Hi, I’m a high school senior and I need help choosing a major. I’m interested in mostly research based sciences but I’m not sure which major to go for. I really like working in a lab or doing in-depth research. The only caveat is that I want to choose a direction that is viable and has job openings. I am fine with going to school for as long as it takes.
If you want to keep your options open, start with a broad-based program such as molecular biology, chemistry or physics at an institution with lots of research. It doesn’t have to be one of the flashy name schools. State flagships usually have substantial programs.
Start your lab experience as soon as possible through work-study, “independent study” or volunteering. If you don’t love the lab and if it doesn’t generate a world of opportunities, you have all sorts of time to change directions.
The two things you are asking for are hard to find together. Most of the pure sciences have poor job prospects at the Bachelor’s level, and require a PhD to get a shot at any type of research positions. Even with a PhD, jobs are limited since the market is oversaturated with science PhDs. Nonetheless, if you are willing to take that path, after you finish your PhD, you will go across the country for a few postdocs before possible finding a position as a faculty member. It could be almost 16 years or so after you graduate from high school before you find yourself in a university lab. Is it worth it? That’s a question you need to ask yourself.
There is plenty of research in engineering, though. Engineers are well-paid and you can find research positions with just a bachelor’s degree. It is definitely viable. There are more industrial applications for Engineering PhDs too, so while it may not be the “theoretical” type of research you may be looking for, they do significant research in industrial areas for products in-demand to fuel the capitalist machine. Engineering degrees are more applicable and higher-paying than pure sciences, but the research subject is more geared to doing research to create new valuable products and assembly methods so that capitalists can siphon more money from the consumers and proletarians to augment their vast caches of wealth.
So what major would I go for if I wanted to go for engineering based research? I am fine with moving if necessary
If one wants to do engineering based research, one should major in some field of engineering.
Which types of engineering offer jobs doing research though
Any type of engineering that involves any type of growth or change as a field. In other words, basically all of them. Some much more than others, obviously. These are typically PhD positions and tend not to be as common as bachelor’s or master’s level engineering jobs.
Working in research will probably require a Ph.D. no matter what your field. I thin that the previous posters were pointing out that if you want a job right after college in the field that you study, then engineering may be the best choice. Graduates with physics degrees have excellent job prospects but not as physicists. They work in all sorts of fields, even as engineers.