Friends kid who majored in Biology went on to MUSC in SC for Pharmacy school. She graduated in Bio in 3 years too. Shes doing very well now.

It isn't just biology majors with a problem. A biology focused PhD is usually an awful career path too.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just finished at VT in Biology and is now working immediately after in a lab in a Hospital.

I did that. I made $17 an hour. I’m sure it’s more now, but I eventually had to leave for sales.

Anonymous wrote:I have a bio degree. I decided med school was not for me. I don’t use my degree at all. I would encourage my kid to study something else.

I could be you ( except I have several bio degrees). I agree that even if DD wanted to go to med school, I would encourage her to have a different major than Biology.

Especially going into research, is like taking the time and effort it takes to go to med school, and coming out with something that pays less than half that. With little upside potential.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter just finished at VT in Biology and is now working immediately after in a lab in a Hospital.

How much does she make? The debate here is that biology majors don't make much, not that they are not employable.

My daughter just finished at VT in Biology and is now working immediately after in a lab in a Hospital.

Chem pays 15-20% more than bio at every degree level. Not sure why some posters are grouping those two together.

I have a bio degree. I decided med school was not for me. I don’t use my degree at all. I would encourage my kid to study something else.

What about biotechnology? Seems like the future of medicine will be more biotech based drugs (like the Covid vaccine based on mRNA) than the pharmaceutical route.

Likewise how about neurobiology or bioethics? Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:No, but the same idea applies.
That’s just a suggestion of how you can find the talk he gave. Unless your kid is top of the tops, why compete against the pool at Cornell or Hopkins all vying for the same research opportunities. Why not attend a school with a solid program where they can shine and be more competitive for research opportunities.

This. DC went to a “lesser” school than stats would have led one to believe (had higher ranked options but focused on fit) and landed a spot in an internationally known research lab their first year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. not medical. possibly work at research institute.

Biology degrees are generally low paying for this type of work. Hopefully you and child understand all this.

OMG. Everything except engineering is deemed low paying on this site.

Biology majors working in research can literally only get paid like $15-$20/hour. It is just not like other STEM professions that tend to at least pay relatively high starting salaries. I am not sure people quite understand this.

+1. Many people do not. Their kids major in biology, then decide med school is not for them and then cannot find a decent job. Much better to major in something you like/that is more marketable for finding a real job if you don't go into medical school and just take the med school prerequisites as needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. not medical. possibly work at research institute.

Biology degrees are generally low paying for this type of work. Hopefully you and child understand all this.

OMG. Everything except engineering is deemed low paying on this site.

No. However, biology (as well as chemistry) are typically know for being low paying jobs, especially since with only a BA/BS you can only do the grunt work in someone's lab. To do any really interesting work (ie why they major in bio or chem) you need a PHD (maybe a MS), so you spend 4 years in undergrad getting a difficult stem degree and the only job you can find using the degree pays you $35-40K with long hours doing "not so exciting work". To get paid more, you need to get your PHD so 5-8 years (depending upon the research). And even then, if not in big Pharma, you might only make $75K, but you are now 28-30 yo, have been living on $30K/year while in the PHD program, have 10+ years of advanced education and you can only make $70-75K.


So do it if you truly love it, but go in knowing you have 8-10years of education to be able to be a research scientist in Bio or Chem, and the path is low paying, long hours and a lot of grunt work/boring work along the way. Great if that's what you want to really do, but go into it understanding the implications.

And yeah if my kid gets a PHD I would hope they could make more than $70K/year. My average college student lives in a MCOL area and started first job at 22 making $60K, and after 2 years is making 70K+. In 6-7 years, they will be making over $100K easily, not making $70K and just "starting out in life interms of saving for a house, retirement, etc". But they did a finance degree (not directly using the finance degree) and only spent 4 years in undergrad (and I'd argue the finance degree was easier courses than a chemistry or biology degree).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absent true love of the subject, bio is _the worst_ undergraduate degree.

What about for med school or dental school?

Still the worst, because that is what everyone does. So there is a glut of pre-med biology majors who then decided med school/dental school was actually not for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. not medical. possibly work at research institute.

Biology degrees are generally low paying for this type of work. Hopefully you and child understand all this.

Not if they are attractive and charismatic. They can be a pharm sales rep or medical equipment sales and make more than doctors

Those are not "research" positions.

What about Botany? Is this within the broad Biology field or is Botany a major on its own nowadays? It has been a LONG time since I stepped in a Biology undergrad class (I did not end up majoring in Bio after all, sigh).