Hey Bio dorks...Need some grad school help...

...ok. I'm going to grad school next year for physiology, or sports/exercise physiology. I'm exclusively looking west and I have come up with a couple of schools with these physiology programs in the west. Extremely preliminary list of possible schools is: UC Denver, U of Utah, U of Montana, Boise State, UN Reno, WWU, BYU, U of Northern Colorado, and ASU... Some of these school only offer a masters in biology instead of a Phd in physiology. Any thoughts? I am considering going to a school for a general biology masters so I can be in a great location, and then gonig to a different school for the PhD based on school merit. What do you guys think? Anyone in the same field?

I'm an Exercise Physiology masters student at Montana State.
A bigger question is: What do you want to do with your life?
Some answers I'd say go for bio, others I'd say Ex Phys all the way.
Where's your undergrad? UNH? (I'm from NH too)

Check out profiles of professors, look at their research interests and find things you are interested in. You will be doing work for them and it will suck if its not something you want to be doing, no matter how close you are to skiing.

Also, what are you looking for in a department? Facilities, faculty size, all of those things suddenly become important when you aren't an undergrad. You're obviously into school if you want a masters/ PhD so school can't be based entirely on skiing, but its a good way to make a list.

I've been out of school for too long to be of much help. but if you plan on doing a Ph.D don't switch schools. If you combine a masters with a Ph.D track you will get done a lot quicker

CU Boulder has a good Kinesiology program which will get you doing most of the same things that excersise physiology would get ya.

There are no California schools in denver (CU).


Other than that, The U is a great school.

If you are considering BYU,

you shall be rejeted,

bitch.

Perhaps the best excercise phys. program in the country is Appalacian State. Arizona is also solid in excercise phys, I bet it's better than ASU.

For general physiology, I'd go to UCLA. It's way better than those schools you mentioned and I think it's still a fairly large program, with researchers at the medical school as well as the West Los Angeles VA. UCSD has a smallish phys program (actually a part of the biomedical sciences grad. program), but a number of top researchers in cardiovascular and high altitude phys.

Utah is nice for molecular/developmental bio and biochem. I don't know about physiology, though.

Also, if your goal is a Ph.D. then screw the masters. It's a waste of your time unless you want training in disparately differering disiplines (i.e, a masters in genetics and then Ph.D. in penguin reproductive physiology). Go directly into a doctoral program and get your fucking degree ASAP. And by "ASAP" I'm talking around 5 years. So, yeah, screw the masters if you're planning on going beyond that anyway.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the help guys...I've been looking at a ton of professor's research interests and the papers they have published. I think I'm leaning towards Utah right now but we'll see. Also, I'm leaning towards school that have a medical center too.

pickles I go to Keene State.

As Viva's post implies, there's a pretty wide range of study falling under the rubric of physiology. Are your interests in molecular or cell bio aspects of physiology, or are they more systemic? Seems if you're interested in exercise physiology, that might even fall under some other department; at Utah, that would be Exercise and Sport Science, rather than Physiology, which is more along the lines of cellular physiology and biophysics. Both departments are good, with excellent research output - the people I know/knew in ESS seem happy, and the Physio dept, while small, has some good specialty interests.

I am interested in the exercise and sports science area as opposed to physiology. I think I am going to lean towards the physical therapy aspects of Utah's program...Their faculty is doing some pretty interesting research there...

don't go to university of northern colorado....smells like ass sweat.
then again unless you like ass sweat.

GRAD SCHOOL!?!?!?

Shit you were a high school baseball player looking for a ride to Jay and teaching Kiddies at Mt. Snow the last time I turned around, holy shit.

Congrats, but again, holy shit.