How do you study biology with a degree in English Literature?

Question

I am a student entering my senior year at a major university. This past summer, I have rediscovered a passion for biology, primarily through reading Richard Dawkins. It occurs to me that I don't see much of a future in literary analysis and I find the subject of zoology fascinating. I am currently signed up to take Bio 101 for next semester, but I relatively little time to work with. Should I try and scrape together a bio minor by taking some summer courses or perhaps another semester? Or should I just try and graduate with as high a GPA as possible, take a bio course or two to get a feel, and apply to grad school that way? Or any other possibilities? I am very unsure what to do and would appreciate any help from those with relevant or similar experiences.

Answer 1

I graduated with a bachelors of fine art and now I am a graduate student in forensic science, so anything is possible! I ended up having to do a quite a bit of post-baccalaureate work to get into the program because I was missing a lot of prerequisites but I managed to get through it. You will most likely be deficient as well if you were an English major. I would check the graduate schools you are interested in attending and then check to see what the course requirements are.

Answer 2

Biology need not be your profession in order for it to be a valuable and enjoyable part of your life. Your passion for biology is understandable (especially given that you have been reading Dawkins), but having an intellectual passion for the subject may not indicate that you want to make biology your career. Your majoring in English indicates that you love to read and to learn - both of which make Dawkins so satisfying given that he is both a great writer and a great thinker. Much of biology, however, is drudgery and may not actually suit your character. I give this advice because I can relate to it. I am a lawyer who enjoys the practice of law because I enjoy writing and I enjoy learning new things. I do not think biology would have suited me for a career. That said, I still enjoy reading Dawkins and the writings of other biologists and consider it to be an important part of my life. My advice is this: take Biology 101 and try to get a part-time position as a lab assistant to a biology professor so that you have some "in the trenches" experience with biology. Maybe you will like that experience and pursue biology as a career, but you may decide that your aptitude leads you in a different direction.

Answer 3

Give the BIO 101 a shot. It should be a challenging course. If you find that you really like it, go for the minor in Bio. If you don't like it as much as you had hoped, finish your degree and work on the Bio later.