I am at a loss

I ended up in a similar situation, but kind of the opposite. I started as an Equine major and switched to Graphic Art and Design half way through while keeping Equine as a minor. It was a balance that worked for me. I'm currently looking into a masters degree in Illustration Design and preparing my portfolio to apply. Illustration design is less commercial and advertisement oriented than other art degrees.

If UK is something you want to do for you and you can afford it, I say go for it. You might even be able to finish your art degree after you transfer if the credits work out.

Interesting, never heard of illustration design. I figured that graphic design (my original major) would be right for me since I liked to draw things in photoshop, but it is not what I had imagined.
Affording UK on the other hand I'm not sure, but I don't know of any other colleges (locally) that offer any equine degrees.

Savannah College of Art and Design is the only one I know of that offers a master's degree specifically in Illustration Design. I had one course of that subject at my college and it was my favorite art class. It's more about illustrations for stories and text books instead of packaging commercial advertising and the web.

Hm, if you're artsy and nerdy like me. My father has been trying to get me to go into medical illustration for ages now. Illustration does seem to be the more in-demand art experience. Specially with children books, which some are on wait lists for years to get an artist.

My other artist friends that have gone through the Art Institutes, had majors in graphic design and one is working at a fish store, the other at a book store. So yeah LOL. When we were kids in high school the demand was there for web page and graphic design, now? Good luck. I know two people that came out of Savannah, and they are doing what they went to college for. One had to relocate to new York however, and the other is an illustrator from home, doing mostly her own stuff, free lance work, and character designs for games.

However I'm a extreme cynic when it comes to paying to go to an art school. Specially when a BA in illustration here will cost you a couple grand shy of 100k, that doesn't include the supplies you have to put into it.

Being nerdy and artist seems to be a good juggle for me. It gives me (some what) stable job assurance in the teaching profession (granted I may have to get the hell out of Florida LOL) and allows me to create on the side where I have time. I also find that being artist translates very well with all the jobs I have ever done, oddly enough that includes Pest Control!

I went to college for Animal Science, specializing in Equine and Poultry (they didn't have those as actual majors in my school.) Unfortunately, I realized with one year left that I wouldn't be able to pay $100,000 a year for vet school so... I just finished the major. Since I only had animal hospital experience and minimal equine/poultry management/breeding/marketing experience I ended up very limited as to what I can do. Luckily, I married a guy in the computer industry, so he's helping me learn programming/web/graphic design in hopes that I can work from home until I can start my own farm.

Now I work at a university with the lab animal medicine vets and I yell at researchers all day for doing things wrong. While my non-college graduate husband works as a director of a company. And soon to be part owner of another. Gggrrrr.

In other words, college is dumb and usually a huge waste of money. If you can get good practical equine experience (at a barn, etc) you MIGHT be better off switching, but that's going to cost of TON of money that you'll have to pay back on not much money. Unless you're lucky and everything is paid for. Otherwise it may be a good idea to stick with art. I work with a lady who majored in Art and she is a coordinator of sorts to get graduate students hands-on animal training. Besides, if you're that close to a degree you might as well try and finish it so that you can say you have one. Some places want you to have a bachelors, no matter what it is.

My first instinct is to say finish your degree; otherwise, as you say, the whole thing will be a huge waste of your time, effort and resources. But I guess it will largely depend on how many credits transfer.

What your undergraduate degree is in almost does not matter. Most people do not specifically use them. But they are critical for getting a good job, for future earning power, for obtaining basic skill sets, and as a springboard to higher degrees. No matter what you think, you are (or should be) learning a great deal more than just your what your major entails. In my area - and I am NOT kidding - you cannot get hired as a dogwalker/petsitter without an undergraduate degree.

If you are targeting equines, but do not want to invest in a doctorate or Ph.D, then what about veterinary technician? You could go with an equine practice. Licensed techs are in high demand

Yes, finish your degree if you can. I was two thirds of the way through Advertising and Marketing and changed horses (HAH!!) literally two terms before the finals (to Graphic Design) luckily I always drew and painted for my own pleasure so getting a portfolio together was not easy but was feasible.
I passed- no Hons but I passed!!
If, OTOH you could get to UK- that is where John Eberth is doing all the Mini Dwarf work, so that would be SO cool!
You do need to be happy, or at least content, to be able to work well, if you are neither I would look hard at your options but stick to the course you decide to take (in life, not at college).
I did five years Art training etc, only to put my foot down once I was adult and do a post graduate Teachers training course (and a B Ed but that is another story) If I had been allowed to go to Teacher Training School, straight from school I'd have been a lot happier.

I have to agree with Rabbit that being near the dwarfism research would be very cool. :P But that's us crazy people.

I have had the most terrible time finishing my degree. I think I have something like 150 hrs ymwhisle with no degree, so I know where you coming from when you say your unhappy with your current degree plan and also where things can lead.

I think if I had to do it all over again, I'd stick it out and get a that first degree instead of changing majors. You can always go back and take the classes you want after you have your degree but you never know what might interferer with your schooling after you've changed majors and extended your school time.

I got an email back from UK, and apparently you can only study genetics in a graduate program, so I would have to get a degree first, so I may keep art and go like biology or something minor that would give me a chance to be able to get into the graduate program there.
I really do like the idea of pursuing genetics and working in a lab one day.

Now... stay generic art or consider going photography or drawing (the only thing I've found I enjoy and am not bad at)... hmmm

Thank you guys for the suggestions <3

I don't want to be a downer and dream crusher, but genetics at the graduate level is going to be a completely different kettle of fish than what you might hope it is. That said, I agree with your plan of action--absolutely finish your degree, and absolutely take advantage of being in school and take biology classes. Maybe a couple intro bio courses then a lab course. After you've gotten your feet wet, then you can decide if you want to put in the extra years to get the degree--and either way, you will have a completed art degree and a foundation in bio with some lab experience under your belt that might be useful going forward.

I have some ideas on what it could be like, lots of frustration, hours with no progress, etc...
basically, while I don't know exactly how it is, I know its not all fun and games so to speak. I have taken a chemistry lab class and it was quite interesting, I have always been interested in science.
This is a few years in the future so I'll see how I feel then; on a good note, this has really made me want to finish my art degree just to be done with it finally.

Oh, don't forget that research is A LOT of politics. People are always trying to disprove their enemies and prove their friends, often at the cost of true progress. That was my biggest shock after getting into research, I think. I always imagined that there were all of these scientists out there trying to do experiments and come up with new ideas just to gain knowledge and improve the world. There still are some people that are like that, but not very many. :( Biggest let down in the world.

x_X Oh dear gods. I'm in the Bio field right now....it is killing me. I consider myself a student of art and science my entire life. Specifically went to the middle and high schools in my district with the most progressive science and technology programs there was. My junior and senior year I was taking 9 classes instead of the normal 7, with 3 classes being science!

So yes, I consider myself a science major. More so animal sciences, conservation, environment, behavior. Critters big and small, swimming to flying.

College. omg. I had no idea what I was doing my first year or to. Getting all kinds of misinformation, misdirection, ect. I took an Intro to Bio class which was titled something different at this one college, thinking that it was the main biology course. It was an easy lecture based class, about 150 of us taking notes as the professor reads straight from the power point. I could have fallen asleep every day and still passed it.

Surprise surprise when I transfer, I find out that class I took was an intro course, and I have yet to take the Biology for Majors.

I've failed that course twice now. First time I took it at a different college back home, passed the lab, failed the course. Second time I took it, the lab and class were combined, so my lab credit didn't transfer. This class I kept a C average on tests, but failed the lab. *sobs* I knew the material, but for each lab station we were given a timed minute and a half, and we could not go back. I can not solve a formula in 1.5 minutes!!!! Nearly had what was later described to me as the beginnings of a panic attack. I had never had a panic attack before.

But maybe you're better at Biology I. Here in Florida, it's all cellular chemistry for the most part. You really don't work with anything larger then a single cell organism. Needless to say, not my area of specialty.

I've been told Bio II you get more into the Kingdoms, and it's lots of memorization.

I have to get with the Education department to see what I can do with my degree. I want to continue to teach science as a full time teacher, however the rout this one college has me going. They want Bio I, II, and Chem I and II. But to be a Chem teacher here, you have a different test, and most Chem teachers specialize. I want Bio, Marine, Enviro, Earth Space, things like that.

You give me a chemistry set, and the only thing I can make from it is Fuel LOL. Other wise, I'mma run away. I couldn't even pass my Intro to Chem class. I never had Chem in high school, got around having to take it.

But don't let my chicken butt scare you off. But yes, the unfun crap you have to go through to get to the fun stuff sucks.

If I could handle, I would want to be the next Sponenburg or Cothran x_x but that just isn't going to happen LOL. But I know I will shine in other areas, I know what they are, but it's jumping through the hoops to get there which is the challenge.

Ever notice I ramble like mad when it gets late and I'm tired LOL. Good night, best of luck. 4am is close, and I will have to wake up.

Aaaahhhh, the infamous boring science classes of college. I actually LIKED chem and physics in high school, but college taught me to hate chem (it didn't work with physics, though... I still enjoy some parts of it.)

You learn that you like weird things when you try them, though. I had always loved biology and anatomy, but in college those were the worst classes. Granted, the hands-on animal classes were fun, but they weren't hard. The surprise classes that I enjoyed included:

[list=1]
[*]statistics (who knew?)
[*]microbiology (I HATED cell biology, but microbiology is fun! You get to track down microbes and grow them!)
[*]immunology (another cell biology type class that I took on accident that I loved)
[*]post-communist societies in eastern Europe (VERY interesting, although entirely useless in my current field)
[/list]

Everything else was okay. There were a few classes that I KNEW I'd like and they were pretty easy. The absolute WORST classes were:

[list=1]
[*]anatomy
[*]chemistry
[*]organic chemistry
[*]molecular genetics
[*]GENETICS (WHAAAAT? I know, I know. WORST class I had ever taken. I really should have gotten my money back. It was boring, useless, and at 7:30 in the morning in the middle of winter a good half hour bus trip from my dorm. Not worth it. And the professor was a huge donkey.)
[*]animal physiology (the human version was hard, but the professor was good and I enjoyed it even though it was another 7:30 AM middle of winter, far far away class)
[*]general biology (boring/useless)
[/list]

As far as jobs went - the worst paying jobs are with animals and the most soul-crushing jobs are in research. One of the new resident veterinarians at work asked me if I planned on going to vet school and I told her definitely not. She seemed all surprised like "Who wouldn't want to go to vet school" so she asked what I planned on doing. I told her I wanted to be a farmer. :HB

Aww don't go breaking my heart. I was sooooo looking forward to genetics in the spring LOL.

Statistics. The only math I'm good at. And geometry. Everything else....RUN

I was always good at any kind of math, stats was the math class i took in college and it was an absolute joke, so easy. I took chemistry for nursing students with a lab and did great in the lab and lecture. I'll take a biology class in the spring and see where I stand. I'm not going to stand and say I'm going to do this, but I will take some more gen ed's in those classes that are required for going into genetics and see if its my thing or not.