<p>Geez I just realized that a lot of chemists/biologists make a little bit over minimum wage</p>
<p>Yep actaul jobs in the sciences pay less than average paid internships in real professions. Why anyone American with the inteligence to get a science degree would do so is beyond me.</p>
<p>The average paid internship is $16 an hour.</p>
<p>OP the answer is an engineering degree from any ABET accredited school with a good CO-OP program. Science is only good as a pre-professional degree and otherwise a waste of time and money.</p>
<p>So the saying that the jobs are in STEM majors really means TE majors. Since S and M are not there ATM</p>
<p>I’d vouch for engineering, if one can handle the coursework for it. It’s brutal. I almost went into that program until I realized that I wasn’t meant for that kind of job. I’m more of a people person.</p>
<p>There is still science involved in engineering, some have more and some have less. Aerospace Engineering has a lot of physics for an example. I heard Electrical Engineering is more math-based… but since you seem interested in biology/chemistry/pharmacology, you would probably be better off in Biomedical Engineering or Chemical Engineering. I’m guessing they would appeal to your interests more.</p>
<p>Alkalin: Pretty much the crappy lab tech serf jobs perm-temp scams that paid less than a cashier with a high school diploma or a H-1B slave.</p>
<p>“Yep actaul jobs in the sciences pay less than average paid internships in real professions. Why anyone American with the inteligence to get a science degree would do so is beyond me.”</p>
<p>Thanks for telling me that my field is not a “real profession.” And do you know why I am getting a science degree? Because I am passionate about it, I am good at it, and hopefully I can do some good with it. No, it’s not the best paid profession. I am OK with that. For a parallel, social workers and generally underpaid, disrespected, over-worked, and often have poor job prospects. But are you going to insult anyone who decides to go into social work because engineering pays better? Someone still has to do the job, even if you think they are crazy for it.</p>
<p>It is not a profession because companies and academia don’t treat you as professionals. They pay you low hourly janitor wages with no benefits and treat you like a disposible pippette tip (use and discard). That is the insult and I am not the one doing it.</p>
<p>There is a difference between does not pay well and get a college degree for fast food wages and no benefits. It is really painful to see what I consider people in the top 10% of intellectual ability (heck only ~30% have bachelors degrees at all) fork over $20k+ and spend years of hard study and late nights working in a lab for the pay of a janitor.</p>
<p>So what if you love science. That is like falling in love with a person that beats you every day and tells you that you are worthless. It won’t take long of that abuse for you to fall out of love. Besides, you deserve better.</p>
<p>I don’t think I have ever heard the analogy of science being an abusive partner before…
But I think you are generalizing. When I started studying neuroscience, I never intended to stop at a bachelor’s degree and work janitorial-wage jobs. Since I decided I did not want to be pre-med, I have been focused on grad school. Yes, it is tough to get into grad school, and then to get out of the post doc cycle and into a tenure track position, but it’s not unfeasible. I have had fantastic experiences in research, gotten a national fellowship, and will have fantastic letters of recommendation. If it doesn’t work out, so be it; I am confident that I will find another path. (I could picture myself teaching.) But I know that I would never be able to forgive myself if I didn’t give it a shot. If everyone takes your pessimistic attitude, there would be no scientists. Luckily, some of us lack the common sense to ever stop thinking we can produce something worthwhile. :)</p>
<p>Our market driven economy speaks with money and unemployment numbers. When companies are offering janitor wages and high unemployment and frequent layoffs that is the market in no uncertain terms saying we don’t need you, you are worthless to us, and we can replace you in a second so don’t bother. It is also a way of prodding you to do something different that they find valueable. It just seems so pointless to try and resist like standing in front of a tornado and trying to will it to go away.</p>
<p>Lol guys i didnt make this thread for people to bash others careers. Everyone has their own reasons for their choices so lets leave it at that</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for replying to this thread:)</p>
<p>If it is too late to switch out into engineering, don’t waste any time and sign up for a program like Boston U’s excellent LEAP program as soon as you can when you’re done to quickly obtain an engineering degree:</p>
<p>[Boston</a> University » College of Engineering » Special Programs » Late Entry Accelerated Program](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/eng/academics/special-programs/leap/]Boston”>Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP) | College of Engineering)</p>
<p>Employment in the bio/chemical sciences stinks. Many ‘jobs’ you’ll be offered will be through staffing agencies looking to hire you until a project is done. Lot and lots and lots of jobs will be of QA/QC type work where you’ll be preparing 1000s of samples for the same routine mundane test every single day. There’s a reason why companies are ALWAYS looking for QA work, it’s because everyone hates doing it and it is very low paying. Before you know it, you’ll be 30 years old, will have never held a permanent job longer than 2 years, and will have had to constantly relocate to constantly find a job. It makes owning a house or trying to start a family impossible. Forget the bio/chemical sciences, let China and India do the grunt work. Become an engineer, work for 10 years into management, and then transition into business/consulting/or start a business. Engineering degrees generate many millionaires more than bio/chem do. Just don’t get caught in the vicious cycle of permatemp job after permatemp job after permatemp job hoping to finally land a permanent position when you won’t. Don’t get caught up in the post-doc after post-doc after post-doc scam either. The US is a primarily based service economy. Earn that engineering degree to learn experience and then get into consulting/finance.</p>
<p>@Grave: You pretty much summed up my nightmare career in the sciences! Thank God I am out.</p>
<p>All of you are scaring me. Geology isn’t as bad as Biology/Chemistry, is it…?</p>
<p>Geology has much better prospects, especially as long as the oil/gas industry is on top.</p>
<p>I did a clinical laboratory science degree recently after a biology degree. Got a job offer for ~$19/hr base in NC (not a terribly expensive state), and decided on a night shift position (not a bad thing as I love running in the day, and I always like staying up till 3-4 am anyway). Got an extra $3.50/hr differential for that. Also got a CA license and plan on moving there within a year or two. That state has a mandatory state license and often starts new people at $35/hr. Job is stable and I have benefits. Making ~45k with excellent health insurance for a 25 yr old guy isn’t horrible, but I am looking at doing dental/med school in the next 2-3 years. </p>
<p>Not a bad option if you already have a bio degree and feel stuck. But even here you pretty much flat line in salary. I still second doing a geology/geophysics/engineering degree and then maybe taking the prerequisites and applying to med/dental/pharm/optometry school if you desire. </p>
<p>Bio majors suck. The stories about high unemployment and permatemp positions with no benefits are absolutely true.</p>
<p>I can’t believe people are still working for <$20/hr. with a degree. I was making $20/hr in an internship in pharma before even graduating college, and that was in 2004! It just goes to show you how much wages, jobs, and job outlook for bio and chemistry have stagnated or gotten worse. Anyone that is stuck in a permatemp job should learn how to write computer code at a local community college and ditch the dead end bio/chem gig.</p>