<p>Is a B.S. in Chemistry less rigorous than any engineering program?
Also, are there decent opportunities for someone with just a B.S.?</p>
<p>I don’t know how it stands against other engineering programs, however, I would think it is pretty hard. I would rank it harder than physics.</p>
<p>I hear though that compared to its engineering counterpart, ChemE, Chemistry is a bit easier since it is less quantitative.</p>
<p>A B.S. in Chemistry doesn’t have a lot of opportunities - some, but not a lot. I wouldn’t consider it as hard as Physics or engineering. But that all depends on the person and the school.</p>
<p>It depends on the school. period.</p>
<p>i think chemistry is easier at first - the problem with chemistry is that the schools in states do not do a good job in educating students – so it seems easier, but then in the end a lot is demanded of you</p>
<p>for example in chemistry GRE an average student in the states would get 30%-80% while foreigners are the ones who score over 80%-100% (foreigners do take preparation courses, but the difference is still significant even if you take 6-month prep course in US, which are largely unavailable) – undergraduate labs are always inadequate so you have to get hands-on experience somewhere else your last 2 years of study – and there might be gaps between upper division series and graduate-level classes – for example, some schools teach very easy undergrad o-chem and the next class in o-chem is a harcore synthetic class where prof thinks you already know this and that and doesn’t bother to explain the details</p>
<p>in other words chemistry education is not very well structured or taught (i do not know how things stand with engineering) – so you will have to study on your own for some things</p>
<p>with BS there are many opportunities – employers are a bit weary of BS graduates because it is not clear how much hands-on experience they had – typically BS graduates are very inexperienced – masters students are a big hit nowadays (and salary is decent) in that masters students are considered to be a level more experienced than BS graduates – but that is thesis and not coursework masters that are sought – there are many job opennings available for MS students and more hiring confidence in your abilities as an employee</p>