joint degree holds you back for post grad?

Hey guys, im hoping to apply to Exeter, St andrews and Leeds this year to study philosophy and biology
/biology and the history and philosophy of science. My question was, in the event of me wanting to do an MSc in a further biological field, does the mixed nature of my degree (assuming also that I will have relevant work experience by the time apply for the MSc) hold me back in being accepted onto courses? Would i be better off with a single honours in biology or human biosciences if I wanted to progress to postgrad courses?

Reply 1

doomy

Original post by moomoobrowncow

Hey guys, im hoping to apply to Exeter, St andrews and Leeds this year to study philosophy and biology
/biology and the history and philosophy of science. My question was, in the event of me wanting to do an MSc in a further biological field, does the mixed nature of my degree (assuming also that I will have relevant work experience by the time apply for the MSc) hold me back in being accepted onto courses? Would i be better off with a single honours in biology or human biosciences if I wanted to progress to postgrad courses?

Without being 100 percent sure, I guess, it depends on the fact whether you go for a Major/Minor degree or a Joint Degree scheme. I think that only if you choose Biology as a minor you might be held back. Otherwise with 50% biology you will take all core modules the Straight Biology students take, which is the most important thing I guess.

My experience, as a third year Economics with Politics student (60/40%) in a mid-tier uni, who recently got accepted for MSc Economics single honours courses at UCl and Warwick, is that as long as I took all my compulsory quantitative modules (Maths, Statistics, Econometrics etc.) it didn't matter that much. What i found very hard was the first year when I had 5-6 essential introductory modules per Semester from both departments.
As far as I can recall, the undergraduate courses in Scotland (St. Andrews) are 4 years so perhaps they cover a bit more core modules than the rest, which might be some miniscule advantage if you don't mind the +1 year.

In my opinion, if you want to study both biology and philosophy - go for it. Goals and priorities can change and this way you have two potential directions to go. Plus, in the first 3 weeks of term, assuming you got accepted for the programmes and therefore accepted in two departments, I think switching o a single honours is possible in most universities

If, however, you decide in the subsequent months that you'd rather jump towards a PhD in biology (I believe undergrad to PhD is possible for natural sciences), then go for the single honours in biology.

Reply 2

Changing Skies

22

Original post by moomoobrowncow

Hey guys, im hoping to apply to Exeter, St andrews and Leeds this year to study philosophy and biology
/biology and the history and philosophy of science. My question was, in the event of me wanting to do an MSc in a further biological field, does the mixed nature of my degree (assuming also that I will have relevant work experience by the time apply for the MSc) hold me back in being accepted onto courses? Would i be better off with a single honours in biology or human biosciences if I wanted to progress to postgrad courses?

I'm currently studying Ancient History and Biological Sciences and have been told by my biology academic advisor that it shouldn't put me at a disadvantage :smile:

I think as long as it is 50/50, you're fine!

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Reply 3

poohat

18

Obviously if you want to become e biologist then doing 100% biology is better than only doing 50% biology, all else equal. However it isn't likely to make a major difference for a masters application (it will mean that you have much less chance of going straight onto a PhD without doing a dedicated Masters first though, but then a PhD in biology isn't a great life choice anyway, and there are almost no funded PhDs in philosophy).

Also joint honours degrees are rarely 50/50 in practice; you will most likely end up specialising in third year into the stream you enjoy most.

(edited 9 years ago)

joint degree holds you back for post grad?

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