 McClintock began her studies at Cornell 's College of Agriculture in 1919 . There , she participated in student government and was invited to join a sorority , though she soon realized that she preferred not to join formal organizations . Instead , McClintock took up music , specifically jazz . She studied botany , receiving a BSc in 1923 . Her interest in genetics began when she took her first course in that field in 1921 . The course was based on a similar one offered at Harvard University , and was taught by C. B. Hutchison , a plant breeder and geneticist . Hutchison was impressed by McClintock 's interest , and telephoned to invite her to participate in the graduate genetics course at Cornell in 1922 . McClintock pointed to Hutchison 's invitation as the reason she continued in genetics : " Obviously , this telephone call cast the die for my future . I remained with genetics thereafter . " Although it has been reported that women could not major in genetics at Cornell , and therefore her MA and PhD — earned in 1925 and 1927 , respectively — were officially awarded in botany , recent research has revealed that women did earn graduate degrees in Cornell 's Plant Breeding Department during the time that McClintock was a student at Cornell . 
