I don’t see how a Ph.D. in chem can pay 170k a year (assuming you meant a doctorate pays 2x 85k), that is impossible for all but the most advanced chemists working for a company like halliburton who pay their secretaries 40k and their drivers 80k. Even salary.com says a level V chemist in NYC makes a median salary of 97k, LA level V chemists make 94 (I chose LA and NYC since you’d assume the wages are higher to reflect higher living expenses). Besides I don’t know if my grades will be good enough for a doctoral program. My overall GPA will be about 3.4 but my chem GPA will be about 2.8. Besides I do not like a high stress environment and graduate school sounds very stressful. Another problem is only 1/2 of grad school applicants in chemistry who start out graduate from the program, the other half drop out and usually get a M.S… I tend to think I would fall in the drop out half since I do not currently have any reason to try for a doctorate (and I dislike high stress environments that require 80 hour workweeks) and would get a M.S. degree, which would not provide many real world benefits over a B.S.
For those who are wondering, what I mean with my 25 hour statement is that in order to tide myself over until I can get a real job I can either work 25 hours a week and sell plasma (netting me almost enough to survive financially in a lifestyle i’m comfortable with) or live with my parents.
Grad school pays 2x as much as the the amount I quoted from your OP, which is what you said you’d make working 25 hours a week and selling plasma. Stipends usually range $20-23k/yr.
Yeah, I have heard that about grad school too with their stipends. But I have several reasons why I don’t think it is for me.
My overall GPA and chem GPA may not be good enough.
I have no real reason to go and you need a good reason motivating you to be able to survive grad school. I do not know from experience if a doctorate will lead to a more gratifying career. Moneywise I do not see why i’d need to make 90k instead of 60k since I plan to (hope to) live relatively poor my whole life.
I am not a fan of high stress lifestyles that require long hours and grad school is based on that.
that should say ‘meant’ not ‘means’. I’m not really as stupid as that misspelling makes me out to be (you means I can make $200,000 if I go to grad school and get a doctorate instead of sell plasma?)
Got my worthless B.A. in Biology, and spent almost two years at the Burger King at 17th and College. Then I got a job for two years at Musicland at College Mall. While there, I hired a guy getting his B.S. in Chem who went on to become a district manager for TMG. Sometimes you have to take the crap jobs to get motivated and figure out what you really want to do, and sometimes what you end up doing is unrelated to your degree. I screwed myself over by waiting until December of my last year to darken the door of my guidance counselor. By then, it was too late, and it was by the grace of Kiminy and her inheritance money that I got a BS in Medical Techonology at IU Med in Indianapolis. Ten years later, I’m in research, mostly chromatography, some clinical chem. I love what I do now, but it has been a long road. You have a lot of options, figure out what you can realistically do next that will keep you afloat.
There is a burgerking at 17th & college? What do you mean by ‘screwed yourself over by waiting until december’? Weren’t the same options still open then?
The medical technology programs at IU are something I am looking into too. I think there are several BS medical technology programs at IUPUI like radiology, medical lab technology and several others but I can’t find the website right now. Alot of a BS in chem would transfer to a program like that.
I was told by a restaurant manager at a restaurant near target that 80% of graduates do not use their degree on the job (he had a BS in chem from ball state and worked as a restaurant manager because he enjoyed it), so yeah I am not sure where i’ll end up.
I graduated in 2003 with a BSc in Physiology, and now I’m doing a 3-year Medical Technologist program. I felt a little silly at first because it’s a technical program at a junior college, and you can get into the program right after high school. But you know what? There are other people like me, with BSc’s, in the program. The average age of people in the program is 22. My marks are high, and I’m learning everything very quickly and easily thanks to everything I learned at University. It’s a career that’s very much in demand these days, and with my BSc on top of my technologist diploma, I’ll probably be able to get a job quickly, wherever I choose to work. I’ll probably even be paid more than my classmates who are without higher degrees, and it will be easier for me to get into supervisory positions eventually, if I feel like going that way.
All that to say, don’t feel silly going “backwards” to add to your knowledge and get a good job afterwards. Call it the scenic route. In the end, the important thing is to find something you enjoy doing. I thought I wanted grad school because it was the logical next step in my education, and all my friends were headed that way, but I realize now that this medical technology thing is a much better fit for me.
Try getting part-time jobs working with professors in their research labs. It’s the best way to see if the research life is for you. Because if you can’t stand it, grad school probably won’t make you happy.
And by the way, about those 80% of people not using their degree? That’s not necessarily true. I mean, my degree is in Physiology and I’m not going to be a physiologist. But things I’ve learned will help me in my career. Just having a degree means you’re smart enough to get through University, and employers (and you!) know that.
After graduating with my degree in natural resources 10 years ago, I worked a couple of part time jobs (one in environmental education and one in parks and recreation) for a year to get experience and make good connections. Those connections helped me to full-time employment in the solid waste field - not where I ever thought I’d end up, but it turns out I love it!
If you don’t mind advice from a Boilermaker :), don’t rule out government work. Several state agencies - like the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Department of Natural Resources - need employees with either chemistry or general scientific backgrounds. Granted, right now isn’t a great time to try to get into state government in Indiana, but things should be much more settled by the time you graduate. You shouldn’t have trouble making your desired $30,000-ish, and the benefits rock! Local agencies may also need folks with your background, as wastewater/stormwater and other environmental regulations become more stringent.
Because of the administration change, there aren’t many job posted in the Indiana state job bank right now. You can go to IDEM’s new jobs site and browse through some of the job descriptions and see if anything looks interesting.
BS in Math, Dec 1990. I worked part-time at a grocery store and a video store, pulling about 60 hours a week while living with my parents and looking for a “real” job". I got an almost real job (not full-time, no benefits) more than a year after that, then got laid off after 18 months. I worked temp jobs for a while, then got a full time crap job. After a couple years of interviews I got another job “in my field”, and I’ve been there ever since.
I think my big mistakes were either I should have gone right back to school (graduate degree?) after I got laid off or I should have worked a lot harder and made more money. Working two crap jobs sucks, but it’s more money in your pocket and it keeps you out of trouble. Right now, I have a decent job that pays rather well, it supports my family in a comfortable manner, with not much left over every month, but not very fulfilling.
My brother has a BS in Chem and works for the state of Kentucky. He loves the job but, after almost 9 years, they pay him barely more than a first year teacher. Surely the crappiest job around.
My advice would be to do something that you really enjoy and try to make that do.
Or work your ass off and sock away money, cause at some point you will be glad you did. Having money in the bag gives a person a feeling of freedom, trust me. I don’t have much in the bank and I do not feel very free.
I’m now making plans to move back in with my parents. I really don’t recommend my course of action. Oh yeah and my B.S. was in English with a creative writing concentration.
Like Antigen (cool nick in the context - have you gotten into blood banking yet?), I also went into the MT program “backwards” as did about a third of my class. I did far better grade-wise than I ever did in undergrad.
What I meant by “waiting until December” was that I waited until I had only one semester left before I realized I needed to get a job after graduation. I didn’t have time to take classes that would leave me with any real job skills in the field, and I wanted to get a job in the field. So while I had book knowledge, I didn’t have experience that would get me in anyone’s lab door. I assumed I would get a bio job after graduation, which was unrealistic given the way I hadn’t planned.
As for IUPUIs Med Tech program and the field in general, Wesley, e-mail me. And you too, Antigen.
Grad school didn’t get me any closer to my dream - doing jack shit all day.
Unfortunately, my dream doesn’t pay well.
I also took about 4 months off after grad school (I had a job lined up though). For some reason a lot of MBA overacheiver types think that they are missing somthing if they take any time off from their careers of working 80 hour weeks pushing papers and crunching numbers. I highly recommend it if you can afford it.