<p>I know that I am on the engineering thread, so these answers may be a little biased, but...</p>
<p>I am a high school senior trying to decide between these two majors. I know that I don't have to decide yet, but honestly I just want some input.</p>
<p>Based on future outlook, cost of schooling, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Frankly speaking, I believe Pharmacy also is great and you can have a future. I have no idea about this Pharma School whether they have to take lots of Math or not. Do you like Math?</p>
<p>However, for engineering, you have to take math and you have maintain high GPA in order to go grad school or finding a job. I am not talking GPA cumulative hovering around 3.1 or 3.2 but it has to be at least around 3.4 and above. </p>
<p>Perhaps others will chime in…</p>
<p>This post caught my eyes… I am a pharmacist (25+ years) who came to this link to learn because my son is applying for engineering school. </p>
<p>I can only speak for pharmacy; may be in another 4 years, I will know more about engineering.
a) there are many options in pharmacy; and a lot of us change field within pharmacy-- From retail, to hospital to infusion center; from one specialty to another. Just as an example, my friend’s career path: hospital, start with in the main pharmacy , then specialized in oncology, left to work in home health, now back to hospital as the IT specialist
b) Hospital position with more direct patient care, there is a trend toward hiring those who have done a residency.
c) Math, chemistry and biology are all important. I use math daily (my specialty is in children) but they are simple math- i.e. algebra, multiplication, division 
osmolarity, molar, solubility are needed occasionally. My husband (also a pharmacist) is in research, he uses statistic plus other math that I had already forgotten
d) for about 10 years, there is a shortage in pharmacy; subsequently, many pharmacy schools pop up. in some cities, we start seeing saturation of pharmacist; BUT health care is still a good environment
e) Pharmacy is a professional degree. Most students apply for pharmacy school has an undergraduate degree. One can get into pharmacy school by fulfilling pre-pharmacy requirements. So, 3 or 4 years + 4 years pharmacy school + may be residency
f) To enjoy this profession, one need to like working with others; willing to be an important but small part of the total health care delivery; accurate; work under pressure; accept / follow rules and regulations that don’t always make sense … and when the patients get better, they don’t thank us-- even thought we are involved in saving them. But it is always a good feeling to know we have contributed… On the other hand, making an error is a horrible feeling that we cannot shake.</p>
<p>If you know someone who know someone in the pharmacy field, ask if you can follow him/her a few hours. That’s how I got into pharmacy and have no regret. And my son went to shadow an engineer. </p>
<p>I hope this reply give you some background info to proceed with your exploration… Best wishes</p>
<p>Thank you, Chirp2013, for the thoughtful response. My daughter is considering both fields and I will have her read your post.</p>
<p>Regarding Pharma, I know my school has Pharmacology under School of Medicine. They have Master and Phd programs or Md-Ms and MD-Phd (Pharmacology). The admissions being administered by School of Medicine (tough to get in). And it looks like pretty cool thing to do if you like Bio, Chem, etc. That’s all I know about Pharma.</p>
<p>I’ve been working as a pharmacy technician for 4&1/2 years (I’m 25.). I work retail, and techs does like 80 percent of the work, pharmacists, I guess depend on their personality does about 20-25%. I guess for 6 years of schooling to be PharmD, it is quite worth the possible 90-100k salary for the little effort they do retail-wise. </p>
<p>FYI, I work at Albertsons, not big clientele, maybe 450 prescription per week. Compare to maybe CVS or walgreens, Wal-mart would probably do that in a day. The pharmacist get paid around the same, same amount $ but big gap on work load.</p>
<p>Around 100k is usually the cap so if you’re expecting raise, don’t bother. </p>
<p>4 years of engineering is my route, in petroleum, I’m hoping to land around 70-90K career with room for growth for 2 years less of schooling. I hate being stuck in that room all day and standing on my feet for 6-7 hours shift. But I must admit aside from hard floor and backaching it REALLY is an EASY job (retail at laid back store)… I would choose it over ENGR due to it’s career opportunity have it not been 2 extra years of school. Then again if you’re young which you probably are, the inactivity get’s really boring though and drag the long hours.</p>
<p>Contrary to what Jan2013 said, you don’t need a 3.4+ in engineering to get a job. 3.0+ is the number to shoot for.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the replies! Just for the record, I wouldn’t really be concerned about maintaining a certain GPA. I also really enjoy math, which I would need to take a lot more of as an engineer; I would consider getting a minor in math. I am just having trouble deciding whether the hassle of applying to pharmacy school to make around the same salary of an engineer (I am looking at optical engineering at the U of Arizona) is worth it or not.</p>
<p>Just so you know, average GPA in engineering is around 2.4-2.5… So anything above that is excellent.</p>
<p>Contrary to Boneh3ad, go ahead just take it easy and get GPA 3.0 or even better 2.9 GPA and you will definately get a job to not your liking. Everyone will get a job somehow, somewhere… but what kind of company? how much will you get paid and does it come with benefits? </p>
<p>especially now a-days where lots of graduates dont have J.O.B…so, any companies doing the hiring will choose who?..the guy with 3.0 or any of those who have 3.4 and above?..</p>
<p>but hey to each, each own and who is stopping you to get GPA 3.0 cumulative?</p>
<p>Just my two cents.</p>
<p>Engineering hands down…</p>
<p>what’s optical engineering (univ. of arizona) ? is it part of ME, EE, ChemE, BME, civil, aerospace?..break it down for me please.</p>
<p>[Optical</a> Engineering | College of Optical Sciences | The University of Arizona](<a href=“http://www.optics.arizona.edu/research/faculty-specialties/optical-engineering]Optical”>Optical Engineering | Wyant College of Optical Sciences)</p>
<p>[Bachelor</a> of Science in Optical Sciences and Engineering | College of Optical Sciences | The University of Arizona](<a href=“http://www.optics.arizona.edu/academics/degree-programs/bachelor-science-optical-sciences-and-engineering]Bachelor”>http://www.optics.arizona.edu/academics/degree-programs/bachelor-science-optical-sciences-and-engineering)</p>
<p>Basically, it is physics-based and deals with creating devices that put light to use.</p>
<p>Jan2013, you haven’t a clue what you are talking about. I can tell you from firsthand experience that having below a 3.4 can end with a good job. I applied to 3 places in a bad economy in 2008/09. All three are major companies and good companies. I got three of the three and the third was only because the company cancelled all requisitions for that hiring cycle because of the economy. Given, I wasn’t far below 3.4, but the point still stands. Oh, and with that GPA I got into several top graduate programs. Thanks for playing.</p>
<p>This thread didn’t start as an argument about what GPA you need for engineering…</p>
<p>“This thread didn’t start as an argument about what GPA you need for engineering…”</p>
<p>Actually you should be interested in what gpa is required to land a job in engineering. If the average hovers around 2.5, imagine how hard it is to get even 3.0. I think this argument is very helpful. </p>
<p>I support boneh3ad in this because getting 3.4+ GPA in engineering is extremely difficult.</p>
<p>Well for the school I am going to, you need a 3.5+ to graduate in the Honors program. So, considering these two options that I originally asked about, getting below a 3.5 isn’t an option. Not to say that it won’t be difficult; I am merely saying that the GPA requirement for getting a job probably won’t be an issue for me.</p>
<p>It’s not to say that getting above a 3.4 is impossible. Usually it depends how hardcore your school’s engineering is. If its known to be extremely demanding then it doesn’t matter how high your GPA is as long its at the average and above. If you are getting above 3.5 without a problem, its either your school’s engineering is “too easy” or you’re just a natural at it. But usually means the school’s not challenging you enough. In order to get a good job, employers want solid engineers that come from hardcore engineering schools. Getting above a 3.4+ GPA at a strong engineering school is definitely VERY VERY hard to achieve but doable if you put your mind together and just study all day.</p>
<p>Bonehe3d and XtremePower: There is always exception to the rule and Bonehe3d got lucky with such low GPA and could get a very lucrative job and going to Top School for grad. school. BUT, exception is exception not a general rule. Key word: exception is lucky.</p>
<p>Here is a posting from Cosmicfish regarding the aerospace industry: Put simply, they are not hiring many people right now, preferring to shift defense-oriented engineers over to the civilian side rather than lay them off. So a 3.0 GPA is probably going to disqualify you in an industry that is often looking for 3.5+ in the handful of hires they will make. </p>
<p>And there is another posting IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN from Conoco recruiter in Oil-and-Gas-industry that there are lots of new grads. with GPA 3.0 trying to get a job with them and their applications would not be considered due to low GPAs and lots of applicants with higher GPA would be taken, etc.</p>
<p>So, just like I said: to each, each own and who is stopping you from getting GPA only 3.0…but with the economy like today and lots of grads without J.O.B then good luck with low GPA to get dream job (s).</p>