What can I do with a science degree?

[smuwillobrien]

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I'm still in the first two weeks of my first year at university. It kind of occured to me though that if I don't get appropriate grades, and something horrible goes wrong I won't become a doctor. What else can I do with a science degree? I don't think I'm interested in doing scientific research or teaching for a career.

Should I take an elective course in philosophy? I think law would be an ideal career backup, but then again there is my shyness and other things which would deter me from law as well. I could take an economics course, a philosophy course, a political science course, ...

Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Nutmeg]

If you really want your degree to be useful, consider majoring in engineering. It's good prep for med school, and you won't need to work in research, and you can have a very stable career. I never thought I'd take this path, but I did, and I've been very pleased with the results.

 

[mattorama]

From purely having a stable job, I would agree with engineering. I will have my science degree in Dec( bio...pretty worthless unless you go get a graduate degree), but can finish up engineering in the spring if needed (yes I am a 5th year...).

That being said, I would rather go sky diving without a parachute then be an engineer, but it beats being a lab tech with my bac. in bio.

 

[Tezzie]

I have a few friends who instead of applying to med school (with science undergrads), they are heading for law school. Law school admissions has no prereqs. You can major in Hindu studies or whatever and go to law school 😛. Anyway, with a science degree you can go to law school for patent law.

If med school is your dream though, work really hard on it and you will make it somewhere.

 

[Anka]

In the US, patent law requires an engineering degree (science won't cut it).

You can also go into business in a variety of capacities (e.g., w/ good quantitative skills, investment banking; management consulting, etc)
Anka

 

[Tezzie]

Yes Anka you are right. You need an engineering degree to go into patent law. Going to private schools such as the University of Michigan will help you in your way.

Tezzie

PS. Sarcasm mode <off> : Seriously can you stop giving advise to people when you don't know what you are talking about ?

 

[Catalyst]

"Seriously can you stop giving advise to people when you don't know what you are talking about ?"

This is indeed a trend that pervades this board...

 

[Megalofyia]

For patent law you need an engineering degree?? I have a friend who is a patent lawyer. She did her undergrad in biochemistry. Where did she go wrong?

 

[thackl]

Originally posted by Megalofyia
For patent law you need an engineering degree?? I have a friend who is a patent lawyer. She did her undergrad in biochemistry. Where did she go wrong?

You don't have to be an engineer to be a patent attorney. That just happens to be where the demand is right now. I've worked with plenty of liaisons and attorneys that where chemists and physicists at 3M.

 

[vixenell]

With a chem or biochem degree, you can get a decent entry level job at a pharmaceutical or environmental company pushing buttons and playing with machines. Annual salary btw $40,000 and $52,000 entry-level, with onsite training usually. Not a lifetime career, but its something that you can do to support yourself and pay off undergraduate loans, while saving up for med school.

 

[kmnfive]

let me bring some relief to this.

there is no such thing as try.. there is only DO and DO NOT -- Yoda. =)

 

[TexPre-Med]

The truth in the matter is to be a patent attorney you need to have a bachelor of science degree. A bachelor of arts will not cut it. That is the only requirement besides law school itself to prevent you from going into patent law.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Why are we even discussing patent attorneys anyway? Practically all "attorneys" are scum-sucking maggots (I'm excluding the practically negligible amount of lawyers out there that work in "public interest" law and human rights law...they are happy with their meager salaries and their work is very important and actually helps our society in multiple ways). Would the patent attorney sit higher on the ladder of Devolution compared to the other decomposers/unicellular filth? To call a medical malpractice attorney a writhing, parasitic creature of the night would be like extending the dearest of compliments. Who cares what type of science degree it takes to push oneself out of their normal taxonomic classification and into the prokaryotic categories?


Back to the OPs question: Pursue a career in law if you think that you'd be really happy doing it and wouldn't mind devoting your life to it. But it's generally not good to use something like that as a "backup" plan in case you don't get into medical school. Try exploring classes and just see what you like. It's your freshman year so there is no pressure to accumulate units to graduate in time, declare your major, etc. If you like philosophy and political "science" courses that much, then try to see how you can build on those skills later on and see if you might be interested in pursuing graduate work in those fields. There might also be other vocations you haven't looked into that you might enjoy (foreign service work, non-profit sector work, public policy, business administration, etc).

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

BUMP

 

[basupran]

Che'mystery' is a better degree than bio $ wise. Double up if you love bio and aren't sure. Bio isn't the best degree for undergrad...gott go grad.

 

[rgporter]

Originally posted by smuwillobrien
I'm still in the first two weeks of my first year at university. It kind of occured to me though that if I don't get appropriate grades, and something horrible goes wrong I won't become a doctor. What else can I do with a science degree? I don't think I'm interested in doing scientific research or teaching for a career.
....Any suggestions would be welcome.

Hope my advice helps. I have been out of school for three years now, trying to survive with a biology degree. Find out if you school has a program for Med Techs. The requirements usually overlap most science majors, so if you transfer you wont lose a lot of your credit. Med techs are in a nationwide shortage, ASCP certified med techs can get a job in any state at any time. Starting salary here in Utah is about $17-18 an hour. It took me two years and a categorical certification in Immunology through ACSP, to reach the level of pay that MT's get from the start. It's interesting work and if you don't get in your first year it is great EC work for the next application process.

 

[rgporter]

I don't think I mentioned it before, and it was quite an oversight, Med Techs work in hospital labs and medical reference labs. I work in a reference lab, which is why I could get in with just a B.S. in bio, hospital labs are more hectic, diverse and interesting.