Hello, I’m currently a freshmen undergrad at Loyola University Chicago. Since high school, I wanted to go into a field of biology where I can innovate and research, so premed was never what I really wanted to do.
I initially wanted to go into Bioinformatics/Biotechnology (my current major track) but found out through research that it was very hard to land any decent paying jobs with a bachelor’s in those majors (at least needing a master’s). This prompted me to look toward pursuing an undergrad in Computer Science (which is also a field I’m very interested in), as it seems like common knowledge that CS tends to have better undergraduate job prospects than most majors.
I’m now planning to pursue an undergraduate degree in CS, hopefully get a decent job after college while attending grad school for bioinformatics/biotechnology, since I believe CS is a small if not major part of those two majors. Also, I’ve recently been very interested in the future of artificial intelligence/robotics so CS is definitely relevant as something I wanted to learn.
Is this a viable plan for what I want to do?
P.S. This is my first time posting on this site so please excuse me if I left anything out. I could also be very wrong in my statements so please feel free to correct me. Thank you!
Thanks @dudefromeurope, I was actually talking to the head of bioinformatics and that is what she recommended as well. I was also thinking about minoring in physics since I had in interest in robotics/prosthetic.
Hmm I can understand that since I’m also very interested in both Bioinformatics and Robotics. Maybe you could take some Physics courses here and there? So, maybe Comp Sci major with occasional Physics courses and Bio minor? Though I’m not sure that would work so you should ask Physics prof. Also, if you want to go into Robotics I think the best choice would be Engineering grad school, which should be accessed by Comp Sci majors. So maybe do Comp Sci + Bio for undergrad and then for grad school decide either Engineering or Bioinformatics?
If you want to go into a career in research, keep in mind that you will likely need a PhD to get a job where you will really have independence in your research (in academia or in industry). If you are certain this is the route you want to take and have the necessary grades and research experience as an undergrad, your best bet is probably to go directly into a PhD program rather than doing a master’s degree first. Since PhD programs would be fully funded and include a stipend, you wouldn’t have to worry about working to fund the degree.
@dudefromeurope Right, that sounds like a good plan to me. Ill be majoring in CS for sure and perhaps a minor in physics or bio. My ultimate goal right now isn’t totally clear right now (Bioinfo/tech, AI, Robotics or Prosthetic) so Ill just keep that open ended for the time being.
@nanotechnology Yea that makes sense. Do many of the non-med school fields such as Biotech/info, AI, Robotics or Prosthetic fall under that category of “career in research”?
Thank you both for your helpful insights, much appreciated.
Pretty much anything that revolves around the typical “being a scientist stuff” is a “career in research”. Neuroscience, Bioinformatics, A.I., Astrophysics, anything you can imagine.
Also, this is kinda subjective I guess, but majority of sciences don’t really offer any excitement unless you have a PhD. Though Comp Sci is more experience-based then say, Biotechnology and you can do a lot with just an undergrad degree if you have lots of work experience.
Since you’re still a freshman, you have plenty of time to figure out what direction you want to go after graduation. (Since my freshman year, I’ve been very set on a path about 3 different times and ended changing what I wanted to do.) Your plan of CS with a minor in bio and physics classes sounds like a very solid plan that has potential for graduate school (make sure you get involved in research early) or a career in tech.
I’m now heading down a related path to you - I’ll be going to grad school for bioengineering after majoring in neuroscience with a minor in computer science with the goal of working on issues like robotic prosthetics and rehabilitation robots. When I was looking for internships once, I got contacted by a lot of companies because I had programming experience to go with a life sciences background. A lot of bio people seem to be turned off by computational/programming stuff, so it’s a useful combination skill set to have!
@dudefromeurope gotcha, I guess that means ill be pursuing a doctoral degree if that’s what I need to do to innovate.
@nanotechnology That’s so cool! I’ve been following the amazing progress in the neuro/prosthetic area and its absolutely amazing (especially with 3-D printing potential driving cost down). I’ve also been reading up on Ray Kurdzweil’s Nick Bostrom’s work and robotics and AI will definitely have a major impact on our future. Its so good to know that someone such as yourself are striving to help humanity because that’s exactly what I have passion for.
Sorry I kind of went off but your comment really put things into perspective due to similar interests.
According to one my professors, robotics will have a bigger impact on the 21st century than computers had on the 20th century. According to another professor I have this semester (an amazing guy who makes robotic lobsters), Kurzweil is an idiot who gets way to much attention for terrible science. It’s a pretty tumultuous field right now, but a really cool place to be. I think there will be some big breakthroughs in the near future that I’m looking forward to being a part of!
My recommendation is study engineering instead. Engineers can do everything described above. If you decide to quit after obtaining a bachelor degree, you can still get decent employment as an engineer.