Pharmacy vs. Computer Science (Please.. need some serious major help)

[interfer0n]

Hello. I am currently a 3rd year university student who is pursuing a Biology major /CS minor degrees to enroll into Pharmacy school. I only have one more semester left to complete my Pre-Pharmacy requirements, but.. this semester (Fall 2014) has really made be reconsider my thoughts about my career..

Question/Reason for Post: I am having trouble deciding between Pharmacy and Computer Science as my career choice. Could I get any tips?

Background:
I am currently taking this Biochemistry I class, and I'd just like to say.. I absolutely have NO interest in the topics that we have covered thus far. It's not that this class is hard; I just find it... boring. My first two years mainly involved taking general education classes and organic chemistry (I enjoyed organic for some odd reason).
But, this 3rd year has really opened my eyes and it was a serious wake-up call for me to start really think about what I really want to do as a career. It was not until now that I realized college is something for people to learn more in-depth about what interests them and what they truly WANT to do as a career.

Pharmacy? This was just something my parents told me to pursue, and the only thing they saw in their eyes was $$$$. As a kid, I have always enjoyed playing, fixing, and modifying with computers. I have built several computers myself as well. I remember I told my parents that I'd like to pursue something in regards to computers, but they ignorantly replied to me saying, "They don't make money".

Money is what is currently preventing me from making a sound decision:
1.) College tuition and housing (roughly $20,000 per year) - I have to stay for another year (5 years total) to get CS major. Otherwise, complete Biology major and head to pharmacy after 4 years.
2.) Not high salary (Pharmacist (100K) undoubtedly makes more money than CS (60K)) - But requires 4+ years of school, and expensive too!

Therefore, I am currently lost. This is not something I just thought about in a day. I worked as an undergraduate lab assistant at a College of Pharmacy for 1 year, and it was an amazing learning experience! BUT, I had no interest in continuing my research in the development of vaccines for possible treatment of cancer via drug delivery mechanisms (micelles, liposomes). Furthermore, the topics covered in my Biochemistry course is really the groundswell of what I learned during my lab work. In other words, this Biochemistry level class covers only the basics of what it is to be expected at pharmacy school.


The end of my 2nd year is what showed me the magic of programming. During the first half of Fall 2014 semester, I was doing nothing but exploring more about coding and using programs/languages, such as C++, Javascript, Objective C, and Unity. Every time I was able to make something work and find new codes, I felt happiness, excitation, and a rush of serotonin/dopamine throughout my brain. However, when I look at.. let's say for example: different levels of protein structure, I feel stressed and depressed. What do you think this means? Sometimes (no offense to those who enjoy it), I just find all of these biochemistry topics (Krebs cycle, Ramachandran plot, Michaelis-Menton) just plain stupid.

I want to further seek knowledge in computer science, so that I may one day get into Virtual Reality or Artificial Intelligence research type of field. This is my dream, and this is what I "*believe*" I want to do.


**But, I also discovered that I tend to underestimate reality and fantasize things quite a bit. In other words, I may not have the capacity to fulfill a computer science role. I haven't touched my programming softwares since mid-October mainly because it's A LOT of work and thinking, but it may just be due to my current course load. But anyhow, I would much rather look at codes than a picture depicting an alpha-helix of DNA or protein.

I apologize for how long this post is, and I want to say Thank You for those who read it till here. Basically, everything that is going through my head regarding my career decision is right here.. on this post.

Again, reason for this post: I am having trouble deciding between Pharmacy and Computer Science as my career choice. Could I get any tips?

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[interfer0n]

I forgot to mention: Before anyone says "do both".

I can't for several reasons. I will not list them as I really have already laid out enough in the original post.

Thank you.

 

[PharmtoCS]

I will discuss the difference between pharmacy and computer science from a financial viewpoint, as that seems to be one of your main concerns.

As a pharmacist, you would probably start out at $105-120k after graduating with $200k+ in student loans which will easily reduce your yearly salary to $75-90k for 10 years. The job market is saturated after a near doubling in the number of pharmacy school slots within the last 15 years. New schools continue to open up in a market which there are already 3-4 new graduates for each job opening. Despite the surplus of pharmacists, workload for individuals has skyrocketed as employers have become bolder at extorting labor from employees, threatening to replace them with the said surplus of pharmacists who are willing to work for less.

$100k starting salaries for computer science graduates are quite common. Job growth is much faster than in pharmacy. CS grads are in very high demand right now with many of them getting multiple offers from different companies. After 4-5 years of experience (time which you would have spent in pharmacy school), it wouldn't be unsurprising to increase your salary to $125-150k with experience. Most importantly of all, you will be stuck with $200k+ less in loans.

We cannot predict the circumstances 5-10 years from now, but for the foreseeable future, job prospects will get worse as more schools open and student loans eat up more take-home pay as tuition rises. That being said, [return on investment of a CS degree] >>>>> [return on investment of a PharmD] right now. This is something that you and your parents should know from a financial standpoint.

Good luck.

 

[Sugoi Travis]

Just from your post, it seems apparent to me that you'll be happier in computer science. If I were you, I'd ask myself these questions below.

How much debt will I accrue after undergrad is done, based on my choice of career path (CS/pharmacy)?
If I choose computer science, what will my starting salary be and how will that compare to my student debt?
If I choose pharmacy, what section of pharmacy do I want to go into (retail/hospital/clinical/industrial, etc etc), what will the salary be, how much debt will I have after 4 more years of schooling and how will my salary compare to my debt?
Lastly, forget about what your parents want you to do; WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

If I were you, I would take even a 60k salary with little/no debt on my back than be saddled with 200k+ debt with a 100-120k salary and hope that the student loan bubble won't burst.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Pharmacy: graduate with $200k+ debt to work for $100-120k/year, most likely in chain retail. Job prospects are poor and are likely to get worse as more schools open and 3-4 graduates enter the market for every job opening.

Computer science: graduate 4 years sooner with $200k+ less in loans to start at $70-110k/year, not including stock options and other great benefits, in an office environment. You have more opportunities to grow your salary, sometimes up to $200k+/year or over $100/hr if you contract. There is a currently a shortage of software engineers so your job prospects are excellent.

 

[PharmtoCS]

I know people in the tech industry who are getting interview offers left and right despite not having applied to those jobs. Compare that to 20+ pharmacists fighting for each chain retail position, or 60+ for hospital positions.

 

[rederza]

I'd say if you have the talent for CS go for that. Also 1st year of pharm school is basically all the most driest biochem material ever rolled into one huge disgusting ball and shoved down your throat, slowly and painfully,


Jk, I would totally take that CS job now knowing what I do. Too bad I've never even touched a programming class in my life.

 

[fewaopi]

OP is much happier in comp sci. do comp sci, you'll be happier mentally and financially. don't dig yourself into some hole where you feel like you have to do pharmacy or have to do medicine/dentistry, healthcare, etc. your interest in the field matches perfect with more financial happiness and less stress.

 

[tealdiary]

I always thought if I could do it over I'd go CS or CE, but unfortunately my math and physics aren't as strong as my chem and bio. It really seems to me like you don't have interest in pharmacy at all, please accept it and move on. I say don't be afraid to let the "money obsession" go and let your interest take you to where you want to be. CS is a pretty good job market now and 60k is pretty low. If you're coming from a school like CMU or MIT, you could expect 80k+ with benefits like paid holiday, sick day, business class travel, 401k match, possibly work from home, and tuition reimbursement to get a higher degree and make more $.

Like everyone's said, you will end up with a great deal of debt going through the pharmacy route. To pay this off in 3-4 years you would need to pay about $1000+ every week to keep the interest down.

 

[oldstock]

very excellent advice from everyone here !!

 

[y0ssarian87]

Clearly you're not interested in pharmacy, so don't do it. But are you interested in bio? If so, have you considered bioinformatics? If you're not into bio at all, change majors (engineering, CS, etc). Don't waste your time with something that you don't care about.

 

[PharmtoCS]

With the job market right now, even a three month crash course in computer programming costing $10-20k is probably a better return on investment than a four year PharmD program costing $150k+. Even some entry level programmers are reportedly earning $80k+ because programmers are in such high demand.

 

[PharmeGirl611]

I would say go for the CS degree. Even if you start out earning less, the fact that this is something you have a passion for will drive you to further your knowledge & experience which will probably increase your $$ in the long run.

"I want to further seek knowledge in computer science, so that I may one day get into Virtual Reality or Artificial Intelligence research type of field. This is my dream, and this is what I "*believe*" I want to do."
You have plans/hopes involving CS. You've imagined a future in it. You didn't say anything like that about pharmacy.

At the end of the day it's up to you. My advice would be don't spend your time/money getting a degree to get a job you dread going to.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

The way I see it, any CS major can pick up Bio. A Bio major cannot easily pick up CS. Aim high in the CS first, then if you hate that line of work you can always drop to bio.

 

[PharmtoCS]

The way I see it, any CS major can pick up Bio. A Bio major cannot easily pick up CS. Aim high in the CS first, then if you hate that line of work you can always drop to bio.

The sheer difficulty of CS is a major barrier to entry into the field; you need not only the logic skills but a great deal of patience. If you can handle computer programming, then the sky is the limit in terms of prestige, earnings, and job satisfaction. Even when starting out, you can easily earn a six figure salary without the $200k+ debt required to become a pharmacist, and you don't even need a CS degree to become a programmer if you learn it on your own. The job market is highly in favor of computer programmers over pharmacists right now.

Meanwhile, anyone with a pulse can get into pharmacy school.

 

[Alex_PharmD]

Hello. I am currently a 3rd year university student who is pursuing a Biology major /CS minor degrees to enroll into Pharmacy school. I only have one more semester left to complete my Pre-Pharmacy requirements, but.. this semester (Fall 2014) has really made be reconsider my thoughts about my career..

Question/Reason for Post: I am having trouble deciding between Pharmacy and Computer Science as my career choice. Could I get any tips?

Background:
I am currently taking this Biochemistry I class, and I'd just like to say.. I absolutely have NO interest in the topics that we have covered thus far. It's not that this class is hard; I just find it... boring. My first two years mainly involved taking general education classes and organic chemistry (I enjoyed organic for some odd reason).
But, this 3rd year has really opened my eyes and it was a serious wake-up call for me to start really think about what I really want to do as a career. It was not until now that I realized college is something for people to learn more in-depth about what interests them and what they truly WANT to do as a career.

Pharmacy? This was just something my parents told me to pursue, and the only thing they saw in their eyes was $$$$. As a kid, I have always enjoyed playing, fixing, and modifying with computers. I have built several computers myself as well. I remember I told my parents that I'd like to pursue something in regards to computers, but they ignorantly replied to me saying, "They don't make money".

Money is what is currently preventing me from making a sound decision:
1.) College tuition and housing (roughly $20,000 per year) - I have to stay for another year (5 years total) to get CS major. Otherwise, complete Biology major and head to pharmacy after 4 years.
2.) Not high salary (Pharmacist (100K) undoubtedly makes more money than CS (60K)) - But requires 4+ years of school, and expensive too!

Therefore, I am currently lost. This is not something I just thought about in a day. I worked as an undergraduate lab assistant at a College of Pharmacy for 1 year, and it was an amazing learning experience! BUT, I had no interest in continuing my research in the development of vaccines for possible treatment of cancer via drug delivery mechanisms (micelles, liposomes). Furthermore, the topics covered in my Biochemistry course is really the groundswell of what I learned during my lab work. In other words, this Biochemistry level class covers only the basics of what it is to be expected at pharmacy school.


The end of my 2nd year is what showed me the magic of programming. During the first half of Fall 2014 semester, I was doing nothing but exploring more about coding and using programs/languages, such as C++, Javascript, Objective C, and Unity. Every time I was able to make something work and find new codes, I felt happiness, excitation, and a rush of serotonin/dopamine throughout my brain. However, when I look at.. let's say for example: different levels of protein structure, I feel stressed and depressed. What do you think this means? Sometimes (no offense to those who enjoy it), I just find all of these biochemistry topics (Krebs cycle, Ramachandran plot, Michaelis-Menton) just plain stupid.

I want to further seek knowledge in computer science, so that I may one day get into Virtual Reality or Artificial Intelligence research type of field. This is my dream, and this is what I "*believe*" I want to do.


**But, I also discovered that I tend to underestimate reality and fantasize things quite a bit. In other words, I may not have the capacity to fulfill a computer science role. I haven't touched my programming softwares since mid-October mainly because it's A LOT of work and thinking, but it may just be due to my current course load. But anyhow, I would much rather look at codes than a picture depicting an alpha-helix of DNA or protein.

I apologize for how long this post is, and I want to say Thank You for those who read it till here. Basically, everything that is going through my head regarding my career decision is right here.. on this post.

Again, reason for this post: I am having trouble deciding between Pharmacy and Computer Science as my career choice. Could I get any tips?

Wow I think you and I have been living the same life, it is now my second year to reapply to pharmacy school due to me only applying instate last year and I never was really interested in it enough to interview out of state. All of my life I loved to play with computers I fix them, upgrade them for fun, build and sell them, even buy laptops and flip them as ways to make a profit while in school I know so much about computers and always dreamed about developing some type of app/software. I was only doing pharmacy for same reason as you, parents wanted it and everyone would say get into the medical field but finally after four long years me and two of my friends who also applied last year have decided to switch to Computer Science and I just cant wait for school to begin again thats how excited I am compared to the zero motivation I had taking pharmacy pre requisites lol

 

[PharmtoCS]

Wow I think you and I have been living the same life, it is now my second year to reapply to pharmacy school due to me only applying instate last year and I never was really interested in it enough to interview out of state. All of my life I loved to play with computers I fix them, upgrade them for fun, build and sell them, even buy laptops and flip them as ways to get make a profit while in school I know so much about computers and always dreamed about developing some type of app/software. I was only doing pharmacy for same reason as you, parents wanted it and everyone would say get into the medical field but finally after four long years me and two of my friends who also applied last year have decided to switch to Computer Science and I just cant wait for school to begin again thats how excited I am compared to the zero motivation I had taking pharmacy pre requisites lol

Great choice. I think that a lot of people get it flipped and think that pharmacy is a far better and safer career choice compared to computer science when in fact it is the other way around.

 

[netmag]

CS is not a panacea. You can make more than a Pharmacist, but then again you could make less. It depends on your specialty and what you're working on. Also, it could be an advantage that you're not tied to a few employers. However, it can also have a lack a stability when jumping from one employer to the next. This is fine when you're young and in fact could even be seen as a benefit as you can be flexible. The other side to that is you MUST be flexible. If you're looking for long term and have a family to provide for, you'll have to be comfortable with jumping around until you retire. Ok, so you could latch on with a company for a while, but if it's a corporation then you have to deal with corporate BS, layoffs, age discrimination as you get older, and so on even more so than Pharmacy. With Pharmacy you get some of these things too and you'll roll with the punches better if you are also flexible, but you may not have to be quite as flexible. For CS, you do have the advantage of not having to sink 4 more years of money into an advanced degree though. So the main thing is there's good and bad to any profession. Just do what you really want to and you'll be alright. If you're making a decision based on an easy pay day, you're going to get screwed at some point either way.

Go into Pharmacy if you're familiar with the type of work the various positions entail and would probably like doing something like that even if money wasn't a factor (i.e. if you got paid 50k and school cost was not a burden would you still do it anyway?). If not or you're repulsed by the possibility of having to talk to a patient face to face or you're purely comparing the $ for what you do, then do something else.

 

[PharmtoCS]

Computer science is the only field which there are more annual job openings than degrees granted.
https://news.cs.washington.edu/2016/03/27/where-the-jobs-are-2016-edition/