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My friend is currently studying at the University of Maryland and says that it's a great option to choose. Actually, I'm not familiar with a huge variety of universities, but this one is on my top list.
Thank you for the information and encouragement. I have to take into consideration if she qualifies for enough scholarships and grants to cover her education. These are two good universities that I know offer excellent science programs. Since we live in Virginia we can jump the border to Maryland at anytime to qualify for in state tuition.
Does VA & MD have a reciprocity or regional agreement for discounted tuition rates?
My daughter is pretty young still but says she wants to be a chemist when she grows up. She’s in middle school now in the International Baccalaureate program. Which university would offer the best course of study for this; University of Virginia or University of Maryland? I know she may change her mind again because 2 years ago she wanted to study astronomy. Either way she has an interest in science and is pretty good at it. Thoughts?
I have a PhD in chemistry. There are never any guarantees, and things can change over time (and change back again ;-)), but I think it's a good place to be - lots of practical application in a number of industrial sectors. Another good area to be in would be molecular biology. Physics, while it's a lovely subject, is not the most employable area, so I'd suggest avoiding that.
In the natural sciences, as well as engineering, it's common for the family to pay for the B.S. degree, and then for the student, after being accepted to graduate school to receive a research or teaching assignment in their department with tuition covered and a small stipend being paid to them. So don't fret too much about paying for grad school - in science and engineering, if you can earn the spot in grad school, paying for it is seldom a problem.
If she will stick with science, a PhD is pretty much needed - certainly you get more advanced training, but you also get more credibility in the workplace. In engineering, PhDs can still be quite useful in technical disciplines, but I think B.S. and M.S. graduates can get more interesting work and more responsibility than one will typically get with a B.S. or M.S. in science. Always exceptions, mind you, but these are general trends.
It's a different situation re paying for advanced degrees in clinical practice like an MD, DDS, or PA; but another advantage of majoring in chemistry, molecular biology or biochemistry in undergrad is that with the right course mix, it can set you up for options not only in graduate science, but in graduate health care studies - it keeps several attractive options open while one is figuring out what one really wants to do.
P.S. Oh, I think they're actually fairly close in reputation, but the chemistry program at Univ of MD is a bit higher ranked than the one at Univ of VA.
Last edited by OutdoorLover; 06-03-2021 at 08:49 PM..
But in industry the applications of chemistry are wide - the vaccines for COVID-19 were developed by pharmaceutical companies. There definitely was a surge for vaccine-related careers the past year. This involves a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, an undergraduate in chemistry and a JD/PhD with law and STEM, or niche fields like FDA validation, regulatory compliance, etc. To break into that field, an undergraduate in chemistry and an MS in Regulatory Affairs would go far - especially in the Post-COVID-19 era.
In summary, there are great options for chemistry from the "applied" standpoint in industry.
I wouldn’t say wide, as you need a lot of credentials and years of experience, which doesn’t look very good for postgraduates looking for work. Also, getting into the vaccine development sector is very competitive, just like working for WHO, CDC, and FDA. Most newly graduates ended up working at unstable and crappy permatemp jobs in pharmaceutical companies.
I’m sure finding a good job in chemistry is hard ..... in Chicago. Finding a good job with a chemistry degree in a biotech hub like Boston or San Francisco not so much. My daughter double majored in Bio and Chem, graduating in 2010 when jobs were thin on the ground. She moved to Boston and had multiple offers from Biotech companies. Starting pay wasn’t fabulous (55K), but after 8 years and getting a masters in Biotech at night, she’s making 125K plus has a hefty amount of stock from the companies she’s worked for. So while a chemistry degree may not be in high demand in some parts of the country, it’s a great degree to get if you work in one where it is.
I've been living outside Boston/Cambridge since 1998 and working in pharma/biotech since arriving there. I got my PhD and also did a postdoc at a national lab to kick off my career. I am in my 60s now, so on the tail end of my career and can reflect. It hasn't always been easy, and I have struggled at times, but I always persisted and I have always prevailed. I certainly don't think it's "the only way to go", but I have never regretted choosing science as a career. I have loved science since I was a little kid (which is why I am OutdoorLover here - have always loved and been fascinated by nature).
Things I can agree with that I have read in this thread are that one needs to always be aware of industry trends, stay flexible, and never stop learning, never stop improving yourself. Also you don't want to be average, you want to be your best self, and stand out from the crowd.
Things I don't agree with are that jobs in pharma and biotech are unstable and crappy, that a PhD is a mistake and that the pay is crappy. Unstable, yes, they can be - drug development is exceedingly risky. But you're doing fascinating stuff on large, interdisciplinary teams loaded with bright people of many different scientific backgrounds, plus you have the lab robotics and computational aspects, it's all so cool! And if the company goes under, you just have to dust yourself off and work to find that next job. People in the business understand that it's risky. A PhD in my opinion is really the only way to go in science - you definitely learn next-level understanding in the PhD studies, plus it gives you the street-cred (or lab-cred, as the case may be). As to pay, yes, you can make more money as an MD, or in mathematical modeling in finance for example. But you still do alright as a scientist. Again, I am not starting out, more like in my closing years, but I make $200K in base pay as a director level staff member in a small pharma - not rolling in dough, but not scraping either. Now, my ex-wife is an MD (psychiatrist) and she makes $300K... she'll tell you herself that I am clearly smarter than she is, so I suppose someone could get worked up about that. But, I don't worry about it to be honest, I prefer my line of work, and I think the pay is good enough.
Last edited by OutdoorLover; 06-08-2021 at 04:08 PM..
I have a PhD in chemistry. Another good area to be in would be molecular biology. Physics, while it's a lovely subject, is not the most employable area, so I'd suggest avoiding that.
If she will stick with science, a PhD is pretty much needed
My thesis work was in molecular biology/biochemistry. I worked in a lab that did molecular cloning, expression of proteins and/or purification of proteins from E Coli, sf9 (insect baculovirus system), mammalian cell lines, and yeast though I was in a department of Chemistry so I did the full Chemistry coursework as well particularly analytical.
I watched the PhD's slave away for 5-7 years for a PI who was a sociopath, then struggle like excons to find employment getting past over for lower jobs for being overqualified. They were openly conversing whether they could hide their PhD's to get employment. That sealed the deal for me as what point was there in getting it if it hampered your employability. So I switched to the MS track. I can tell you that biotech/pharma had so little interest in either my qualifications with the MSc. or my colleagues with a PhD the silence was deafening.
It is so bad person last year (or the year prior) a PhD made a post asking about suicide on science.com forum (before it shut down) because he couldn't get a job and his life was in ruins. That is how bad it is.
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