<p>I am thinking about becoming a Community College Professor in Chemistry in California. Can I get a position with just a Masters of Science or would I need a PhD? What are my chances of getting a position with just an MS without a PhD? What is the current job market for this type of job.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Community college job prospects are expected to increase at a faster than average rate.</p>
<p>One of my former lab-mates is now a professor at a Cal State and he encouraged me to apply for an adjunct position if I wanted to get some teaching experience prior to graduating with my PhD. He said a MS was enough to teach lower-level engineering courses there, so I imagine a MS at a normal community college would be enough for everything.</p>
<p>You can get a position with just an MS, but with the awful academic job market, more and more Ph.Ds are applying for those same spots.</p>
<p>Best advice is to get a TAship as a grad student and focus on building your teaching skills. Community colleges don’t care about your research or publications.</p>
<p>If my goal is teaching at a Community College, should I get a B.A. / M.A. in Chemistry or a B.S. / M.S. in Chemistry? If my academic record for a PhD in Chemistry isn’t good enough, will doing well in an M.S. Program give me a second shot at a PhD in Chemistry?</p>
<p>I’d go the BS route no matter what. The extra quantitative skills you pick up from extra math classes will certainly come in handy if you want to take any sort of graduate level classes (or if you want to really understand what’s going on in the material you’re teaching).</p>