I have been looking into this for a while now and I keep finding conflicting info. I am considering switching my major to Biochemistry from Biology. I find both chemistry and biology interesting. The sole reason of me switching to biochemistry is so I have more options available to me if medical school does not work out. Is it true that a biochem degree is more employable that a biology degree? I keep hearing about how useless a biology degree is if one does not get into medical school. How about pay wise between biology vs biochemistry at the bachelor's degree level? Thanks.
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- Thread starter pow123
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Are you serious? They are indistinguishable.
At my school, a Biochem major is practically a chem major with a bio minor. I will have to take all the same courses as a chem major would. Pchem I and II, Analytical chem, advanced inorganic chem, to name a few.
S
Sardinia
That's why it's more valuable. More chem usually correlates to more lab knowledge which hopefully correlates to more lab hand knowledge. Physical chem gives you a much greater appreciation of theoretical and applied mathematics and some concepts of engineering. Biology from my undergraduate experience was something I could mostly abstract from textbooks aside from visualizations of anatomy from advanced physio. Chemistry was more hands on, applicative, and evaluated whether or not you could actually get results without error.
In the general courses everyone was passed regardless of how awful they were with their techniques, but upper level chemistry was more strict with technique and performance requiring students to actually deliver a certain level of purity from abstracted samples before moving on to the next process. If you're redoing a major section of your course work I would encourage you to look into chemical engineering. For the biochem curriculum at my school you were required to go up to multivariable Calculus in order to take physical chemistry. Engineering will require you to take linear algebra and probably another math elective, however if you are looking for a major change to make yourself market viable in case medical school doesn't pan out... I would definitely consider chemical engineering over biochemistry.
Regardless of what you major in though, you have to consider this from an employer perspective. What skills do you have that make yourself marketable and what previous employers can vouch for your experience? Going in with no prior work experience means you will be facing an incredibly tough time in the job market with no one to vouch for you.
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This. In the end what your diploma says matters little in comparison to what experience you have and how it relates to the particular job you want. Unfortunately you will not be making good money with a BS in bio or biochem. If you want to make bank on a bachelors only, do engineering, otherwise expect to get a phd.
