ArtEngineer

i am already a creative person, and i have a stronger interest in pure science than an engineering degree. I have always heard of the phrase that the person matters more than degree. My particular worries reside in the job prospects of a pure science degree in Chemistry, even with the emphasis on the growing field of Nanoscience. I do have faith in myself that i can translate my pure science knowledge into something formidable, and would rather do it myself than have a school mold it into me. But am worried about the prospects of jobs with a chemistry degree. My industry interests are particularly in the field of Energy.
Would a pure science degree be more secure than a chemical engineering one? I have also read that the chemical engineering field is a dying one? Any thoughts on this?

xraymancs

If you don't have the desire to be an engineer, it is probably bad to major in any engineering discipline. Yes, the job market is difficult now but most companies do need analytical chemists and you might end up wanting to get a Masters or Ph.D. in chemistry once you get into the discipline. My suggestion is to major in something you are passionate about. Your grades will be better because of it.

PoppinBottlesMGT

Hey, I am sort of similar. Engineering seems cool and all, but I would just rather be more of a scientist, exploring new understanding and all that stupid stuff.

I am a freshman, and barely that (taking precalc and no science or ENGR classes yet), but my current plan is material science undergrad and then a PhD. There are a some posters here who are into that field who kind of got me looking into it, and it might be interesting to you as well. It seems pretty ideal for me.

tovani

Wait, where did you find the information that said "chemical engineering field is a dying one" ?? I want to know this. =(.
If you're interested in the field of Energy. Berkeley has just opened the new Energy Engineering majors in COE.

PoppinBottlesMGT

tovani, I don't know that I've heard it's "dying," but I believe BLS has it (and electrical) either growing slower than the average job market or maybe even losing jobs over the next 10 years or something.

Not sure if those figures are accurate or what they actually mean (people seem WAY more interested in that sort of thing than they should be imo, but it's also certainly something to weigh), but that premise does seem to be echoed most places like that.

RacinReaver

Keep in mind that while a field itself might be shrinking there may be subfields that could be booming. Steel was a pretty rough business to be in during the 1970s/80s, but there were other fields in materials science that were exploding at the time (think semiconductors).

If you do wind up going to grad school the lines between science and engineering can become extremely blurry.

PoppinBottlesMGT

Excellent. That's exactly where I am hoping to find myself.

Probably should try to take calculus before I start counting on that paradigm-shifting scienceering career, but hey...i have too much downtime this semester.