ChemE or Pharmacist?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hello everyone, </p>

<p>First off, let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a high school student entering my senior year, but I’d like to get a running start on choosing my college major. Math and chemistry are my two favorite subjects in high school so it only makes sense that I’ve narrowed my choice down to ChemE and Pharmacy. In fact, since I have completed the highest level of chemistry available at my school, I have opted to take advantage of my local university’s ‘post-secondary’ option in which I can take college classes as a high school senior. The trouble I am having, however, is that I am having a hard time weighting the pros and cons of each career path; some of the discussions I have read on this topic are either out of date or don’t provide enough information. </p>

<p>Heres what Id like to know about each:
- Salary Difference
- Job Availability
- Chances for growth and advancement </p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

2

<p>ChemE is undoubtedly one of the most flexible degrees available straight from undergrad. You can get a job in nearly every industry, and get extremely well paid. Currently at the summer job that I am working I am the only ChemE they have on board and they pay me as such. ChemE is second only to pay straight out of college. The opportunity to become management also is very common, infact most people from my university go straight into a management position from the ChemE department.</p>

<p>Job availability is not an issue for ChemEs, compared with pharmacists it is hard to say though, I think that they are both in fairly high demand. </p>

<p>Of course thats a pretty bias opinion. But in terms of “marketability” ChemE is pretty much in a league of its own. </p>

<p>Hope this answers some of your questions…</p>

3

<p>Are ChemE jobs only located in certain parts of the country, though? I’m not entirely sure what kind of environment they work in.</p>

4

<p>I am a pharmacist so I can tell you a little about that.<br>
Pros: Decent job availability, can work in almost any city you choose, good pay, variety of work environments, opportunity will probably increase with aging population, schedule flexibility
Cons: Not much room for advancement, tends to be task-oriented for those not in management, lousy work schedule if you like your evenings and weekends free </p>

<p>Maybe the grass is always greener, but in retrospect, I would probably roll my love of chemistry into chemical engineering.</p>