I’m planning to get into either Medical school or Optometry school and am quite fascinated by microbiology; however, of course, i am not guaranteed a spot in these medical fields and am wondering if microbiology is a good degree to have to fall back on just in case. I am also planning to pursue grad school as well if i do not get into med/optometry school.
Job prospects with a Bachelor’s in biology are extremely poor, and mostly tend to be low-paying lab tech jobs with little or no room for advancement and little or no job stability. Things are better with an MS or PhD, but not a whole lot better. Quite simply, there is an overabundance of students graduating with biology degrees at every level and not enough jobs for all of them. I’ve heard of many and personally known a handful of individuals who, after completing their PhD, are on their 3rd or even 4th post-doc, having been unable to find a job in industry and unable to find a professorship in academia. If biology is your passion, then by all means, go for it (while keeping the situation in mind). Otherwise, a different major might be in order.
I am in the exact same situation at the moment with deciding to declare my microbiology major. Microbiology and biology are two very different majors that lead to different jobs. From what I’ve found, lab positions for microbio majors are better than general bio majors. Going to grad school only makes job prospects better as a microbiologist working in a lab or for a company, etc. Overall, if microbiology is what interests you, go for it. It’s a great major to prepare for med school or any other pre-health field.