Transfering schools to do Marine Biology

[sismushi]

Hi!

My name is Katie and I am currently a college fist year student majoring in Biology. I have not started any of my required courses and I was thinking of switching my major to marine biology and transfering schools to Hawaii Pacific University. The thing is I dont know if this is the right choice but I have applied and I already got in. Does anyone know if Hawaii has a good marine biology program? and are there alot of jobs available after graduation? and what is the average pay?

Thanks!

Katie

 

[kjundvr]

I am currently a senior in a marine bio program at California State University Monterey Bay. I have talked to a number of people who have been to school in HI and all have reported a good experience. However one thing to keep in mind is that more often than not the real learning occurs outside of the classroom doing internships. That kind of experience is priceless and will get you a much better job. As to the job market, I am currently looking into it in California and its fairly grim, at least for a bio only person. Apparently the real jobs right now are for people with a science background that can work in both the fields of science and policy. If policy is not your thing than interdisciplinary science is the way to go which involves learning and understanding all aspects of science (geology, chem, bio etc) and using those skills to formulate research.
Hope this helps and if there are more questions just ask.

 

[ryt]

I go to the Univ of Hawaii at Hilo which has a Marine Science degree, I wasn't even aware Hawaii Pacific University has a Marine Bio degree and haven't heard much about it. I know the university is private, and small. Field experience is vital to marine bio/science and is something you get in here more than most other places. Make sure you consider other options, HPU is imho far less of a college than UH Manoa or Hilo, I would recommend those over HPU.