I am considering the following STEM career paths, possibly up to a PhD:

I am considering the following STEM career paths, possibly up to a PhD:
>Physics
>Toxicology
>Computer Science
>Mathematics/Statistics
>Engineering(ME/EE/NE)

What would Veeky Forums choose?

If you do comp sci you can contribute to most fields.

t. computer science doing neuroscience

English literature, or philosophy (the cool kind not the gay kind (ironically the gay kind is the cool kind)). Hell, even women's studies.

If you're going to waste your life on academia, at least do something that'll get you laid.

>Physics
if you don't go for a PhD, you will work at an insurance company, which would be pretty boring
>Toxicology
no idea, but you'd be getting a stamp collecting bachelors degree which isn't very safe and have no choice but to get a PhD and better hope you actually enjoy working as a toxicologist
>Computer Science
useful to any company on the planet for the foreseeable future and your options are pretty enormous
>Mathematics/Statistics
take out the math because it's useless and put the statistics with the computer science above and you have a really useful person
>Engineering(ME/EE/NE)
really depends on the job market and i would never go for nuclear engineering. do mechanical or electrical only if you know it's what you're into specifically over everything else and going to grad school isn't on the top of your to-do list. personally, i'd do CS + Stats, work the day job and do what I REALLY want to do at home after work that doesn't pay at all for my own enjoyment, which is making music and writing books.

I will say I would never become an engineer. i've heard countless horror stories about guys who did it and wish they didn't go into something so vocational and narrow, that it's not worth the money, that their coworkers are assholes and/or autists, and that a lot of their job opportunities are in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere. I will say though that there is something to be said about the value of an engineering degree, since only engineers can legally really work as engineers. a physics major can't take an engineers job, at least most of them, i'm pretty sure. also, with CS you are sort of competing with the entire planet since I'm sure the ability to telecommute is common.
>If you do comp sci you can contribute to most fields.
i couldn't agree more

might as well throw your degree into the trash

Wait I misread and thought OP was sticking with academia.

Yeah don't go into women's studies. Or english lit or philosophy, unless it's what you actually like doing.

I used to think about Philosophy as an option but I feel like it'd be a waste of time unless I want to be a lawyer, and even then it wouldn't be hugely beneficial in comparison to the time and money I'd have to spend on the degree.
I would not be in academia at all, no way.

You've got to think about it in terms of what you want to learn, as well as what you want to do post-uni. So, if you really want to learn about philosophy, and you really want to become an army officer post-uni, you should definitely get a philosophy degree. If, on the other hand, you want to learn philosophy AND computer science, and all you really want to do post-uni is something that interests you and is moderately well paid, then you should probably study computer science.

Don't forget that studying at uni is its own reward.

But never, ever, ever study something you don't like. And never decide to do something post-uni you don't like. You're on Veeky Forums so that's probably not an issue for you, but still.

>never, ever, ever study something you don't like
that seems pretty hard to even know until way after the fact

Most worthwhile degrees lead from subjects you can (and have to) do in school beforehand. And they often run tasters, too. You can simply research it as well.

Unis really don't want you picking something you hate, getting shit grades, and dropping out after the first year.

Why are people so obsessed with what is 'useful'?
What does that even mean?
Are you talking about how much money someone can make?
Are you talking about if someone contribute to the field?
What does it mean, user?

because we're men and men need to be useful enough to make money

If you study anything else than pure maths, you're a very dumb person.

Janitors make money. Go be a janitor and stop shitting up this site.

oh fuck off moron. if you can't understand the difference between a janitor and a physicist then you might as well kill yourself now

Why would you want to sacrifice yourself upon the altar of usefulness?

>Physics
A good middle-of-the-road first degree, but a PhD is needed to continue work in the field, and will lead to more interesting 'data science' type jobs. It's better to combine a physics degree with modules in other subjects for employability, or pursue a masters in another subject, but once you do you'll be ridiculously employable.
>Toxicology
Can't say I know, sorry.
>Computer Science
At an undergraduate level, you will be employable straight out of university. You will have job offers from everywhere, but you will find it hard to advance your career unless you specialise. You will always be a programmer, unless you switch roles entirely and become a project manager or something. At a PhD level, the subject changes entirely, and you're better off pursuing another subject at undergraduate (like physics or mathematics) to do the most interesting kind of research.
>Mathematics/Statistics
Mathematics is essentially the same as physics, here. Statistics is very employable, but there's not much to it, so it would be better combined with another subject like mathematics or computer science.
>Engineering(ME/EE/NE)
Probably not worth it to a PhD level, but I think a lot of qualifications and experience is needed to do it professionally. If you end up not wanting to become an engineer, this is no problem because the degree is about as transferable as physics and mathematics (maybe a little more). If all you want out of your degree is a job, then engineering is one of the harder subjects to study, so might not be worth it.

Toxicology is essentially similar to pharmacology, molecular biology and physiology. Studying the structure of poisonous molecules, their mechanisms of action and their effects of physiological systems, and making computer simulations of these.

Many paths can lead to a career in toxicological research. You can be a major in bio, pharma, organic chem, cs... but I'd say you should get a pharma degree and continue to Ph.D. from there, if toxicology interests you.

If you want to be a researcher, you must tolerate uncertainty. There's a lot of competition for funding. With a pharma degree there are more options for jobs outside academia, in case everything collapses.

I kinda have experience.
>bio/physiology major
>lost funding because preliminary results showed that a drug molecule had no physiological effect
>tough to find a job outside academia
>getting a med degree now

They do it for free though

>Janitors
>not shitting up this site

What do you think about BSc Econmics?

to make any money/have any hope for a job in tox you basically need to go to med school, get an MD, do emergency medicine residency then do tox fellowship and be a medical toxicologist that handles a local poison center.

otherwise youll be a minimum wage lab tech in a tox lab forever and ever even with a phd

These guys have wisdom. Listen to them.

pretty useless at a B.S level

great degree if your goal is to earn a middle class salary as a businessman

Although that's better than the lower-middle class salary you'd get from STEM.

engineering is gay

toxicology is way too hard to get into

physics, math, and computer science are the only real picks and I don't see why wouldn't choose computer science.

You'd pick physics or maths if you had an ounce of ambition in you. CS is a dead-end degree which forces you into comfortable -- but not too comfortable -- suburbia.

only if the slightly higher middle class salary is worth staring at spreadsheets of sales and billing numbers all day instead of at least being in a lab

The salary is way higher if you're talking about being in a lab desu

I'm just saying in case the dude's caught between two things he likes, but wants to choose the generally better-paying option.

do the engineering degree for your BS, then do w/e the fuck you want.

engineering is legally defined, and that BS opens a lot of doors that otherwise will stay forever closed. more importantly, its a broad, highly marketable credential that you can take anywhere in the world and make money. in the event that getting your masters/PhD doesn't pan out, you are still good to fuckin' go.

its career insurance.

If I have my BSc in EE can I apply to grad for geophysics / geology?

I regret my sperg tier major and I don't wanna go through the mind numbing horseshit of freshman level classes. Can I just jump into a masters program and skip the meme shit?

engineering isn't broad at all. it's one of the most narrow stem degrees you can get, practically vocational.

>Unis really don't want you picking something you hate, getting shit grades, and dropping out after the first year.
this is exactly how it is here in germany - universities get paid mainly by the state depending on the amount of freshmen they have

Here they get paid per year, so if you drop out after one you've just cut their money by two thirds. They also care a great deal about results, so they can nab some top spot in the uni rankings tables.

Although the shit unis don't care about that, but A. they're shit and B. there's a reason they're shit.

...

That being said, some programming skill and mathematical skill is pretty useful anywhere, and this is what engineering gives you.

and you don't need to major in engineering to get it. CS would be more useful.

Veeky Forums I want to go into ai and integrate tech with biology (cyborg level shit)
I was thinking about
Computer science associates-I'm here
Computer engineering bs
Bioengineering master's
Computer science PhD

Should I change it up?

Seems pretty good, desu. I would go out of my way to take any course with the words algorithm and at least some survey courses in neurology and biology if you're looking for human interfaces.

Also if you are strong enough go straight to PhD since a masters is a waste of time and money if you're planning on PhD. Many schools will have 1st year PhD students who have masters still take courses so it doesn't save you any time at all.