<p>We are basically organic/clean/whole food 'wannabe' types.
My dd will likely major in the sciences. Her current interest is in neuroscience, but she has shown interest in other science areas as well (physic/genetics/bio/chem). One of my concerns with careers in science is that it seems the biggest employers would be big companies with, what I would consider to be sometimes questionable practices and often work on creating products that we would consider to be less than beneficial, or even harmful to people and/or the planet.
I'd hate for her to feel that working for these types of companies was her only real choice for a career, and doubt that she would be happy working somewhere that went against her beliefs.
Are there career opportunities for the science major that might be a good fit?</p>
<p>You can take a look at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a> (Berkeley, Cal Poly, Virginia Tech, CMU, and MIT (and perhaps others) have listings of employers).</p>
<p>But note that biology and chemistry majors typically have to take what they can get, since the job and career prospects specific to those fields are not particularly good.</p>
<p>Is engineering a possibility? Perhaps that could be a way of pursuing dream jobs like designing self-driving electric cars that go hundreds of miles on a charge, take a few minutes to recharge, and do not cost a fortune. But, like in other fields, the number of dream jobs is likely small compared to the total number of jobs.</p>
<p>I might stay away from chemistry/chem engineering, as it does appear to be hard to avoid working for an “evil” company. </p>
<p>That leaves so many other things. Ecology? Environmental engineering? Genetically engineering algae that produce oil substitutes? Medical research/pure biological research? (Though curing diseases does lead to overpopulation, I guess…?) Theoretical physics? (Harmless, if not helpful.)</p>
<p>Thank you for that link, ucbalumnus. Definitely some interesting info there! She doesn’t seem interested in the engineering aspect, and I have suggested she at least look into that. Her primary interests seem to be neuroscience (but not to practice medicine) or physics. She is still a sophomore in HS, but this next year she has to decide what direction to take in her HS career. She will have to choose between physics, additional bio, or additional chemistry. Clienk, Genetically engineering algae could be up her alley…I think I sometimes have trouble really finding the line between engineering and research. We are so unfamiliar with careers in the hard sciences. Theoretical physics would definitly interest her… but even a career in that seems a bit theoretical to me. ;-)</p>
<p>Looking at the career surveys, biology and chemistry graduates tend to have poor job and career prospects. Physics graduates tend to do better, but often because they are “acceptable” hires in some jobs where they may not be the top choice (e.g. finance, engineering jobs that do not require PE licensing, computer software). Applied math, statistics, and computer science tend to do better (though computer science can be extremely cyclical).</p>
<p>Research jobs in the science tend to be mainly for those with PhD degrees, although the jobs can be fiercely competitive to get after getting a PhD.</p>
<p>For high school course work, it is best to complete all three of biology, chemistry, and physics.</p>
<p>There’s very little you can do with a BA or MA in bio or chem, I was assuming that she would be willing to get a PhD. The postocs in my lab said that the competition to get their jobs was not insanely intense—but they’re the ones who got the jobs. </p>
<p>I would suggest additional bio or physics, if she can choose two. My AP Chem class was a complete repeat of my chem honors class, and, since the AP Chem exam is, in my opinion, pretty easy, I suspect this is the case at many schools. AP Bio and AP Physics C are miles ahead of their respective regular and honors classes. I could never have chosen between the two for myself (luckily, I was able to take 7 years of science in 4 years), so I won’t choose for her. It comes down to her specific interests.</p>
<p>Thank you again for your replies! My thinking was that you are probably right; it would be best to get all three areas, bio, chem and physics. She is in the the IB program (currently pre-IB courses as a soph), so I don’t know how those classes relate to the AP classes in science.<br>
Her IB program is very structured. She takes a couple AP courses as part of the pre IB (history courses), but the sciences are ‘pre-IB’ now and will be ‘IB’ starting next year.<br>
She took Pre Ib bio last year and is taking Pre ib Chem this yr. Then next year she has to either commit to Physics for 2 yrs, with no more bio or chem, or to taking the 2nd yr of both Bio and Chem, with no physics.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Can she take a year of physics and a second year of either biology or chemistry as she wants? If she wants to major in physics or engineering, having at least high school level physics is strongly recommended as preparation for college physics courses, although note that IB physics SL or HL and AP physics B will not be useful for college credit in this case (AP physics C may at some schools).</p>