Graduate School

Hello all,

I am currently working toward my bachelor's degree in biochemistry, a subject which I find fascinating. I also find nutrition, fitness, and exercise science fascinating. I am most likely going to graduate a semester early, and I would love to go to graduate school. The problem is, I have no idea what to go to graduate school for with such varying interests. I would love to go to school for nutrition or exercise science, but there are so many programs to choose from! With a background in biochemistry, what are some careers in the nutrition/fitness fields that I could get into?

I recommend that you go to the library and take a look at their copy of Peterson's Graduate Programs in the Biological Sciences

or take a look at gradschools.com to get started - this can lead you to look at the web sites of individual universities and their programs - you can see what courses are offered, what might interest you, etc.

Congratulations on your bachelor's! 

Good luck with your next step!

i recommend that you work for a few years and then decide.  grad school is an expensive proposition, and not something you want to go into before you have a firm plan a good sense of direction.

i'm in grad school now and just beginning my thesis research.  i knew when i started what i wanted to research, so i've gotten through relatively quickly (i'm in the seventh semester of a program that has a minimum of seven, and i'll be finished in my eighth).  but i've watched many of my friends struggle to find direction, change their minds, change advisors, have advisors and committee members leave, and even start over.  i know people who are in their third year of a one-year program, their seventh-year of a two-year program, etc.  and i know people who completed their course work three years ago and are still struggling to hammer out a thesis (and pay tuition).

grad school is great, as a means to an end, but studying for the sake of studying is--in my mind--little more than an avoidance tactic.  you'll learn just as much, if not more, by getting out of the classroom for awhile.

I agree with PG. I thought I wanted to go straight into grad school after undergrad. Hell... even my profs were encouraging me except they didn't want me to go for my Master's. They wanted me to apply straight into a PhD program. I told them I felt I wasn't ready for something that intense (at 21 years old). 

I decided to apply for the Peace Corps. After one year (post-grad) working in mental health I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do. Peace Corps didn't work (because I couldn't sell my car in time for my June 08 departure) so I decided to move to Korea for a year to teach English. It has solidified what I want to do with my life and I've found an affordable Master's program (with a guaranteed 50-100% scholarship) studying International Development... internationally. 

Take a couple years. Get work experience and make sure it's what you want to do. Grad school in the US is especially expensive. I'm dreading the thought of having to take out more student loans to pay for grad school in the US if it doesn't work out here...

I agree with the other 2 posters above me- graduate school can be expensive and not always ideal for career advancement- especially if you don't know what you want to go to school for. I think getting a couple years work experience is a great idea.

I got my bachelor's in biology, and always wanted to work in the field of environmental science. I put off grad school and ended up landing a good job in my field. Meanwhile there are tons of masters students constantly applying at my company who are turned away because they don't have enough "real life" experience, or are overqualified for entry level positions. The thing is- I discovered through my work experience that having a master's degree would have cost me a lot of money and not led to any increase in salary. Those kinds of things I would have never known had I just launched right into grad school.

That's not to say that someday I won't decide to go to grad school- but only if the degree would lead me to a specific desired goal. With that said, grad school can create wonderful opportunities, but I would definitely be sure of what you're aiming for.

Whatever you decide, good luck to you!