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Hi, I'm wondering if anyone else majored in something that was employment-impractical, as I did. I have a BS in Molecular Biology, Summa Cum Laude got into a top med school PhD program and quit the next year when I found out only 20% of the graduates ever worked in biology again - the rest were real estate agents, or had gone to law school or engineering college, and the ones still there were techs earning 30K, embittered and complaining not able to own a house, or an OK car, had no savings, no future! Even the professors were miserable, sulking if their papers didn't get in a top-10 journal, scared they wouldn't get data in time to renew grants or worse a competitor lab publishes before you do and thereby you do not make it to tenure. NOT a bright future! Even more frustrating, I always loved computers and sort of 'gave up' comp sci as my first love because I thought I would do important research in biology, being really good at it I was encouraged to stay in it. I don't want to be a doctor....desensitizing myself would change me too much, I couldn't be happy. Now I'm aiming for an MS in CS but I'm burnt-out at this point, and getting B's in my deficiency classes (C Programming, Discrete structures). B's are OK for an engineering major but not for a BioSci major trying to get into a new discipline? I have high GREs, which should help. Does anyone else have a similar story? Any advice or suggestions? Thanks!

By Dadster on Saturday, May 18, 2002 - 10:19 am: Edit

Hi, Meena, my guess would be that a lot depends on where you want to get your MS. Bs in your makeup comp sci classes might hurt you at CMU or MIT, but not at less elite programs.

A couple of other random thoughts: to get employed in the computer field as a "doer", it's often not necessary to have an MS. Hands-on knowledge plus a BS in any field often work fine. If you like computers but are finding the programming/math stuff heavy going, you could also consider an MIS/CIS major, which is a bit less technical. It really depends on what you want to be doing a few years down the road - what kind of position, and what kind of company.

I fully understand your concern about an academic career in biology. You hear a lot about liberal arts PhDs having no prospects, but the science fields are overcrowded and super-competitive, too. Long stints as post-docs, employment in unrelated fields, etc., are all too common. At least industry (pharmaceutical, environmental, etc.) does employ a few bio PhDs. I take it that you didn't want to go the MD route - your undergrad accomplishments would probably get you into a good med school. Good luck!