So I know that just a bachelor’s degree in bio, or really any science, is pretty useless. But I feel like a lot of people on CC, as well as other college websites/articles/forums are suggesting that a master’s degree in biology isn’t good either. The main argument is that it’s a flooded job market. Does this still hold true with a graduate degree? While I’m primarily interested in doing research, I would honestly be thrilled to be doing almost any job related to biology. I was looking in Indeed (which I know is probably not the best place to look for this type of job) and saw a listing for the Department of Interior needing a Wildlife Biologist in Alaska, and I would absolutely love to do something like that in the future. Pretty much, anything related to biology or ecology would be good with me, and I would love to travel within the US or abroad.
Basically, my question is: When people say a degree in bio is useless, does that only apply to a bachelor’s degree in bio looking for a research job in their state? Or does it still apply to an advanced degree even if I’m open minded about what I would be doing? If I love bio, is it still a waste of my money and time? What would I major in instead?
I used to live in Fairbanks, and suspect there will be a couple hundred people with degrees in Wildlife Biology (not plain, old biology) applying for that single Wildlife Biologist job. Many of those applicants will have graduate degrees.
I wouldn’t get a biology degree. I might consider something like computational biology. There seem to be a lot of those types of jobs in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area.
You can’t get a research job with a bachelor’s degree, regardless of subject.
You have several choices: add statistics, add informatics/CS, or add education (& physics/chemistry, in that case). Don’t graduate with just a degree in biology.
Apply for a PhD so that at least you’ll be funded. You must have research experience, preferably a paper published (3/4th author is fine), conference presentations…
Actually, I personally know a couple recent grads who worked research jobs in Alaska with bachelor’s degrees. I also know other biology undergrads working in jobs related to the major.What they did have was undergrad research experience - both through their college and through summer internship experience.
I also know other young adults who studied other types of major folks like to claim are “useless”, including one of my own, and all are gainfully employed. Why? Again, they built up their resumes through internships and work experience as undergrads.
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^Oh yes. There are no “useless” degrees. But except for the outlier to work in research you need a graduate degree, and to get a graduate degree in research you need undergraduate research experience and/or professional experience and often specific classes such as statistics that are useful for research as well as professional experience.
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Over the years, I’ve hired a number of technicians/lab assistants for my research lab - about half had “only” an undergraduate degree, with the other half having a MS. All did have previous research experience, either as a student or after graduating. Several of them were very good, able to work independently, and given their own projects. There is a ceiling on compensation with only an undergraduate degree, but one of my former techs with only a BS is in his early 60s and still working in research.
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I have an interest in this also since my D loves bio. How about careers in pharmaceutical research? Are those all PHD jobs as well?
My daughter will graduate with a biology major and a double minor (science and foreign language). She has a very strong undergraduate resume. She has 2 gap year offers… one is non lab but biology- related, and the other is teaching. Both of these jobs have strong networking opportunities; one more than the other.
She thought about getting her PhD but changed her mind for 2 reasons: she finds the heavy lab work too isolating, and she was nervous about job prospects ( wanted to be a professor)
She thought about medical school and still might apply eventually…but did not love shadowing in private practices. She loved hospital work… still deciding about the time commitment for various specialties. Not interested in other healthcare fields at this time… PT etc…finds them too “ restrictive.”
So…her biology degree does not seem useless… and it will give her more time to network, research grad programs, and gain some more work experience while she plans her next move and explores her other interests. Biology can be combined with other fields… dual degree programs etc.
With an undergrad biology degree… your wheels always have to be spinning and you have to put yourself out there. And it should start early in your college career. There is work to be found with an undergrad degree.
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