<p>I’ve heard of JD’s fleeing the country to escape $200K in student loans they can never repay because they can’t get a job as an attorney.</p>
<p>maybe bme?</p>
<p>I know this guy who got his phd in chemistry at berkeley, hes now in a tenure track position at harvard teaching biomedical engineering.</p>
<p>I am going from chem to bme. I really don’t know how it is going to play out. Hey if you can’t find a job, then you’ll just have to try an create one yourself…which I may try to do once I’m out. I’m also seriously considering living and going abroad if I have to in order to find gainful employment. People need to seriously wake up and understand that are entire way of life and system is rapidly deteriorating. We are sending all these kids to universities to become educated but there simply isn’t enough jobs anymore for them. We are shedding almost all of our R and D and manufacturing work. It isn’t going to matter if you have a BS, MS, or PhD soon we will all be un or underemployed. The US econnomy has much more severe problems that just a recession. Our problems have to do with the very way our entire economy is structured and run.</p>
<p>I thought about trying to go into ME, EE, Chem E, or CS. I would have had to start all over again though from scratch and that would have meant more student loans (forget that). I chose BME because I can get the education for free. However, I do have my reservations about BME. Despite the rosy outlook for BME, how many companies do you know exist and make a profit doing something like tissue engineering? There’s almost none because the regulations you have to meet in order to deliver a safe product to market are insane for anything that’s going to go inside the body. Pharma is also a big employer for BME grads, and it is horrible. If you delve into something like medical devices or instruments, then you may see some better opportunities. I have a feeling a ton of people are starting jump onto the BME track and there is going to be insane competition for academic positions soon. Afterall, its pretty much the only place you can carry out a lot of the research that’s going on in. BME without having to be concerned w/ making a profit for a company.</p>
<p>I really don’t know where it is going to take me. I really do think I may die of old age one day in an Asian country after working there for 30 years.</p>
<p>
Why do you feel this way? At my school, the chemistry courses required for a B.S. in Chemistry are:
Gen Chem 1+2 w/ Lab
Organic Chem 1+2 w/ Lab
Analytical Chem w/ Lab
Instrumental Analysis w/ Lab
PChem 1+2 w/ Lab
Inorganic Chemistry</p>
<p>On the other hand, graduating with a B.S. in ChemE requires:
Gen Chem 1+2 w/ Lab
Organic Chem 1+2 w/ Lab
Analytical Chem
PChem 1</p>
<p>In other words, you get most of the Chem curriculum in the ChemE degree. Not only that, but ChemEs are required to take 3 “Technical Electives” (any math, science, or engineering course) on top of the core curriculum. So, if you really wanted to study more chemistry, you could actually choose the extra three courses (PChem 2, Inorganic, and Instrumental) and get a B.S. in Chemistry in addition to the ChemE degree without any real “extra” effort. </p>
<p>If your school’s curriculum is similar, you could consider choosing this as your path - get all the interest of the Chem degree with the employability of the ChemE degree.</p>
<p>The ChemE curriculum here diverges from the chemistry BS curriculum completely after the organic sequence. Analytical and pchem are not required at all of chemE majors. The chemE classes are completely different, like material and energy balances, reactor engineering, and transfer phenomena (I stopped after material and energy balances). The chemistry BS here also requires a semester of introductory biochem and a class in advanced inorganic chemistry in addition to the classes you listed.</p>
<p>Yes my school (UC Davis) is similar to Chandi’s, the only chemistry we are required is a year of general chem, a year of organic chem, and 2 quarters of physical chem.</p>
<p>Another option is getting an MBA, preferably after a few years of work experience.</p>
<p>So what kinds of jobs would I be doing after getting an MBA with a BS in chemistry?</p>
<p>Well I once talked to a Ph.D Chemistry guy on internet and he said his wife has MBA on top of Chemistry and now works in some Biotech company as a manager and makes more money than him. That’s all I know lol</p>
<p>I agree with getting an MBA.</p>
<p>I am hearing an MBA is increasingly useless except for a top 10 program. If you are paying for it out of pocket you are talking 6-figures.</p>
<p>In order to get into a worthwhile MBA program, you need several years of “impressive” work experience. Keeping that in mind, don’t choose an undergrad major that you don’t feel confident about getting a job with and think “I’ll just get an MBA after”, since you have to get a job first, then get an MBA.</p>
<p>If you employer is willing to reimburse the tuition so that you are qualified to do management at that company then I don’t think the prestige of the school matters. But if you want to get some fancy investment banking job on WS then it prob does.</p>