If Biology major doesn't get into med school

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aposkaha

aposkaha

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To end up with a decent job, what can he/she do other than: reapplying med school or becoming a biology teacher/professor
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Work as a lab technician in industry......entry level technicians make $50K in industry vs. $30K in Academia, roughly,
 
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People used to tell me there are many opportunities for those with biology major. I'm just starting to doubt this...

Thnx for the quick replies tho :)
 
aposkaha said:
To end up with a decent job, what can he/she do other than: reapplying med school or becoming a biology teacher/professor
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Lab technician, lab assistant, etc. I got a job as a pathology assistant after graduation, that was pretty awesome (and gross) but paid like absolute ****.

In all honesty, there isn't a lot you can really do with just an undergrad degree in bio. Some research positions will pay you decently, but the majority pay little more than you would make as a receptionist/office assistant. I got really lucky and scored a sweet job in infection control, but only because I have a somewhat clinical background (obtained before college)

Biology does, however, open up a lot of doors to other fields...so its not entirely worthless... but employment opportunities should be carefully evaluated by anyone not planning to continue on with their education after obtaining a bio degree.
 
There's always other health professional schools! LOL. :)
 
My buddy just got a job as a pharma rep with his bio degree. He makes like 70k/year out of college with huge room for advancement (apparently his boss just retired at the age of 48 working the same career path). The opportunity to make 120k+/year after incentives isn't a stretch of the imagination.

Of course, you don't need a bio degree to get that, but my friend was told he got the job over a few other candidates because of his science degree.
 
I've also wondered this so I'm jacking this thread.

I'm going to start my senior year and I can still graduate in time if I were to switch to Biochemistry. Would there be more job opportunities as a biochem major as opposed to a bio major (developmental genetics specialization)?
 
Permavirgin said:
I've also wondered this so I'm jacking this thread.

I'm going to start my senior year and I can still graduate in time if I were to switch to Biochemistry. Would there be more job opportunities as a biochem major as opposed to a bio major (developmental genetics specialization)?
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Meh. You might qualify for some jobs that require a chemistry degree instead of bio.
 
Permavirgin said:
I've also wondered this so I'm jacking this thread.

I'm going to start my senior year and I can still graduate in time if I were to switch to Biochemistry. Would there be more job opportunities as a biochem major as opposed to a bio major (developmental genetics specialization)?
Click to expand...

BS in Biochemistry appears more advanced on a resume; Biology is a little more broad....like...you could have taken mostly evo bio as a bio major.....or plant science.....or zoology.....go with Biochem - in the end; it doesn't matter, but you maynget your resume looked at more if you have a specialization of major, not sub-specialization...
 
von Matterhorn said:
My buddy just got a job as a pharma rep with his bio degree. He makes like 70k/year out of college with huge room for advancement (apparently his boss just retired at the age of 48 working the same career path). The opportunity to make 120k+/year after incentives isn't a stretch of the imagination.

Of course, you don't need a bio degree to get that, but my friend was told he got the job over a few other candidates because of his science degree.
Click to expand...

I know zero about that job market. Is it any good? The job seems to be crappy (hence the salary); why don't more BS Bio people go this route?
 
Thego2guy said:
I know zero about that job market. Is it any good? The job seems to be crappy (hence the salary); why don't more BS Bio people go this route?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's very easy to get a job as a drug rep. Also, I don't think its as lucrative as it used to be when you could take docs golfing, to nice dinners, etc. Now you can't even give out pens. I talked a lot with drug reps in the past (mainly cause the docs didn't have time to) and many of them mentioned the only requirement was a bachelors degree in some type of life/natural science.
 
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Oxygen206 said:
I don't think it's very easy to get a job as a drug rep. Also, I don't think its as lucrative as it used to be when you could take docs golfing, to nice dinners, etc. Now you can't even give out pens. I talked a lot with drug reps in the past (mainly cause the docs didn't have time to) and many of them mentioned the only requirement was a bachelors degree in some type of life/natural science.
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Based on what I've heard, the best asset to get one of those jobs is a nice rack.
 
Sephiroth said:
Based on what I've heard, the best asset to get one of those jobs is a nice rack.
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omfg this is so true. I can only recall one mediocre looking drug rep. The rest were soooo effing hot!
 
Most college grads get into a career other than a subject similar to their major. So anything you can get!
 
If I had known that you don't have to be a bio major to apply to med school I would have majored in chemical engineering. Being an immigrant at the age of 17, I didn't realize that fact until it was too late. So if you choose bio just because you think that's what you are supposed to do then change it to something more practical.
 
If there is 1 thing my parents taught me... Your undergraduate major has little bearing on your future career.

Dad majored in physics --> now works in finance/investment
Mom majored in English --> now a software engineer
 
Just throwing this out there, but there was a PhD in our lab who recently switched to patent law (science related, of course). And they hired him cuz of his science background. I doubt a BS is enough for that, but maybe a master's?
 
NonTraditional3 said:
Do you ever get death-threats with a username like that? Just curious lol.

Hook Em!
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we're not turds :lame:



You probably compete with the humanity and social science grads for the jobs you can't really major in (gas station night manager, head check-out clerk, etc.)
 
Biology majors can also gen involved with Clinical Trials work with big CRO companies. There is a lot of room for upward mobility here if you're good at it and a 4-year Bio degree is good enough to land you an entry level gig.
 
biology majors can do the same as any other major - anything. As a previous poster mentioned, undergrad degree has little correlation with your career (or less than you would expect). What about all the people majoring in English and Art? Some of them do quite well in other fields. Right now I'm working in a consulting company with my neuroscience major. While I hope to matriculate eventually, this would be an amazing career and has a ton of room for growth.

This is a good example of why real world experience is so important. You get less kids a year or two out of college asking questions like this.
 
All science degrees are essentially worthless. Your average chemistry/biology job is a dead-end tech job with no benefits. The few that move on from that have basically won the academic lottery. The problem is that science can be outsourced to H1bs or overseas with little loss in quality. That drives down wages and destroys the job market. Even at the PhD level, you have 10-50 PhDs for every position. A couple years ago, while I was still studying at Northwestern for my PhD, we had a faculty search and we literally got 300 applicants for a single position. The first thing that was done was to immediately throw out anyone without a first author Science/Nature/Cell publication. That narrowed the field down to 200. How can you compete in that environment?

At the industry level, you have the same level of competition ontop of a culture of job cutting. Every major pharm company has cut back on their R&D divisions. Abbott shut down their entire cancer drug discovery team. A basic scientist position at Pfizer/Abbott/Baxter starts at around 60,000. Remember, you need to do at least 5-7 years of a PhD, which is at least a 60 hour work week. Then you absolutely need at least 2 years post-doc, which is another 60 hour work week, minimum. If you aren't producing high powered papers, then you have wasted your time. So those minimum of 2 years can become 6+ while you churn out those high powered papers.

That's what the real world is like for scientists.
 
notbobtrustme said:
All science degrees are essentially worthless. Your average chemistry/biology job is a dead-end tech job with no benefits. The few that move on from that have basically won the academic lottery. The problem is that science can be outsourced to H1bs or overseas with little loss in quality. That drives down wages and destroys the job market. Even at the PhD level, you have 10-50 PhDs for every position. A couple years ago, while I was still studying at Northwestern for my PhD, we had a faculty search and we literally got 300 applicants for a single position. The first thing that was done was to immediately throw out anyone without a first author Science/Nature/Cell publication. That narrowed the field down to 200. How can you compete in that environment?

At the industry level, you have the same level of competition ontop of a culture of job cutting. Every major pharm company has cut back on their R&D divisions. Abbott shut down their entire cancer drug discovery team. A basic scientist position at Pfizer/Abbott/Baxter starts at around 60,000. Remember, you need to do at least 5-7 years of a PhD, which is at least a 60 hour work week. Then you absolutely need at least 2 years post-doc, which is another 60 hour work week, minimum. If you aren't producing high powered papers, then you have wasted your time. So those minimum of 2 years can become 6+ while you churn out those high powered papers.

That's what the real world is like for scientists.
Click to expand...

Right, so don't be a scientist. The world is a big place.
 
aposkaha said:
To end up with a decent job, what can he/she do other than: reapplying med school or becoming a biology teacher/professor
Click to expand...

PA, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, dentistry, optometry.
 
I found a job in lab. Some room for improvement but starting salary was pretty crap. If you want to improve your pay drastically, become a certified lab tech. They make 10-25$ more an hour than me, without the certification.
 
Possibilities:
Non-Professional Jobs
Military
Lab Tech
Teacher
Detective (Forensic)
Work for a bio-medical corporation (as a lab tech...)
Any jobs that don't require a college degree
Any jobs where college is required but no specific degree is necessary
 
Law school.


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