DH has a BS in Chemistry. His minor was Comp Sci, but he graduated in 1999 when it seemed like everyone was doing that, and he liked Chem more. He went on to work in IT and has never spent any time in a lab, although he says he uses the reasoning skills he learned every day. He's still in touch with some of his classmates because it was a relatively small cohort. Of the ones he knows: two people went on to pharmacy school, one guy works for one of the major lab chains doing research (not 100% sure of the job, but he's probably one of the few people I/we know who has been with the same company since graduation), two went to medical school, two work in IT, one or two are chemical engineers, and one is a HS Chem teacher.

ZoomOrgo.com for an excellent organic chemistry tutor. Their tutors are PhDs and are not incompetent like Wyzant or Varsity tutors.

My DD needs a chemistry tutor. She’s a freshman @VA TECH. Pre-MED to boot. Stressed as hell.

I have a chemistry undergraduate degree. After a summer working in my professor's lab, I realized I didn't want to be a chemist, and had to come up with a plan B that didn't involve grad school. Ended up deciding to go to law school with a focus on patent law. That worked out and I'm still in that field 25 years later. A good friend of mine got a Ph.D in chemistry (as someone mentioned earlier, these are generally "free", and you get a small stipend to live on). He ended up in the pharmacology field and has worked for a company in NC where he develop and write training materials for pharmaceutical reps, focusing on the science behind the diseases and drugs/devices used for treatment.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much, 22:48! I wish we knew PhD scientists that she could talk to. It’s hard to know at 18 if she would want to pursue a PhD.

To 10:46, she applied to and was admitted to Engineering schools at the colleges that have a separate school. So she is good to start there and transfer out if she wants pure science.

She doesn't have to know this now. A college major is not a vocation. Plenty of options for people with a BS to do whatever they want: law, finance, consulting, tech start-up, K-12 teaching, med school, nursing, government...

OP here. Thanks so much, 22:48! I wish we knew PhD scientists that she could talk to. It’s hard to know at 18 if she would want to pursue a PhD.

To 10:46, she applied to and was admitted to Engineering schools at the colleges that have a separate school. So she is good to start there and transfer out if she wants pure science.

Are you sure she can start in Engineering if she didn’t apply for it? Most colleges have Engineering schools that you have to be admitted to.

I have a (not Chemistry) science PhD. Chemistry, especially with a PhD, has always been one of the most lucrative science PhDs to get, because of the broad range of industry jobs. DH (also non-chemistry science PhD) and I now both work in industries that provides equipment and infrastructure to pretty much every vertical related to STEM, and nothing I see suggests that chemistry has become a risky field w.r.t. job prospects.

Of course, if your DD prefers Chemical Engineering, she should study it. But, while I generally caution people to do their homework about long term career prospects before pursuing a PhD in science, chemistry remains one of the fields I'd be least concerned about. If she really loves the field, she should seriously consider it.

FWIW, DH and I both do quite well financially, even by DCUM standards. And I got to spend my 20s pursuing my childhood passion (albeit living on a very small graduate stipend while my college friends all earned good salaries in finance and consulting etc). If you are realistic about your career options, a hard science like chemistry is still a great option for someone who finds it intellectually stimulating. I pretty much never assumed I would be a tenured faculty member, and I took supplementary coursework and selected a supportive advisor to prepare me for a non-academic career.

OP here. Thanks for all the great posts! They were very helpful. It seems like Chemistry with grad school would yield reasonable job prospects but that, as we suspected, Engineering is much better. Her plan is to start in Engineering since they have so many course requirements that start freshman year. She was considering one school that doesn't have Engineering and it sounds like she probably should drop that one from consideration.

Agree with the PP that said chemistry career paths are limited with just an undergrad degree. You're certainly not unemployable, but there is a limit to how far you can go without a PhD. This was not always true but it is now.

The classroom component of a chemistry BS should be similar at any decent school, the important thing is to find a place with good undergrad research opportunities and take advantage of them--at a minimum they will get a better idea of whether this is something they really want to pursue in the long term.

OP, I think she goes to a large state university unless you have a very firm reason why that is not her preference. At some point in her class selection she will either go the engineering route or not, and the not will more likely be towards healthcare (or some sort). Regardless, have a large university so she has options. Don't expect to know, at this time, her end goal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Career prospects aren't good for chemical engineering degree either. The US has no industrial base.

The path would generally be medical school or Ph.D.
Ph.D is not worth it unless its a top graduate program.
Medical school is worth for any school in the US

Oil industry
Pharmaceutical
Government FDA and more

Not with a Chemistry B.S., unless they are working a lab assistant position in Pharma or FDA.