John Adams Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) Article title too funny to pass up--almost like an Onion story. Some gems of quotes: “What they didn’t expect is that even if they work hard, they still won’t do well.” "The students switched out because they were dissatisfied with their grades." The study was limited to Berea College in Kentucky. http://blogs.wsj.com...ze-theyre-hard/ Edited July 8, 2013 by John Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) Not only were most of the sciences and math classes more demanding than other programs available, but the career paths offered are far less clear. That was the primary factor why I dropped Bio-Chem and got an economics degree. The big question loomed, what the hell do I do with a Bio degree if I don't want to go on to medicine? At the school I went to, pretty much every student who remained in Bio and Chem was planning to attend Med school. There were very few Bio-Med and Bio-Chem majors who were planning to hit the private sector. In the student loan thread we have people saying the US is at a shortage of scientists. While I believe that to be true, what the hell is a scientist? What do they do? Where do they work? Is there a city which is particularly known for its science industry? The "science" industry, for lack of a real term, is much more fractured, spread out. Its far easier to picture your life and career path in something broad like business or finance. Every major city has some type of financial services sector. Every small town has commercial banking and accounting operations. Theres no shortage of back office, grunt positions that a general degree in business will cater too. Its a safer bet. You know where these positions are and you know what they pay. I don't think the same can be said for jobs in the "sciences". Also, there are zero movies depicting scientists with boxes full of money, fancy cars, railing lines off a strippers ass. None. Edited July 8, 2013 by Jauronimo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Not knowing what a scientist is/does is a pretty bad excuse for not doing science. A bio/chem undergrad is pretty useless unless you want to sit in a lab all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Not only were most of the sciences and math classes more demanding than other programs available, but the career paths offered are far less clear. That was the primary factor why I dropped Bio-Chem and got an economics degree. The big question loomed, what the hell do I do with a Bio degree if I don't want to go on to medicine? At the school I went to, pretty much every student who remained in Bio and Chem was planning to attend Med school. There were very few Bio-Med and Bio-Chem majors who were planning to hit the private sector. In the student loan thread we have people saying the US is at a shortage of scientists. While I believe that to be true, what the hell is a scientist? What do they do? Where do they work? Is there a city which is particularly known for its science industry? The "science" industry, for lack of a real term, is much more fractured, spread out. Its far easier to picture your life and career path in something broad like business or finance. Every major city has some type of financial services sector. Every small town has commercial banking and accounting operations. Theres no shortage of back office, grunt positions that a general degree in business will cater too. Its a safer bet. You know where these positions are and you know what they pay. I don't think the same can be said for jobs in the "sciences". Also, there are zero movies depicting scientists with boxes full of money, fancy cars, railing lines off a strippers ass. None. This, all of this. People with PhD's in biology or chemistry that don't break into academia largely end up in postdoc land for years and years, because there is no real career track for that sort of thing. People go on and on about STEM, and it's a nice acronym and all, but it's really more like TE when it comes to having decent (as far as quality of life) career prospects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Also, there are zero movies depicting scientists with boxes full of money, fancy cars, railing lines off a strippers ass. None. I agree 100% which is why I got into finance. Needless to say I'm quite disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Not knowing what a scientist is/does is a pretty bad excuse for not doing science. A bio/chem undergrad is pretty useless unless you want to sit in a lab all day. Then I guess its a good thing that wasn't the reason I provided for not pursuing science. I was trying to point out that theres no such thing as a scientist. That position doesn't exist. Science isn't an industry, its a field of study. Likewise, math isn't an industry. Information about these science intensive positions is difficult to come by as they span multiple industries and consist of hundreds of specialized niches. Thats not a career path. Its tough to chase a science degree over 4 years when the practical application is, who f@#$ing knows what, who f@#$ing knows where, and who f@#$ing knows for how much? The only students pursuing these degrees must be truly passionate about science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Also, there are zero movies depicting scientists with boxes full of money, fancy cars, railing lines off a strippers ass. None. That's 'cause they don't make movies about physicists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 This, all of this. People with PhD's in biology or chemistry that don't break into academia largely end up in postdoc land for years and years, because there is no real career track for that sort of thing. People go on and on about STEM, and it's a nice acronym and all, but it's really more like TE when it comes to having decent (as far as quality of life) career prospects. I have quite a few friends who found work with just the S. Most of them are going to get more education but not necessarily medical school. I had a roommate/friend and another plain friend in undergrad who were math majors...idk what my old roommate is doing now but the other friend I think is a bar tender lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Not only were most of the sciences and math classes more demanding than other programs available, but the career paths offered are far less clear. That was the primary factor why I dropped Bio-Chem and got an economics degree. The big question loomed, what the hell do I do with a Bio degree if I don't want to go on to medicine? At the school I went to, pretty much every student who remained in Bio and Chem was planning to attend Med school. There were very few Bio-Med and Bio-Chem majors who were planning to hit the private sector. In the student loan thread we have people saying the US is at a shortage of scientists. While I believe that to be true, what the hell is a scientist? What do they do? Where do they work? Is there a city which is particularly known for its science industry? The "science" industry, for lack of a real term, is much more fractured, spread out. Its far easier to picture your life and career path in something broad like business or finance. Every major city has some type of financial services sector. Every small town has commercial banking and accounting operations. Theres no shortage of back office, grunt positions that a general degree in business will cater too. Its a safer bet. You know where these positions are and you know what they pay. I don't think the same can be said for jobs in the "sciences". Also, there are zero movies depicting scientists with boxes full of money, fancy cars, railing lines off a strippers ass. None. This, all of this. People with PhD's in biology or chemistry that don't break into academia largely end up in postdoc land for years and years, because there is no real career track for that sort of thing. People go on and on about STEM, and it's a nice acronym and all, but it's really more like TE when it comes to having decent (as far as quality of life) career prospects. Looks like we have a scientific consensus here. Connor will wet himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 That's 'cause they don't make movies about physicists. How about a geophysicist? http://www.imdb.com/...ref_=tt_stry_pl Scrambling to resolve the crisis, government and military officials call upon geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes and a team of the world's most gifted scientists to travel into the earth's core in a subterranean craft piloted by "terranauts" Major Rebecca "Beck" Childs and Commander Robert Iverson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 That's 'cause they don't make movies about physicists. Unless Einstein wasn't a physicist, then Bullsh$t! IQ - no money, no cars, no blow, not a single stripper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 ....also...almost every space movie has a slew of "scientists" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 ....also...almost every space movie has a slew of "scientists" Who either... - get killed by aliens - get sucked into a monolith - are proven wrong by the space cowboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) not cool - http://tinyurl.com/kkp25jl cool - http://tinyurl.com/ksrsmzy Seriously, all I did was Google "physicist" and "business major." Huge difference in image results. Image is everything. For arguments sake - "physicist"- http://tinyurl.com/lnfbo5d Edited July 8, 2013 by jboyst62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 OTOH, I have an engineering degree and got "rich" at age 26. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I was trying to point out that theres no such thing as a scientist. That position doesn't exist. Ummm, excuse me, but I know a certain scientist named Dr. Bunsen Honeydew who would gladly disagree with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Unless Einstein wasn't a physicist, then Bullsh$t! IQ - no money, no cars, no blow, not a single stripper. Einstein was a mathematician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Einstein was a mathematician. What Physicist isn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeviF Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I have quite a few friends who found work with just the S. Most of them are going to get more education but not necessarily medical school. I had a roommate/friend and another plain friend in undergrad who were math majors...idk what my old roommate is doing now but the other friend I think is a bar tender lol You can find work, but as Jauronimo pointed out it can be difficult to track down. I have a friend who got a BS in Bio, got his Masters in some sort of Forensics thing and now has a very cushy civilian job with the NYS Police. Problem is that a lot of Bio and Chem guys don't see (because it's not readily visible) a career pipeline aside from medical school or a PhD, the latter being extremely ineffective at getting you settled into a nice career. Looks like we have a scientific consensus here. Connor will wet himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I was trying to point out that theres no such thing as a scientist. That position doesn't exist. Science isn't an industry, its a field of study. So this job listing isn't real...? http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=JHS5475VMT1384HN2B0&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=JRKV0I First thing I thought of when I heard 'Biochem" was "You get to make new flavors for foods at General Mills!" Because I know people (ok, one person) who have done that with a biochem degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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