Marine Biology

[RoyN]

Oh I hit rock bottom with the class. Nearly torpedoed my GPA too. All the test 15 out of 100? :confused2

I'm going to ask permission to take it outside of USF because it is a great risk, don't want to wait for it again next year in spring.

 

[Thalassamania]

I enjoyed organic, but then it mostly was just naming stuff and running an NMR. Pretty useless, I don't think I used a single thing from that class since I took it.

 

[archman]

It's a critical class for environmental science majors, so's you can recognize simple organic carbon molecule groupings, translate their nomenclature, know basic intrinsic properties of them, progress to advanced biogeochemical studies, blah blah...

Carbon is the miracle atom. This Smurf said so. :smurf:

 

[Thalassamania]

3.4.5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is all I remember, but then the course I took was taught by Alexander T. Shulgin.

 

[RoyN]

Whoo hoo!!! I got the highest grade in chem class. And the score was 45 out of a 100. The average was 20.

However although the grade is gonna be curve, thats that really good. In fact, thats terrible! The class pretty much failed miserable...

 

[Thalassamania]

Congrats, when that happens I'd take a long hard look at the teacher.

 

[gmhicks5867]

That isn't always a bad thing. One of the best math teachers I had in college had a historic average of 40 out of 100 on his tests.

He purposely made his tests HARD to test you on your understanding of the material rather than just how well you could regurgitate the formulas.

While it was painful at the time he really did teach me Calculus III better than many of the other professors. A C+ or a B- in his class was the equivalent of an A in other professor's classes.

 

[SeeTheSeas]

Sounds like my o-chem experience! Did alright first semester, failed second semester twice, just because I stopped going! Couldn't stand it. I liked inorganic though. Usually people have an affinity for one or the other, but rarely both. Finally stuck it out though (with a "D") and became a marine biologist! BTW, the advice you got is right on. Go with bio, not environmental. Employers and grad schools look more at depth rather than breadth of knowledge. For future marine biologists that want to be highly competitive, probably the most marketable undergrad degrees are biochem or molecular bio with a marine or organismic minor. More o-chem though!

 

[RoyN]

Well, looks like i'm moving along. Got a decent B- on the lab test in Chem class. Otherwise, nothing happening.

 

[ferrosagitta]

I'm Looking into becoming a marine biologist, what is my first step and what schools should I consider. In what ways can I find out if marine biology is for me or not? Thanks.

Hi

The best thing for you to do is find out what it is that you like about Marine Biology. Is it just the Romanticism of the name or do you have a desire to work in a poorly paid profession where the passion of Marine Biology substains you, whether it be as a research scientist or a mere marine flunkie identifying your bosses samples. Everyone has given some sound advise but you need to really sit down and look at what turns you on about Marine Biology. When all is said and done advice is just that advice but you need the passion of it to enjoy the job.