<p>I was looking to change my major from Biochem/Cell Bio into something actually useful but had a few questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is BS Computer Science with a Specialization in Bioinformatics marketable? Is it easy to find a job with this degree? Entry level salaries? Could I find a job outside the biotech industry (like with Google)? Or would I have to get a MS Computer Science afterwards to get non-biotech jobs.</p></li>
<li><p>Why is Biochem/Cell Bio seen as such a prestigious major here? It looks like you barely have to complete any courses. Like it seems that all of the Biochem/Cell Bio classes are included in BS Comp Sci w/ Bioinformatics. Is it just because it's a way for premeds to not do that much work?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Bump. I’m curious too.</p>
<p>I think people go with Biochem/Cell Bio because it’s not math/computation heavy, and it’s not too quantitative. If you want to go to medical school or grad school for biology, you really don’t need the math/programming coursework.</p>
<p>Bioinformatics, on the other hand, is very quantitative. If you’re interested in doing data analysis, machine learning, developing algorithms, and constructing metabolic/cellular/genomic models, then you should definitely pursue Bioinformatics.</p>
<p>I’m a CSE: Bioinformatics major because I love computer science (and I wanted to take CS technical electives) and math, and I love biochemistry. It seemed like a good intersection, and the program is a very good fit for me. I plan to go on to get my PhD in Computational Biology - mostly 'cause I don’t wanna be a code-monkey at some biotech firm, but I do want to work in biotech.</p>
<p>I plan to double major in math or cogsci, but we’ll see how that works out. It might be easier (fewer courses) to do a minor in both math/cogsci than double major in either.</p>