[typhoon2028]

Take chemical engineering!

[Astrokel]

Don't rule out a Ph.D. so early though, research is different for everyone, you could get a fascinating project with lots of papers with a great supervisor (optimism doesn't hurt) -  and the degree gives you the most options.

 
Correct me if i am wrong - I heard from a friend's dad that the reason he stopped at Master Degree is because he isn't strong at languages.(He was from top junior college just that he is really weak in English) I am really bad at languages too and although English is emphasize in my country, i still can't speak or write well. This is pretty obvious in my General Paper grade in the A level where i scored a D. Perhaps Ph.D. required you to write thesis or reports which English is important? I think i wouldn't make it far as long as language plays a crucial role especially English.

[P]

ASTROKEL,  my English has NEVER been my strong point. I'd even go as far as saying I may be partially dyslexic (although I hide this well). Doing a PhD in chemistry seriously sharpened up my written English skills. Writting a thesis and papers was a massive exercise for me and it sharpened me to the point where I now spot grammatical errors in all the newspapers I read. Before writting it I would never had spotted spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in written text, but now I do it all the time - because when I wrote the first draft of my first chapter - it came back with red pen scribbled over it so much that I had to sharpen up. 


LoL  - PS - TG for spell checkers!

[Astrokel]

P, that was really funny and encouraging, thank you. But i would like to hear more views because English is not my mother tongue.

[Borek]

P, that was really funny and encouraging, thank you. But i would like to hear more views because English is not my mother tongue.

Thousands of people from every corner of the world come to US for graduate studies. In most cases English is not their mother tongue, which doesn't stop them from getting PhD. You really shouldn't worry about.

[nj_bartel]

You speak english sooooooooo much better than some of the grad students / post docs I've been around.

[Astrokel]

Ok i was being paranoid, thanks heaps!

[Astrokel]

Hi chemists, i need to apply my courses by today before going national service tomorrow.

What is the difference between Applied chemistry and chemistry? After reading the informations, i think applied means application? More of applying, less of theories?

[Shahbaz]

just think of you whole body. As your arms and rest of the body relate, so are Applied chemistry and Pure chemistry. Applied chemistry is chemistry being implimented in industry or other practical uses but only you are good in it if you are similarly good in pure chemistry.

[Disappointed]

Absolutely not
it is one of the most expensive ways to waste your time
There is no way to get into the field of chemistry.  It may not even exist as far as I'm concerned.
If you like chemistry, go ahead and study it in your free time.  Take some classes so you can use the schools instruments but if you waste your time getting a degree in chemistry you better be getting a degree in something else
accounting perhaps

I'm just trying to help other people avoid making the same mistake I made

[Borek]

There is no way to get into the field of chemistry.  It may not even exist as far as I'm concerned.

This is your personal experience, which you are generalizing to the field as a whole. As most overgeneralizations, this one is wrong.

[James Newby]

I also disagree! Im doing a masters year and even in a recession we get offered jobs every week.  Its one of the best subjects to have a degree in but its very tough, you have to put in the work!

[LQ43]

I also disagree! Im doing a masters year and even in a recession we get offered jobs every week.  Its one of the best subjects to have a degree in but its very tough, you have to put in the work!

I live in an semi-rural area where the only company that will be hiring 100-150 each year for the next 5 years is a chemical company. Our chem programs are overfilled. Everyone else is either not hiring or laying off.

[James Newby]

I'm not just talking about chemistry jobs.  Management is a big sector for chemistry graduates as is accountancy and banking.  Its the skills you pick up along the way not necessarily the stuff you learn

[Captain Sci]

Chemistry is a truly fascinating subject to study. It teaches you how to become a real problem-solver and how to deal with adversity - as most synthetic chemists would tell you, what you plan and what you get are two completely different issues most of the time! It takes time, effort, creativity and immense willpower to bring on success in the laboratory.

However, if you look beyond your Degree and into the "real world", where chemists have to make a living, you may arrive at the conclusion that the prospects are sometimes bleak. Our working environment is hazardous, our salaries are lower than those of our peers in other fields (including non-science) and all too often we are unable to reap the rewards of our own innovative discoveries.

Sure enough, some chemists break this professional barrier and become well-known, respectable figures in the scientific community. For the vast majority of us, however, success is not proportional to the amount of work or even our true potential. Worse still, our technical expertise (for example PhD subject area) is often not the result of our own selection but instead determined by whichever field our supervisor happens to possess funding for (or possibly by a scientific fashion trend).

Does that mean you should forget about doing a Degree in Chemistry? Certainly not, if you ask me. Your expertise in Chemistry will allow you to do so much more than just laboratory work after all. In the off-chance that do not actually fall in love with synthetic or experimental chemistry, you can move into education (teaching science), Law (working as a trainee patent attorney in chemistry-related fields) or even start your own business. Just remember: a Chemistry Degree gives you the options and the expertise, but the rest is really just up to yourself.