Receiving A Degree In Biology (or In General)- Waste Of Time?

[lvysaur]

I just wanna say that the modern, neoliberal university is a joke and you're not going to catch the big fish from attending any of those lectures and classes tbh. I just got my B.A last week from The University of Birmingham here in the UK which is supposed to be a very solid institution but modern pedagogy is nothing more than the cumulation of bitterly guarded conservative 'knowledge'

I found this to be very true, particularly the "guarded" part of it. The things taught to me in college were conceptually much easier than the things I'd learned in high school. It was artificially hard, because such things often could not be found on the internet, and some lecturers did not provide notes, so self-teaching was almost impossible. You had to be extremely diligent in taking all the notes in order to do well.

 

[acrylic]

Hello everyone!
I'm currently 21 years old and am interested in pursuing a career in environment and wildlife conservation. I've been heavily contemplating going back to school so I can receive a degree in something like Ecology/Conservation Biology/Environmental Studies.
However, I am concerned about being mislead in my studies of biology, biochemistry, physiology, etc- as from what I understand, the basis of these teachings (traditionally) isn't in line with Peat's view of science. His ideas really resonate with me, and I am concerned about receiving flawed models.
From what I understand, a degree in this field is pretty much required in any professional position. But I truly want to make the greatest impact I possibly can, and for that I want a solid/valid foundation.
Has anyone here studied biology in a traditional US college setting? What are your thoughts on the ideas you received from your education vs. Peat's ideas? Are they drastically different? What are your thoughts about receiving undergraduate degrees in general?
Thanks for reading!!

I studied biology with a specialty in neuroscience, and I will say that I wish I had either studied chemistry, biochemistry, statistics, or computer science instead -- and the biology program at my school was also top 5 in the world. The problem is that in biology you don't really learn a ton about the biochemical machinery underlying everything. Of course there's some of that, but not enough to give you core principles that you can keep in your mind for the rest of your life. Just my 2 cents.