North Dakota State University for animal science...

[katie_k]

I'm just starting to look at colleges and ndsu seems like a nice school and I have heard good things about their animal science program. Did anyone else go here?  I also looked at Iowa state and u of m.  What are your opinions?

 

[knabe]

What jobs that you want to do utilize an animal science degree?

Animal science is a heavily transferred out of major.

Genomics is still an emerging field still struggling with the promise of sequencing the genome and therefore has lots of headroom as new discoveries are still rapidly occurring.

One way to distill your search is to look for jobs n a variety of publications including journals like science and nature to get an idea where the industry is going and to see what is required to get those jobs. 

 

[twistedhshowstock]

As knabe stated, you have to decide what you want to do with an Animal Science degree, then look at the school and decide if they have a good program for what you want to do.  Animal Science is a very broad program.  There are a lot of schools out there with very good Animal Science program's, but they all tend to be better at different things.  I lived in MN for a while, and attended U of M briefly. I traveled to and extensively researched the programs at the other schools as well.  In my opinion, being based where they are, they are all good at the production side of animal science. So if thats what you want to do, then you cant go wrong either way.  If research is more where you want to be, then Iowa is probably a little higher in that area.  If you want to go to Vet School then you definately would prefer either UofM or Iowa.  The other thing to consider is how congested you want the program to be. Iowa is definately the most prestigious of the programs, thus has a lot more students, so you may struggle with one on one relationships with professors if that is something you crave.  NDSU is a good program but is smaller so the comraderie of the program is a little stronger.  Really all 3 are good schools it just really depends on what you value the most in a program and what you want to specifically do when you finish.  Then find a school that offers that.

 

[Davis Shorthorns]

Might also check out Kansas State for ASI

 

[RFL]

I would highly recommend NDSU. Excellent University and Animal Science program.
They also have a shorthorn herd there. The American Shorthorn Association Executive
Secretary, Dr. Bert Moore, is a former Professor of Animal Science at NDSU.  I'm sure that Bert
would be a good source to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

[crybaby]

I graduated not that long ago-- looking back, I should have avoided the AS degree-- as well as I bet many of the people that were in my classes.  I ended up with 2 majors and 2 minors... and the three non AS focuses-- got me my job...

 

[katie_k]

I want to go into nutrition and or genetics. Research is a major interest of mine.  I also plan on minors in agbusiness and agcommunications. 

 

[farmboy]

You'll probably stand a better chance with a Specific biology degree. That's what I'm switching into anyway

 

[knabe]

If you want genetics, see which grad school you want to get into and see what undergrad THEY recommend.

Genetics doesn't really end with a, no pun intended, B.S. degree.

It's sort of like pre-vet and pretty much the top tier of biology degrees.

 

[cattleman23]

I will be going to college in the fall and was planning on majoring in animal science also. Why should I stay away/avoid majoring in animal science and what are other majors that I should I take into consideration?

 

[MCC]

I would not recommend going into nutrition. Genetics might be ok. If you want to get a BS in animal science fine but I would then look at getting a MBA or something like that. Just my opinion.

 

[Mainevent]

I will be attending Oklahoma state this fall under a animal science major in ranch management, and minority in agribusiness-ranch production. I have heard to stay away from management why?

 

[crybaby]

I will be attending Oklahoma state this fall under a animal science major in ranch management, and minority in agribusiness-ranch production. I have heard to stay away from management why?

most often this applys to those who attend a juco first...  when you go direct into management-- and then decide to attend a university-- you have to take the 'basics' at the Univ level-- instead of juco-- which is about like high school. 

whereas- I took the transfer program in juco-- and got all my bs classes out of the way-- so when I transfered to the Univ... I just basically took ag classes.  i think I had one class outside the ag building that pertained to my ag degree--- my others were for my other degrees.. but all in all- I think I had 4 classes not in the ag building for my 4 degrees.

 

[cattleboy]

My only concern with an Animal Science major is that its hard to get a job with that (in the midwest that is). I go to Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL and their animal science program is really good. You can major in Agricultural Science with a minor in Animal Science and that way, your opportunity for jobs is increased!!

 

[jd438]

It all really depends on what you think you want to do after school, which will probably change 10 times between now and graduation.  Iowa State grads are highly recruited in pharmeceutical, meat, and swine businesses.  It all really depends if you want to be in production agriculture or the many supporting businesses.  In all reality you have to enjoy the classes to excel, but if you can't get a job to pay for the schooling what's the point, a business background applies everywhere.  Best bet is go to school work hard, get good grades, get involved in activities. 

 

[goodnight]

I will be attending Oklahoma state this fall under a animal science major in ranch management, and minority in agribusiness-ranch production. I have heard to stay away from management why?

most often this applys to those who attend a juco first...  when you go direct into management-- and then decide to attend a university-- you have to take the 'basics' at the Univ level-- instead of juco-- which is about like high school. 

whereas- I took the transfer program in juco-- and got all my bs classes out of the way-- so when I transfered to the Univ... I just basically took ag classes.  i think I had one class outside the ag building that pertained to my ag degree--- my others were for my other degrees.. but all in all- I think I had 4 classes not in the ag building for my 4 degrees.

Major in animal science. It is a great program at OSU. All the options are good in the program, but I did the ag econ option while I was there. I went to law school at the U of Arkansas after undergrad and graduated 22nd in my class. As strange as this may seem, the animal science program taught me how to think just as much as any of my law school classes. Just study your butt off and try to finish with the best GPA possible and be active on campus. 

 

[knabe]

A typical interview question I ask for people applying for r&d positions is what they would do with a grant of 10 million dollars and 10 phd students. 

Most people get r and d confused.

R&d budgets at a typical company are around 8%.  Pure research is around 10% of that.