<p>hi. i am a freshman in college and i am really interested in biology, escpecially the biochem area. my question is what type of work can i expect with a bs in one of these areas. is it likely to be lab work (i hope so)? what is a reasonable starting salery? i am of above average intellegence, but not a genius by any means. i would love to work in a lab environment working in a group atmosphere to make progress in medicine or medical technology (think of the movie "the fountian"). my earning goal would be between 80 to 120k (not starting, just a goal). i am attending a regular state school, nothing fancy. is what i want reasonably attainable or am i day dreaming?</p>
<p>The fountain was pretty trippy, lol.</p>
<p>I'm a biochem major at a pretty prominent public school...you can do pretty much anything in the hard sciences. It sounds like you want to do something along the lines of pharmacology though. Professor, pharmacist, research scientist, geneticist, epidemiologist, public health...it's endless. Most of the jobs do include lab work to some extent. You will find it almost everywhere you go. As far as salaries go, don't come out of school expecting to make 80-120k. The more heard of starting salaries range between 35-50k. But salary does increase as you gain experience/get a professional degree.</p>
<p>cool, thanks for the info! 35 to 50k sounds great starting out to me, considering i make next to nothing right now. what do you think the importance of ms or phds when not in an academic setting? ive been told that in the professional world of biology, just get the bs and get to work, racking up experience.</p>
<p>Take my advice w/ a grain of salt, but I have heard that you can't do that much with just a BS in biology or biochem. If you want to do research later on, then a PhD is pretty much required, whether you want to remain in academia or industry. There's also a heck of a lot of bio PhDs out there, so competition for any kind of research job will be tough. If you just want to be a lab tech and not a research scientists, then you don't need an MS or a PhD, but you will not be able to make 80 - 120k in that kind of job.
Another option to consider is to get your BS, work for a few years, then get an MBA if you're interested in the business side of the biotech industry. That way you'll have the chance to make more money w/ out getting a graduate/research degree.</p>
<p>The 35-50k is JUST for biochem majors from my school, according the School or Chemistry and Biochemistry for last years graduating seniors. And that is the range, my guess is that most lie around the 40k mark. Biology majors make a considerable amount less (a friend of mine graduated from UPenn with a BS in biology and was only able to acquire a job for 19k a year). </p>
<p>As far as graduate degrees go, most majors in the hard sciences go on to get a graduate degree. I'm constantly told by graduate students and some alumni that if I do decide to go to grad. school I may as well go for the phd rather than the ms, mainly for time reasons and the income bump it gives you. </p>
<p>For biology, going back to my friend from UPenn, she went on to get her ms, then phd consecutively after only 2 years of work...now she makes over 100k. But this is also in academia. Everything varies...and its just as much (if not more) about the hands you shake as the grades you make.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice. i was thinking very much along the lines of wht you said, TwylaBloo, about getting the bs, working a while, and seeing how happy i am with the jobs that are available to me. then i can go back to school if i find it necissary. i saw on a couple of web pages that the mean salary for a biochemist was in the $80s. what degrees and how much work experience they had is unknown to me. </p>
<p>the school i attend (A&M Commerce) does not offer a biochem major (which is what i am really interested in). should i be thinking about transferring? how would a bs with a major in bio and a minor in chem, or a double major compare to a biochem degree?</p>
<p>I don't think you have to transfer schools just because your current one doesn't have a biochem major. Double majoring in bio and chem, or majoring in one and minoring in the other should definitely suffice.</p>