<p>“You’re the expert”
The expert is somebody at your universities advising facility [UCI</a> Bio Sci Student Affairs](<a href=“http://students.bio.uci.edu/]UCI”>http://students.bio.uci.edu/) I am one of the tens of thousands of scientists who work[ed] in biotech in this country. I see that your biological sciences group at Irvine has 8 “academic counselors” for undergraduate advising on staff. These people may be able to offer you a more complete view of the biotech industry in specific and the multitud of job opportunities in science in general. Less than a third of biological scientists have a Phd. If you are looking for resources to learn more about careers in science, I would suggest you look into the scientist’s career site [Science</a> Careers: Articles and additional resources : The Scientist Careers](<a href=“http://www.the-scientist.com/careers/article/list/]Science”>http://www.the-scientist.com/careers/article/list/) science aaas career site [Science</a> Careers, from the Journal Science - Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers](<a href=“http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/]Science”>http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/) nature’s career site [Science</a> job recruiters : Latest Science positions : Nature Jobs](<a href=“Nature Careers | Science jobs | Choose from 1,565 live vacancies”>Nature Careers | Science jobs | Choose from 1,565 live vacancies) and for general career information, the bureau of labor statistics [Biological</a> Scientists](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos047.htm]Biological”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos047.htm) </p>
<p>I don’t know why you think that so many researchers in biotech have backgrounds in chemistry or engineering. This is just one of the many ways that people can enter the field. Btw, people from other disciplines enter the field precisely because it is such an attractive field for a career.</p>
<p>If I were doing my last year of undergrad again, I might take a course in statistics or perhaps a course in genomics. More importantly, in your position, I would want to find a lab to join so that I have practical experience and good recommendations. You certainly won’t find a company or professor willing to sponsor you for a visa, much less hire you, without a positive recommendation from a research supervisor.</p>