I’m a military spouse currently living on the island of Guam. I’m pursuing a degree in Chemistry and have completed 2 years at stateside schools. The University of Guam has regional accreditation under the WASC however the chemistry program does not have the accreditation of the ACS. I’m concerned if I obtain a BS through UoG this may hurt my ability to compete for employment. I have read online a few of the benefits and drawbacks of choosing an ACS route if a university offers both an ACS and a non ACS backed degree. However, I’m concerned that my entire program could be seen as less credible. I’m considering holding off on school until I can get back stateside but I would like to use my time here wisely and finish my degree. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I suggest you do your own research looking at colleges that do offer ACS accreditation. At my D’s school, she could choose between ACS and non ACS degree, so you could probably figure out which courses are “missing” from the Chemistry degree at your Guam college. If you can find and take some or all of those missing courses (whether in person or online) I think you would make a case for employment with most companies. While my spouse was serving our country, I enrolled in the college available to me at the time. I took these extra courses to supplement my degree. I think that would impress those looking to hire a chemistry major.
I got a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at UC Davis and then was employed as an analytical chemist for almost 30 years. I had several jobs and I estimate at least two dozen interviews in my career. No one at work or in any interview brought up the issue of whether my or anyone else’s chemistry degree was ACS accredited. I have only recently become aware that ACS accredits bachelor’s degree chemistry programs; I to this day neither know nor care whether mine is. In the course of recently challenging my university’s low-analytical and high-organic curriculum, I discovered that universities (such as my own) value ACS accreditation but do not actually keep in touch with current ACS requirements (which drastically changed in 2008 - notably ACS reduced its organic chemistry coursework requirement from one year to one semester/quarter).
What WAS a very big shortcoming in the line of chemistry I did - analytical, which is where the jobs are in Northern California - was inadequate hands-on experience running sophisticated instrumentation such as GC/MS (gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer). If you get any opportunity to operate a GC/MS, HPLC or ICP-MS, take it, and, if you operate one of these (especially GC/MS) for a few months, it will greatly improve your employability.
Thank you for your thoughts powercropper. Supplementing my degree with stateside classes sounds like a practical way to round out my degree.
JJwinkle - Stressing the importance of working knowledge of the instrumentation is something I have read in a couple places from other professionals already working in the field. There is a class on Instrument methods next term so I will look into how many of the above processes are covered. Great information to have, thank you!
I do have another question for you. You mention not being concerned about the ACS backing however, a degree from UC Davis already carries it’s own weight with the reputation of the school. It was my hope that a degree from here would be useful enough to get my foot in the proverbial door and then I can gain experience and professional credibility through my work. Is that wishful thinking? Will having a degree from such a small and unknown school such as the University of Guam have profound and lasting consequences? I’m already 40 so graduating debt free in 2 years from here rather than starting over stateside and accruing that cost does have it’s appeal.
That’s how it works. Professionally, one’s most recent achievements overshadow what went before.
People in the US are likely to question the quality of a degree from Guam or, for that matter, from any area that is “off the beaten track” or distant from them. This could mean it will behoove you to enlighten them. Looking at the University of Guam chemistry BS program, I find that it solidly has the basic courses (though the choice of chemistry electives is small), and, though the faculty of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences is small, it is dominated by PhDs. (I am somewhat amazed that there is such a well-developed university in a place that has a population purportedly of 170,000.)
You can convince prospective employers of the value of your UoG degree through descriptions of your specific courses and perhaps mention of its distinguished alumni (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Guam) in your cover letters.
The issue of where you’re getting your degree is not worth suspending your education for however many years 'til you’re stateside again.
Thank you so very much for your time, research, and thoughtful opinion. I’m incredibly grateful and truly blown away by your generosity! I’ve sought the counsel of my academic adviser, attempted to reach others stateside, and completed as much reading as possible online in order to make an informed decision all within a short bit of time before the semester began. A thorough and unbiased answer to my predicament eluded me until now. I’m in your debt.
I have one comment on your impression of such a developed university for a small island. Guam is the most developed island within Micronesia. Many students in attendance are from the smaller islands nearby so the college serves more than the population of Guam.
Thanks again!