Which is the better job overall? I would be happy working both, but I need to decide whether to go to Rutgers Pharmacy, Rutgers Arts and Sciences, or Boston College Arts and Sciences. I need to consider the amount of schooling, debt, working hours, salary, and overall happiness of either job.
Preparation and pay are much greater for pharmacists (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm and http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/radiologic-technologists.htm).
I think right now trying to narrow down between the two future careers is a little premature. To become both a radiologist and a pharmacist you will need at least 2 semester of gen chem + lab, 2 semesters of ochem + lab, 2 semesters of biology + lab, physics, biochemistry, calculus, stats, anatomy + physiology, among other classes. I would suggest taking these classes and see how you do in them before worrying about whether you want to be a radiologist or a pharmacist.
As for where to go to school, if your ultimate goal is to become a pharmacist or a radiologist, you are probably going to have to spend a considerable amount of money on schooling. The pursuit of either an M.D. or a PharmD is very costly. Consequently, I would recommend going to whichever school will cost you less for undergrad. Both Rutgers and Boston college are great schools, and I don’t personally view one as being significantly better than the other.
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The link at post #1 is apple and oranges, showing radiology tech rather than an MD.
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^The second link above is for radiology/MRI technologists. The following article discusses the average gross income of physicians by specialty, including radiologists: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/physician-salaries/384846/
Which job is better is entirely subjective. Do you want to be a doctor or a pharmacist? That’s what it comes down to. There are pros, cons, and tradeoffs to both routes. There are thousands of resources, including posts on forums like this one, regarding the details of each profession. Google might be a good place to start, followed by SDN (Student Doctor Network) forums for more details.
Keep in mind that “radiologist” is not the goal you ought to have. Radiology is one of many medical specialties, and getting into a radiology residency can be difficult. Medical students go through rotations, in which they are exposed to the gamut of medical specialties, before deciding which specialty or specialties they’re interested in (and which ones they are competitive for). As a high school student, it’s unlikely that you have the experience necessary to determine which medical specialty you’d really be interested in. At this stage, you need to figure out whether being a physician, period, is something you might be interested in, instead of just one particular specialty.
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Radiologists make far more than pharmacists. Some perfunctory research shows that radiologists make between $300,000 and $450,000 a year on average, with the general average coalescing around the $380,000 mark. Pharmacists make around $122,000 a year on average. Education is similar, sort of - PharmD and MD programs both take 4 years, but a radiologist would have to go through The work environment and style are very different, with pharmacists being more likely to work a regular 9-5 schedule and radiologists sometimes working longer hours and in different kinds of settings. Debt would be about the same, depending on where you attend school.
Which one is better/happier really depends on you and your likes and dislikes.
I agree, though, that it’s too early to limit yourself to these two. The prerequisites are similar especially early on, so satisfy both of them and then decide later.
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I would go rad tech. Pharmacists are being phased out honestly. I thought about going into pharm, long ago, but realized I didn’t want to work my ass off only to wind up working at a Walmart.
I’ve read various reports that the market for pharmacist jobs is pretty saturated and, with technology, as @backinthesaddle mentions the outlook looks more negative.