<p>Hey all, I actually graduated from McCombs & the BHP in last year but my brother is trying to transfer from Community College into UT next year and apparently has a new-found passion for Chemistry. </p>
<p>I ended up going to law school at Columbia but I don't have a very strong intuition about career prospects between Chemistry and Chemical Engineers. The Engineering School brags about $69k starting salary (odd that it's up $10k from what they were claiming before the recession). But the Chemistry departments is far more sparse, I keep trying to talk him into some kind of engineering focus but he think a regular Chemistry major will suit him fine. </p>
<p>He doesn't go into many details but he says he's not interesting in being a Pharmacist at all (something about it being extremely dull work). Other than that he likes Chemistry and wants a job in the field, I can ask him more questions if anyone answering needs clarification.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance, also don't hesitate to ask your own (basic) questions about McCombs or transferring into the BHP. I don't think I have many exciting insights but you can try me.</p>
<p>Both Chemistry and Chem Eng at TX are great choices. In terms of selecting between the two, I would like to ask him the following question:
What exactly are his career goals? In terms of getting a better pay, both are ok. Chem Eng is slightly ahead. Petro Eng pays a lot better. In the field of chemistry, there are many different types of jobs. Pay are quite different.</p>
<p>I’m currently a ChemE student at UT, and here’s how I think about it: chemistry is a usually on the microscopic or atomic scale, and chemical engineering is often on the macroscopic scale (process design). Also, since chemistry is a pure science, there isn’t much “application” or “engineering” going on. One other thing to consider is that in order to get a decent job with a chemistry degree, you’d likely have to get at least a Master’s degree (if not a PhD). I know chemical engineers who’ve noted that ChemE’s with Bachelor’s degrees are treated similarly to Chemistry PhD’s in the field.</p>
<p>@Soadquake, that’s interesting. I had the same impression since I had an EE roommate for a year and was convinced that an engineering degree is one of the most valuable degrees you can graduate with. Is there a big difference in the amount of quantitative work between a chem and chemE major? I’ve been pushing him towards engineering but I don’t know if he’s totally sold, he was even talking about following up with a masters in Chem but that made me even more leery.</p>
<p>@KXC, he has mentioned the developing **Green/Environmental sector **as one of his leading interests. Does that change anything, what major would be a better way to get work in renewable energy or other ‘green’ fields?</p>
<p>I got a Ph.D in Chemistry and did my post doc at UT in fact. I am doing something related to renewable energy and some engineering stuff. Just one example.
Agreed, you will need to get a Ph.D and doing a lot of more work to get there. Just a BS in chemistry does not get you too far.</p>