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Afroshroomerican
Oprah's Minion



Registered: 05/12/06
Posts: 891
Loc: Pennsylvania
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Advice needed from engineers/scientists.
#8863357 - 09/01/08 10:10 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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As my undergraduate years come to a close, I am faced with a crucial decision to make: should I pursue a Master's in Chemical Engineering or should I attempt to get a second bachelor's?
I love chemistry and engineering, but I really have no desire to do extensive research or lead-development: I just want to have as many field of interest open to me as possible.
My advisor kind of sucks, so I was wondering what the prospects of me getting into B.S. Chemical Eng from Chemistry B.S./Math Minor. 3.6 GPA in total
Any ideas? Suggestions?
-------------------- "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." ~Martin Luther King Jr.~ <passitbobbie> if I just showed you a closeup of my ass <passitbobbie> youd think it was female "You owe errrbody up in here an apology fow youwe shit, HO!" - classic
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,379
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: Afroshroomerican]
#8864380 - 09/02/08 05:29 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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In general, a B.S. in the sciences will allow you to work as someone's technician. Having a second B.S. isn't going to help a whole lot. Without a Ph.D. you are going to hit a "glass ceiling" at some point.
You'll be more employable with any type of "engineering" degree.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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HighTek
A FunkyPhoenician



Registered: 03/22/07
Posts: 1,091
Loc: In your pants.
Last seen: 1 year, 7 days
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: badchad]
#8864982 - 09/02/08 09:47 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Tri High
Whigro


Registered: 05/02/08
Posts: 11,769
Loc: Monaghan, Ireland
Last seen: 12 years, 2 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: HighTek]
#8866966 - 09/02/08 04:51 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Masters helps, but diversify your knowledge when you get out.
Like, get a job as a technician and hang around other departments to learn about what they do, and when you're done with it all open up a consulting engineering firm.
Oh wait, you're chem e, not civil e....HAHA. Good luck working in bio sciences!
Really, chem e is an almost worthless degree. I guess you could go into waste water or something. I'm pursuing an environmental engineering degree, so we're in the same boat but I get a little civil engineering in my 'portfolio'.
Get a master's if you want to do something profound. Head a lab or something. Get a second bachelor's in eng. management or business if you want to do something good....
Love, Jah
-------------------- you just need money to get laid - starfire_xes
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DieCommie


Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: Tri High]
#8867462 - 09/02/08 06:13 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Really, chem e is an almost worthless degree.
Its a higher salary and more useful than environmental thats for sure...
Afroshroomerican : My advice, dont get another BS, get the masters.
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: Tri High]
#8869677 - 09/03/08 01:02 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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I am pretty sure that Chemical Engineers are in extremely high demand and have salaries much higher than anything I could hope for as a scientist. Well, that probably applies to all engineering fields.
Do the masters.
-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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wisp

Registered: 04/13/08
Posts: 5,304
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: zouden]
#8870014 - 09/03/08 03:56 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Shouldn't you be in Germany or something by now?
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: wisp]
#8870220 - 09/03/08 06:08 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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rofl! Nah that's next year, I've got one more year of working here. Besides, I don't want to leave my projects unfinished, I'm getting very attached to them
-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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phi1618
old hand

Registered: 02/14/04
Posts: 4,102
Last seen: 14 years, 11 days
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: Tri High]
#8870984 - 09/03/08 10:41 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Chemical engineering is useful as a BS. Chemistry is pretty useless below the Ph.D. level. If you want to be a chemical engineer, get your masters. It's better than a BS, and the employer will look at your most advanced degree - having that shitty Chemistry degree can only help, once you have the masters. You could get the BS if you want, but it would be just about as much work and money as the masters, so why?
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: phi1618]
#8872291 - 09/03/08 03:28 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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Plasmid
Absent

Registered: 06/01/08
Posts: 1,719
Last seen: 15 years, 4 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: phi1618]
#8887924 - 09/06/08 06:23 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
phi1618 said: Chemical engineering is useful as a BS. Chemistry is pretty useless below the Ph.D. level.
Where on earth are you getting this bullshit from? Most of the people I knew as undergrads (including myself) had job interviews before getting their BSc in chemistry and many people I've known to get MSc degrees in chemistry were hired before graduating (and were working full time while writing a thesis).
Chemical engineers do tend to get paid better, but saying that a BSc or MSc in chemistry (the "central science") is "useless" is just wrong.
Quote:
- having that shitty Chemistry degree
A chemistry degree is probably a lot more useful for getting a job in industry than a degree in physics or biology.
What you're saying is just stupid.
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: Plasmid]
#8888005 - 09/06/08 06:48 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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>A chemistry degree is probably a lot more useful for getting a job in industry than a degree in physics or biology.
For real. When I was in first year and everyone was picking their majors, it was well known that chemistry graduates are in the highest demand of any science. The other sciences have limited demand in industry.
-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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Plasmid
Absent

Registered: 06/01/08
Posts: 1,719
Last seen: 15 years, 4 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: zouden]
#8888066 - 09/06/08 07:04 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Also, reading industry magazines, like Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) is something I've done since my undergrad days and often they publish results of a survey on the chemical industry and the news always looks pretty good, even when it's not that good. Unemployment for chemists is usually around 2% or less. Salaries do continue to rise every year (though not as fast as in other industries sometimes). While chemical engineers do get paid more, it is possible to be hired as a chemical engineer without an engineering degree (depending on how the industry is regulated).
I think the last employment and salary survey result that C&EN published was:
Heylin, M. Uptick in the job market for chemists in 2006 and a routine salary boost for those with jobs. Chemical & Engineering News. 84, pp. 42 - 51. (2006)
I guess the ultimate test of my earlier response will come soon. I'm getting my MSc in (bio)chemistry before the end of this (calendar) year, so we'll see if I get hired or not (though like I said, I had interviews before even getting my BSc in chem - I sent out three copies of my resume and had three interviews).
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wisp

Registered: 04/13/08
Posts: 5,304
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: zouden]
#8889235 - 09/07/08 12:41 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
zouden said: rofl! Nah that's next year, I've got one more year of working here. Besides, I don't want to leave my projects unfinished, I'm getting very attached to them
I see. You going to continue to post on the Shroomery?
If by projects, you're referring to mushrooms, I hear you loud and clear. It kind of gets hard to live without them (growing them that is, not eating them).
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: wisp]
#8889588 - 09/07/08 02:39 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Actually I was referring to my neuroscience projects... I've got a gene I'm trying to characterise, a new assay I want to develop, and some interesting results regarding cognitive effects of tamoxifen (breast cancer drug) that's worth investigating. It seems it affects female mice in an unexpected way...
-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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phi1618
old hand

Registered: 02/14/04
Posts: 4,102
Last seen: 14 years, 11 days
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: Plasmid]
#8892522 - 09/07/08 06:56 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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I have a BS in Chemistry, I got a job out of college. I hated it, didn't make much money, and could only advance into management.
I now program computers for a living, make three times as much money and have much more responsibility.
"Worthless" is too strong a word, I'm sure, but seriously - if you want a job in industry, be an engineer or a Ph.D.
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: phi1618]
#8894348 - 09/08/08 01:17 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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What was your job?
-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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wisp

Registered: 04/13/08
Posts: 5,304
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: zouden]
#8895022 - 09/08/08 06:49 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Oh right, your projects sound somewhat duller now.
Although still interesting...
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zouden
Neuroscientist


Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 7,091
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: wisp]
#8895035 - 09/08/08 06:57 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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They sound a lot duller than what I normally would have chosen, say for a PhD. I didn't choose these since I'm an RA and I do what projects I'm given, but I've found that I'm really interested in them now. I put it down to a general love of science and I take it as a sign that I've found the right career for me
-------------------- I know... that just the smallest part of the world belongs to me You know... I'm not a blind man but truth is the hardest thing to see
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phi1618
old hand

Registered: 02/14/04
Posts: 4,102
Last seen: 14 years, 11 days
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: zouden]
#8895225 - 09/08/08 08:17 AM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Did quality control in an industrial research facility. Basically gathered numbers and performed already designed tests. I did improve the execution of a couple tests, but other than that it was a rote, non-responsible position - I did what the Ph.D.s told me.
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D4NK
Omni-Potent




Registered: 04/05/05
Posts: 1,707
Loc: A Different Parallel Real...
Last seen: 11 years, 7 months
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Re: Advice needed from engineers/scientists. [Re: DieCommie]
#8902852 - 09/09/08 04:11 PM (15 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
DieCommie said: Afroshroomerican : My advice, dont get another BS, get the masters.
I would agree. Employers would tend to love a masters much more than 2 bachelors. I could honestly see it as being more versatile as well... Many more doors open with a masters regardless of the field IME.
-------------------- Moderation is key "There is no god higher than truth."
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