I’m a high school senior. I’m looking at multiple colleges, including NC State & Chapel Hill. My plan has been to get a BS in basic Biology, then go on to grad school. I do plan to get a PhD. Lately, as I’ve been researching this field, it’s been concerning to read about all of the negativity and worry about jobs. I love most biology, and I’m generally open to different fields, but I honestly have no interest in bio-fuel or genetically engineering plants. My main interest is stem cells and human/animal engineering. Whatever career I decide on will, in part, be based on income. I aim to make a minimum of 70k, after grad school of course, hopefully rising and making more as time goes on. Is this field a good choice? It’s always been one of the few areas that fascinated me, but I’m worried about it’s stability as a career, though it would be nice to do something I’m actually interested in rather than not…please help.
What makes you think it is unstable as a career?
I keep reading through threads on multiple websites and so many people go on about how you spend all this time and money getting the degrees for specialized bio careers, then there are actually so few jobs available when you get out there.
Having a doctorate basically qualifies you to make your own job.
For “Biochemists and biophysicists,” The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a job growth rate of 18.6% during 2012-2022. This is higher than the predicted job growth of EVERY OTHER science occupational field of significant size (over 5,000 openings in 2012-2022 ) except “Environmental science and protection technicians, including health.” This, I believe, is based on BLS’ forecast of the health field expanding.
The BLS predicts job growth of 19.5% (21,000 openings) during 2012-2022 for “Biological science teachers, postsecondary”. College teaching is a big area that is expected to grow.
10.8 percent is the average of all occupations predicted job growth for 2012-2022.
Genetics is certainly a career worth pursuing! I graduated with a degree in microbiology and a degree in biology from undergrad, did research in a lab for 3 years, and am about to start graduate school for genetics. There is a lot of opportunity for people with experience in genetics. Personalized medicine is the wave of the future and that can’t be accomplished without geneticists.
I would vehemently caution you against majoring in straight bio. A straight bio major is best for people wanting to go to medical school. The problem is that it is WAY too general. This is fine if you want to go to med school straight out of undergrad but not good if you want to go to grad school or get a job. A more specialized bio major will give you marketable skills needed to prepare you for a job or grad school. Straight bio is typically a much easier major than specialized bio majors, hence why med students like to major in it. Med students need stellar grades above experience. Future grad students need experience and good grades.
If you’re interested in genetics, try to find schools with majors like genetics (I know my undergrad offered this), molecular biology, or even microbiology.Even if you can’t major in genetics for undergrad, that is not a problem. As long as you have a life sciences degree you can pretty much get a Ph.D. in any other life science degree in the future.
Also, keep in mind that working in life sciences is a labor of love. It takes most people 4 to 5 years to do undergrad, then some people work to get more experience and strengthen their application. Applying to Ph.D. programs makes applying to undergrad look easy. Grad school is typically 4 to 6 years, frequently pulling 12+ hour days between classes and researching in a lab. Most Ph.D. programs are fully funded and offer a stipend of around $30k annually. After graduating with a Ph.D. you typically need 1 to 2 post-docs, which are 1 to 3 years each. I am not trying to deter you, I just want you to understand that this is a long road. If you don’t think this road is for you, you still have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. People don’t go into science for the money, they go into it because they love it. If this is what you love, then go for it! It’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it!!
I am more than happy to go into more detail about all of this if you’d like. Feel free to respond here or message me privately.
Maybe you could define for us what a “straight bio” major is. Many schools offer degrees which say “BS, Biology” but which have a wide variety of electives you can take to get there. At the end, its far more about the student and their record than the name of the degree.
Thank ya’ll so much. The problem with not doing a bio major is that there only seem to be 2 schools in my state (NC) that offer a genetics major, and both are out of my academic range for acceptance. I could always try to transfer to one of those schools after a year or two. Most straight bio majors offer concentrations in molecular biology, if that helps? As for the do what you love, I do love genetics, but I love a comfortable lifestyle more. If this area can’t offer me that in any way, I will definitely reconsider.
A straight bio major is BS, Biology. In my experience, straight bio majors are virtually useless for my previous mentioned reasons. I double majored in biology and microbiology and hence knew many of both majors. Other than those who went on to medical school, I don’t know a single person with only a biology major that is working in science or is going onto a Ph.D. They have all gone on to unrelated careers because they couldn’t find a just with just a biology degree. A straight bio major is about breadth, not depth. Most employers and Ph.D. programs want depth and focus. Biology is ecology, genetics, micro, molecular biology, environment science, agronomy, botany, etc. Much too general for someone who wants to get a Ph.D. in the future.
It sounds like perhaps a concentration in something is a way for a university to offer a more specific degree without having an entire department dedicated to a science. I think a concentration in molecular bio would be fine.
Don’t look for a genetics major. You simply won’t find a genetics major at most schools because it’s a topic encompassed by molecular/cell biology and biochemistry. Molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics are virtually the same thing, at least at the undergrad level. Look for majors in molecular biology and biochemistry instead of trying to find one titled “genetics.”
Unless you attend professional school afterward (medicine, dentistry, etc.), you will not have a comfortable lifestyle with biology. And even those professional school careers are becoming far less “comfortable” than they used to be.
As for a specialized biology major versus a more general biology major, I don’t have enough experience to say if it makes a difference for graduate school admission. I would imagine that, for grad school, one’s coursework and research experience matter more than the name of the major. But I’d wager that all biology majors, specialized or not, are equally useless for finding a job.
It’s not at all clear what you guys are trying to say.
I have a “BS, Biology” and I have a comfortable lifestyle. As do a number of people I know.
This is one of the notions on CC that needs to be dispelled.
@JustOneDad, I am glad that you have had a good career, but I think that perhaps times are different now. It is extremely competitive.
Competitive? Really? Is that why SAT scores continue to drop?
I suppose I fail to understand what SAT scores have to do with job placement in a less than stellar economy after graduation, but I am done arguing with you.