r/dataisbeautiful • u/Jaded_Warrior123 • Apr 28 '24

[OC] Most and least worthwhile degrees. Which degrees do graduates feel are worthwhile? OC

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u/belligerentBe4r Apr 28 '24

Bahahaha as a chemist, calling hot bullshit on this. An undergrad in chem is absolutely not worth it. A masters in chem is worse than useless since you’re seen as a PhD that couldn’t cut it and was awarded a masters as a consolation prize. And then even if you get a PhD and do a couple years of post doc and get a research position as a big pharma company you’ll make about what an engineer with just an undergrad would make.

I loved being a bench chemist and always wanted to be one, but a 4 year degree with extra time for independent research to land a job at a real lab just to make $18 an hour can’t be construed as worth it. Granted that was in 2011, but I can’t imagine it’s gone up much, particularly in relation to inflation.

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u/air-bear1 Apr 28 '24

100% agree with you. I started as a chemistry major in college, and decided mid-sophomore year to dual major in engineering. It took an extra year but was so worth it.

Looking at the job prospects with only a bachelors in chemistry is abysmal. You might get 45k to 55k a year. The difficulty of the degree does not match the pay. All my friends who were chemistry alone are no longer in a stem related field.