<p>I am currently a high school senior looking for college, and I know for sure that I will major in Sciences. I plan to do Pre-Med. If I major in Biology and fail to get to med/dental/pharmacy school after graduated from college, what kind of job can I get with a BS in Bio? And what is the starting salary range for a Bio degree? </p>
<p>Chemistry is another option for me. I know that the chance for a Chem major to get a good job with a good salary is way higher than for a Bio major. However, I don't know if majoring in Chem will decrease my chance of getting into med/dental/pharmacy school?</p>
<p>Neither biology nor chemistry has very good job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level. No particular major is required to do pre-med; the pre-med course requirements are less than that needed for a full biology major and can be taken alongside any major like math, physics, chemical engineering, economics, philosophy, etc. (although it may be hard to fit them around an engineering major other than chemical engineering or bioengineering).</p>
<p>Do keep in mind though that if you are certain in your decision/desire to pursue medical school (at the same time realizing that many people change their minds in college), a science major will certainly best prepare you for it.
As stated above, any major can get you into medical school. Med schools want you to have at minimum a bachelors degree in any field, and a handful of science prereqs. From the research I had done at one point, no one major appeared to have an actual advantage of gaining admission into med school. The biggest factor at the end was gpa and MCAT (med admission test) score, among other important things like medical/research experience, etc. So in terms of gaining med school admission/entry, a major that results in a higher gpa would get you there. If a student was purely aiming for the best gpa, they would not be going by the best route by choosing a science or engineering major.
Above, however, I did write that a science major would best prepare you for medical school. While this may mean that getting into medical school may be a bit more competitive (I have read and been told that med admissions will always take the 4.0 liberal arts major over the 3- something science major with all else equal); you will undoubtedly be more prepared for the curriculum.
With the traditional med school model, your first two years are science based; the last are clinical. These first two go back over the sciences you would have already encountered as a science major, but not during the standard med prereqs: genetics, embryology, immunology, etc…
The med school curriculum moves very fast; some schools will have their material in a block schedule where you would learn a full term’s worth of info (as in undergrad) in six weeks or less. Of course, several are often taken together. So naturally someone who had already had a foundation in these courses would stand much better prepared than a non-science major who just picked up the requirements for med school.</p>
<p>As far as job prospects go if med school doesn’t work out- you will very likely need a graduate degree in the sciences to find work. There are jobs that can be gotten with the B.S., but these are generally limited and with the B.S. you are very limited in what you can do.
In the end I would say to only major in the sciences if you are very much committed to a career in medicine and feel confident about this very uncertain route; or if you can see yourself pursuing a graduate (PhD- the M.S. in these sciences is not much better than the B.S.) degree and enjoying its prospects. And you should really love your field if you would consider a PhD…not just because of the length of the education, but because of the uncertainty in terms of employment, salary/funding, position…etc.</p>
<p>If you aren’t sure about either of the above, I would strongly suggest choosing a different major and consider picking up the pre-med classes as a minor.
Do realize that the majority of pre-med students do not get into medical school due to the competitive nature of the process; be aware of alternatives for yourself in consideration of this (such as using your major to study something you could apply to an alternate career that you would also enjoy).</p>
<p>A BS in bioS by itself is just as worthless as most BA’s. With a science grad degree it still isn’t a good deal. It is mainly a degree for people planning on professional school especially med and if that doesn’t work you will need a graduate degree in something else like accounting or computer stuff.</p>
<p>Chemistry is mostly the same deal. The job prospects with just a chem degree even a graduate one are better than bios but not much and the jobs mostly suck. Companies hire their science staff as temps and pay them janitor wages with no benefits. You will need a professional or nonscience graduate degree if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in poverty.</p>