better than to study zoology somewhere where its still offered and to specialize in herpetology. the first option will open the same choices that the second option has to offer. but the guy that will develop the next generation of antivenoms for snake and spider accidents will most likely have chosen the first option, maybe with specialisation in cell biology. go for the best possible foundation, keep your options open, and use your free time (or your Ph.D.) to specialize.

[eatgoodfood]

Thank you everyone for the responses. Pythonfriend, you are correct to an extent, the degree program at Bangor you still get the cell and molecular biology like you would with a normal bio degree among other normal bio courses. You did give me some things to consider, so thank you. Here is a link to the program at Bangor I was looking at: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/unde...%20Herpetology (click the what will I study link, under find out more about this course) You have to remember its not like an American degree, there is no general education you jump right in to your field. This would be the same anywhere here. If I went for a standard bio degree it would be another three years of study, then my masters. So if I go for a second bachelors I will be looking at about the same amount of school time. The other option as some had pointed out is search out a masters program, which I started looking into to see whats available.

[CatandDiallo]

Since other people had already touched on the school aspect of things, I will touch on the "I don't know if I want to move anywhere else" issue you have going on.

It's not as difficult as you may think (especially if you have a family member/spouse moving with you). It's fun, exciting and so many people around the world do it, especially for school. If moving is what you need to be able to pursue your dreams, then do it.