<p>I absolutely love both chemistry and physics, but I'm hearing a lot of negativity about the chemistry market, so I figured if I love either field equally, I might as well go for the one that produces more money. With materials science I can still stay close to chemistry whilst primarily focusing on becoming a physicist (I plan on definitely obtaining my PhD in chemistry, but I think I will be closer to a chemical physicist rather than a pure research chemist).</p>
<p>I know a lot of my chemistry friends are jumping on the chemical engineering wagon and it seems extremely popular in my acute point of view, being surrounded by all chem-heads. 99% of them have chosen chemical engineering.</p>
<p>So, I was wondering if materials science-engineering would be any good at all in terms of job market, just in case I want to take a break from PhD candidacy or something and not begin the program straight out of college, and have a little fun in the field. I've taken a look at some of the content from Open Courseware, and it's very appealing; just as interesting as chemistry is to me.</p>
<p>The Chemical Engineering field has traditionally been oriented toward the petroleum, fine chemicals, and pharmaceutical industries. In recent times, the petroleum sector has been decreasing in the United States so many Chemical Engineering departments are adding Biological Engineering. On the other hand, Materials Engineering is a very broad field and touches on many industries. You can probably do well in either area if you want to work for a while after the B.S. degree.</p>
<p>My suggestion is that you choose the field which gets you most excited. Most colleges have an introductory course which gives you an idea of what the profession will involve. Your first year of courses will likely be the same, no matter which major you choose, so you can always switch if your interests change. You might also find out that engineering is not as appealing to you as chemistry or physics. It is a different mentality. One important point though. If your plan is to go to graduate school in chemistry, a degree in chemistry (or chemical engineering) is best. Taking a B.S. in physics can lead you to materials science or engineering easily but you won’t have the organic and inorganic chemistry that is needed to enter and be successful in a graduate chemistry program.</p>
<p>You could always look at doing ChemE in undergrad and grad in Materials Science & Engineering. MSE is still a relatively rare undergrad major (it’s mostly only at schools that have had metallurgy, ceramics, polymer sciences, or MechE departments that are really into mechanical properties of materials), so the grad programs tend to take students from all different majors. In my current program I have friends that got electrical, mechanical, chemical, materials, and environmental engineering as well as chemistry and physics degrees for undergrad. I don’t think you’ll see that spread in lots of ChemE programs since they tend to expect a lot more preexisting knowledge (lots of coursework in fluids, various sorts of chemistry, chemical reaction stuff, a different style of thermo, etc).</p>