Research or shadow?

[kglmp83]

Every student at my university has to do a final project to graduate and receive their degree.
For the science department, the final project is research followed by a paper and presentation.

The biology department offers two options as a final project. Students can either choose to do research with a professor or shadow for at least 90 hours and then write a short description of the shadow experience, how it help or deterred me from the profession, etc. In my case, I would shadow an optometrist. I am considering changing my major from chemistry to biology so that I could possibly shadow.

I am unsure of what to do. One reason is because shadowing may be seen as an easy way out.
Another reason I am unsure is because in the event of me not getting accepted to optometry school, if I have to fall back on my degree, I don't have any research experience.
The benefit of doing research would be that the professor that I do research with can write me a letter of recommendation (right now I have no one to write me a recommendation).

What would you recommend or do?

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[EyeWitness]

Do the research. You can always shadow on your own time. If you need to find a job after graduation whether it's before OD school or not, it wont be as easy if you don't have research experience. Trust me. I've been through it. A B.S. in Biology, pain in the ass to get and pretty much useless. I speak from personal experience.

 

[kglmp83]

A B.S. in Biology, pain in the ass to get and pretty much useless. I speak from personal experience.

Since you already have a degree in biology, in terms of finding jobs, do you know (from friends with a BS chemistry, other sources) whether a chemistry degree would be a better choice?

 

[itek2OD]

go for the research experience. as the above poster said, its a lot harder to get a lab experience/job than it is to get any health professional shadowing experience. Its also easier to get an OD recommendation letter than an academic one. pick a prof you can get along with (ask other students or dept head) and a topic you can stand writing 10-15 pages on. If you ever have to fall back on a bio/chem bachelors, most jobs are going to want to know if you can handle or have any experience in the lab.

at my school there is no choice - you do research - and i'm glad they did it that way. nothing like plying with micropipettes

 

[kglmp83]

A B.S. in Biology, pain in the ass to get and pretty much useless. I speak from personal experience.

Are you saying that a BS in Chemistry is less useless?

 

[thanotoriousfob]

Are you saying that a BS in Chemistry is less useless?

He might be. Being a Bio major I can speak first hand and say a B.S in Bio is pretty worthless by itself.

 

[EyeWitness]

Originally Posted by kglmp83
Are you saying that a BS in Chemistry is less useless?

He might be. Being a Bio major I can speak first hand and say a B.S in Bio is pretty worthless by itself.

Well, let me clarify the notorious knob. haha that's how I always read it

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I think the Chemistry B.S. is pretty useless too, but not as much as the Biology B.S. If I could of done it over I would have double majored in Accounting so I could have gotten an effin job! The reason I say the Chemistry B.S is less useless because id say it's slightly easier to get a stupid 14hr job at a Pharmaceutical company with the Chemistry B.S. Not that this happened to me and lets say I'm still making 11hr at a high school drop out job making phone calls all damn day. But then again the utter lack of options with the Biology B.S lit the fire under me to apply to grad school and maybe the 14hr job would have made me slightly content in the short term and subside my motivation. Then years later I would cap out at the pharm job at 14.25 because I only had a B.S and wonder how my dreams of a college education went so wrong. So in my case I guess the Biology B.S was more useful to my future because of its total uselessness to begin with. Oh I try not to post anything negative despite all the temptations in here, but it doesn't stop SaveYourself and all the others so there it is.