Biology vs. Chem vs... help!

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>Hello all!</p>

<p>So I am a sophomore who, like pretty much everyone else at my school right now, is thinking of switching majors. My original track was nursing, but I don't have the interpersonal skills for it and I don't enjoy spending lots of time in the hospital working one on one with patients. I really, really prefer lab work and field work.</p>

<p>There are two major fields I'm interested in: microbiology and climatology. Not a lot of overlap there. My school doesn't offer either as a major, and I know if I wanted to do serious work in either I'd need a grad degree anyway. But I'm trying to figure out what undergrad degree is best. </p>

<p>I'm looking for one that could work for applying to both microbio and climatology graduate programs. I'm also looking for one that, if I choose not to go to grad school, I could get a decent job in. Options:</p>

<p>Biology (great for microbio, bad for climatology, bad for job outlook)
Environmental Science (eh for microbio, decent for climatology, really bad for job outlook)
Chemistry...</p>

<p>Chem is the one I'm looking at now. If I applied to grad schools with a degree in chem, would I even have a shot for microbio? What about climatology? </p>

<p>I kind of prefer doing chem--I really don't like the biology classes I'm in that aren't microbiology, but I enjoyed the chems I've taken so far, and done better in them than the bios. I prefer problem solving to straight memorization and would get as high as 98s and 90s on some of my chem exams, which is way more solid than my 80s through 100 and 200 level bio. </p>

<p>I just don't know if it's any good for the programs I want...</p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>Edit: so I’ve decided on chem because I do not enjoy bio at all, but if anyone has some advice on the viability of this for grad schools that would be really cool. Thank you! </p>

3

<p>Grad schools don’t care as much about the specific name of your major so much as what preparation you have for their program. Look up relevant grad programs that interest you and see what they list as recommended and required pre-requisites, then take those as electives if they’re not covered by your major. (I’m a neuroscience major going into bioengineering, so I ended up taking some extra math classes, for example.) I’m guessing they’ll be looking for more upper level bio electives than you’ll get as a chem major. Also, get involved in research. It’s necessary if you’re applying to PhD programs, and can show skills and knowledge for any grad program and be a source of a great letter of recommendation. You might also try checking out the forums on thegradcafe. People there with experience in microbio would have more specific advice on what grad schools look for.</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much for the advice–I’ve started looking up grad programs in climatology and seeing what they want in their applicants. </p>

<p>Good luck in bioengineering, by the way!</p>

5

<p>You are aware that most of the sciences have absolutely terrible job prospects? Personally I’d say suck it up and stick with nursing. You don’t need great interpersonal skills for nursing or even MD. Heck I’ve seen many doctors that probably have personality disorders (and I’m not talking about House MD).</p>

<p>If you do get a science degree you will probably still need to go to a healthcare after being unemployed for a while or working crap $12-17 an hour temp jobs.</p>

6

<p>Don’t listen to negative person about lame job prospects. You may change your mind many times along the way in terms of what you ultimately want to do with your chemistry degree, but the possibilities are endless if you combine it with the right things. For example, you could take the patent exam after getting your BA and become a patent officer making $75,000 or more working at a law firm helping lawyers with patents (and you wouldn’t even need to be a lawyer). You can get a teaching license and teach Chemistry. You can get a graduate degree in Climatology including GIS and get a job involving GIS skills. You could get your masters or PhD in Cheminformatics and be at the cutting edge of solving problems with the big data in chemistry. You could get a master’s in museum studies or volunteer at a science or natural history museum during college, and then pursue work for a museum. You could focus on particular chemistry research, such as that involving Arctic Studies or Yellowstone. You could spend a year in Alaska studying the glaciers and climate change, or get a master’s in meteorology. You could get a master’s in science filmmaking (Montana State) and make documentaries for the Science Channel and other outlets. You could get a master’s in science journalism and write for scientific publications. You could wind up in pharmaceuticals, work for an environmental rehabilitation company, be an environmental lawyer for the EPA, do forensics, etc. The possibilities are endless. Use your imagination and follow what you excel at and enjoy. Perfect choice that you are choosing Chemistry which you are naturally gifted in, while most the population struggles with that subject. </p>

7

<p>Unless you want to teach high school in which case you will need specific training and license for a rather poor salary in most places. Majoring in science pretty much necessitates that you will need further training for any type of career with a living wage and by that I don’t mean science graduate school. Don’t even get me started on the state of science PhD programs in the USA. Otherwise these are the types of job will get: $12-18 per hour temp crap jobs with Aerotek, Kelly, Medix, or some other no name staffing agency working for another company so that they don’t have to pay you benefits. Frankly it is an insult to anyone smart enough for science. The OP sounds pretty smart. I’d hate to see him/her end up like many other science majors with their lives ruined.</p>

<p>Analytical Chemist – Scientist (Quality Control / Chemistry)
Medix | Mahwah, NJ | Posted 11/21/2014</p>

<p>JOB DESCRIPTION Job Description</p>

<p>Medix Staffing Solutions is seeking an Analytical Chemist for an exciting contract opportunity with one of our clients. We have earned our reputation as an industry leader by providing unsurpassed customer service and matching quality professionals with great career opportunities. The Analytical Chemist is responsible for quality control performing a broad range of chemical tests and procedures in a laboratory and/or production setting. We are looking for a Chemist with strong lab skills, flexible schedule, and industry related experience.

[CENTER]Analytical Chemist – Scientist (Quality Control / Chemistry)[/CENTER]</p>

<p>
Job Responsibilities</p>

<p>As an Analytical Chemist you will use your professional judgment in the physicochemical analysis of samples; and the evaluation, selection and adaptation of professional methods and techniques in accordance with good manufacturing practices (GMP).</p>

<p>Additional Chemist responsibilities:</p>

<pre><code>Performing routine testing and analysis of finished product, bulk in process, raw material and stability
Taking samples in accordance with compendia and in-house test methods
Performing routine maintenance, cleaning and calibration of equipment used in the analytical labs
Performing general housekeeping and organization of lab working spaces, including bench tops, personal drawers, glassware and chemical storage cabinets and exhaust hoods
Assisting in the maintenance of the chemical and consumable material inventory necessary to perform routine testing and analysis
Providing constructive input into the review, change and update of laboratory documents such as SOPs, test methods and test records
Complying with all safety standards while on Company premises and during performance of job functions
Conforming to all CGMP/GLP requirements in performance and documentation of analytical testing
Performing peer review of analytical notebooks and other documents, as needed
</code></pre>

<p> </p>

<p>JOB REQUIREMENTS [CENTER][/CENTER]

[CENTER]Analytical Chemist – Scientist (Quality Control / Chemistry)[/CENTER]</p>

<p>
Job Requirements</p>

<p>To be qualified for this Chemist position you must have wet chem, USP, HPLC, GC and cGMP experience in an industry related environment. We are looking for a Chemist who enjoys analytical chemistry and has strong analytical abilities and documentation skills.</p>

<p>Additional Chemist requirements:</p>

<pre><code>A Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Pharmacy or related discipline; or its equivalent in training and experience
1 to 2 years of experience in Food and Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic, Flavors, Fragrance, Manufacturing, Medical device, Chemical or related industry
Effective communication and interpersonal skills within all levels of the organization
Familiarity with compendia, such as USP/BP/EU or FCC
Comprehensive understanding of CGMP/GLP regulations
Knowledge of computerized data acquisition and analysis systems, such as HP CHEM Station, Waters Millennium or PE Turbochrom
Comprehensive working knowledge of laboratory instrumentation
Good math and strong analytical problem-solving skills
Solid understanding of the safety standards and hazards associated with a Quality Control environment
Ability to prepare clear and accurate documentation and understanding of its importance
Ability to work independently and meet deadlines on a multitude of tasks
Good organizational skills
Flexibility and willingness to work 1st, 2nd, 3rd or a modified work shift, as departmental needs demand
</code></pre>

<p>[CENTER]Analytical Chemist – Scientist (Quality Control / Chemistry)[/CENTER]</p>

<p>
Benefits
Joke or none. Any will come completely at your expense.</p>

<p>Employment Type: Contractor Base Pay: $18,000 - $35,000 /Year Other Pay: N/A Industry: Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology Education: 4 Year Degree Experience: At least 2 year(s) Manages Others: Not Specified Relocation: Not Specified Required Travel: None Job ID: Not Available</p>

8

<p>I’m going to side with @sschoe2 here. Sure, in theory, a person could end up doing some of the things @mommyrocks mentioned. Realistically, it’s a long shot, especially if you want to do research as a PhD, in which case many of those options are irrelevant to begin with. Moreover, few of those options offer significant job security, including pharmaceuticals (I don’t know enough about the others to state anything with conviction). Prospects for a chemistry degree are generally better than for biology, but not by much.</p>

9

<p>Food science, chemical engineering… More come to mind. What others are pointing out is the sad reality of the job market across many fields --not just science. I could tell you the same sob story about just any major and field other than petroleum engineering. What of it? In the future all majors need to get creative and flexible --maybe make a chemistry related app, start a chemistry related business, create science games… I don’t believe the stated goal was a career in a lab necessarily, only a love of and knack for chemistry. It is becoming essential in the job market to recreate yourself and be ready for a variety of jobs, not by abandoning your interests and skill sets but rather by seeing the many possible applications of them. If lab jobs have dried up and don’t pay, find what else you can do with chemistry knowledge. You can even restore art. In fact, I believe the stated goal was climatology or something which can be an exciting career involving travels around the world doing field work, or working for a nonprofit. But if that area dries up like basic lab chemistry, then be prepared with a range of ideas and skills for where to take your career and how to apply your chemistry knowledge next. The job market changes rapidly these days, and demands flexibility. Have a backup plan or two or three.</p>

10

<p>As a science major starting a business involves huge amounts of capital to start a lab. As a accountant that barrier is much lower. </p>

<p>Food science: I work in the food industry. There are some great companies and you can make a decent living with the right company. However, it would be foolish to count on it. I personally save more than half my take home in case I lose my job so I have the ability to just walk away from science rather than work temp jobs for lousy companies again. I worked for Pepsi for 3 years as a permatemp and it is not something I’d want anyone I cared about to go through again. Just down the street from where I work there is another flavor company that is also an even worse temp h#ll-hole as in you are lucky to break the $30k mark. You’d be better off in retail.</p>

<p>I ended up in the food industry despite my graduate training in protein biochemistry which would be very relevant to the biotech/pharma industry because now a days that is where good science careers go to die. Pharma has laid off hundreds of thousands over the past 8 years or so and given the patent cliff it doesn’t look like they will recover any time soon. It takes 10 years to bring a new drug to market and they don’t currently have anywhere near the new drugs needed to replace the big blockbuster drugs now coming off patent. They seem to be investing more in R&D in China and India and anything they can’t off-shore they use the aforementioned temp agencies. I get emails from Indian Recruiters about positions at Abbott Labs/Abvie on a daily basis as they are laying off a lot of their science staff and replacing them with perma-temps.</p>

<p>In short I steer anyone considering a science degree either away from science entirely or towards one of the healthcare professions. Otherwise it is a recipe for a life being ruined.</p>

11

<p>I definitely hear you guys, I’m trying to make the most informed decision. I looked up options for chem undergrads on a few job search sites and did find a lot of permatemp positions, which is not ideal. Although my eventual plan is grad school, I do want to know I can get a job with my degree after undergrad just in case…</p>

<p>I’ve started looking into physics too, since it still has the analytical/problem solving element that I liked and did well in with chemistry. It seems to have more of that than chem, actually. I did a few job searches for physics, and the options do seem better especially if you have some background in computers and programming, so I might look into that. Physics seems to be better prep for climatology and geosciences programs that I’ve looked into anyway–most of them prefer a strong background in physics and some chem. At my school the physics degree requires up to physical chemistry anyway, so I’ll still get that. So I’m leaning a bit more on physics right now.</p>

<p>As for healthcare, med school’s still an option for me, though it’s not really something I’d prefer to do. But by the end of undergrad (or well, junior year), whether I do physics or chem, I’ll still have the prereq courses for med school, and some hospital volunteering hours. So I guess if I change my mind by then, that option is still there.</p>

<p>That said… I would strongly prefer doing something in hard sciences, not healthcare. And I definitely do NOT want to major in something like business, haha.</p>

<p>I think the job market’s tanked in almost all fields outside of engineering and healthcare, though–I don’t think this is an issue with just the natural sciences.</p>

12

<p>Interestingly, I did hear a lot about chem degrees eventually going into patent law. No idea that was an option, but I’m glad it’s out there! </p>

13

<p>A lot of scientists previously went into patent law 10 years ago when the stuff hit the fan. Most jobs now want electrical engineers for patent lawyers. With just a BS in science you won’t be very likely to get a patent law job as there are MS’s and PhD with JD’s trying to get into patent law and as I said most of the jobs are for engineers now. In general the law market is just as bad as the science market with fewer than half of law grads getting law jobs and with $200k in nondischareable debt from the degree they are really up a creek. I’ve read of law school grads fleeing the country to try and escape debt.</p>

14

<p>Physics is actually a pretty good field as far as job prospects go–however, there’s an important caveat. While individuals with degrees in physics tend to get jobs, most of those jobs are not in the field of physics. But if physics interests you, it’s certainly worth looking into.</p>

15

<p>@sschoe2 - This is a good point, and law school is really expensive. I wonder why the EE’s are going into patent law though, or why there is preference for them. But then again I’d never thought of a science major going into patent law, either. </p>

<p>@AuraObscura - That is relieving! Yeah, when I was looking on job search sites most of them seemed more in the field of computing (though they were asking for physics people), but that doesn’t bother me too much. I just want to know there’s something I can fall back on if grad school doesn’t work or if I need to take a break. :slight_smile: </p>