With a chemistry degree, you can work in chemistry, materials science, medicine and other rewarding fields. If you’re planning to go to college soon, you may be wondering whether chemistry is a good degree to get.
Chemistry is a good major for prospective students looking for valuable training in versatile scientific skills that open exciting career opportunities. Keep reading for answers to the most frequently asked questions about taking a chemistry major.
What Is a Chemistry Degree?
A chemistry degree is a qualification in chemistry, a science that studies elements, compounds and their interactions. Since chemistry studies the building blocks of the physical world, a degree in chemistry is an excellent foundation for many careers and further study pathways in the sciences.
Chemistry majors learn in the classroom as well as in the laboratory. They engage with organic and inorganic branches of chemistry and also study mathematics and physics. Chemistry students develop strong research skills and gain practical lab work experience.
Types of chemistry degrees range from associate degrees to higher grad school qualifications in chemistry.
What Jobs Can You Get With a Chemistry Degree?
Employers in several exciting industries are looking to hire chemistry majors. Here are just ten top jobs you can get with a chemistry degree:
- Pharmacologist: Study pharmaceutical drugs to make sure they’re safe and effective.
- Chemical engineer: Develop processes to produce goods related to chemicals, like food, drugs and fuel.
- Materials scientist: Analyze and adapt materials to meet human needs.
- Oceanographer: Research the chemistry of ocean ecosystems.
- Geochemist: Explore the chemistry of our Earth.
- Hazardous waste chemist: Provide insights for managing hazardous waste.
- Forensic scientist: Solve crimes through chemical evidence.
- Organic chemist: Examine the chemistry of carbon lifeforms.
- Chemistry professor: Teach and research chemistry at a college or university.
- Chemistry teacher: Teach chemistry to in middle or high school.
With a chemistry degree, you can find high-paying jobs in any of these positions and many others. Note that some of these careers will require further studies at grad school. With your chemistry degree, you can go on to specialize in organic, inorganic, forensic and other branches of chemistry or an overlapping field like chemical engineering. A specialized chemistry qualification from a grad school program can maximize your earning potential, but starting your associate degree in chemistry is the first step.
What Is the Average Salary for a Chemistry Degree in Massachusetts?
The average pay for chemistry jobs in MA depends on the job you enter. It also varies by experience and your specific location within the state. The average annual salary for a chemistry grad in Massachusetts is $49,229. However, you can earn much more than that if you choose one of the top professions for chemistry majors.
Massachusetts is one of the states with the highest pay for chemists, with an annual mean wage of $116,980. Whether you plan to live and work in Massachusetts or elsewhere in the world, a chemistry degree is a powerful asset to your earning potential.
Is a Chemistry Degree Worth It?
If you’re interested in a scientific education and the field of chemistry appeals to you, starting a chemistry degree is worth it. Here are a few of the top benefits that make starting a chemistry degree a worthwhile decision:
Explore Your Options
There are many diverse jobs you can get with a chemistry degree. You can also choose to specialize with further study at a grad level or pivot into a related field.
Equip Your Skillset
A degree in chemistry trains you in some of the world’s most in-demand and transferable skills. These skills will accelerate your academic progress, elevate your earning potential and broaden your professional horizons. Ten of these include:
- Problem-solving: Recognizing what you don’t yet know or can’t yet do. Come up with possible solutions. Test them. Evaluate the data. Communicate and apply your conclusions. This is what science is all about!
- Evidence-based reasoning: Make decisions and draw conclusions based on real facts about the world.
- Data analysis: Gather, organize and assess information. Learn to describe it and what it means.
- Research: Practice finding answers in the work of great minds of the past and present. See how to find your own answers to new questions as well.
- Lab work: Master the tools and processes needed to do practical work in laboratories.
- Experimentation: Put scientific ideas into action and test them out.
- Using scientific equipment: Become acquainted with instruments like microscopes, measuring tools, pH meters and more.
- Communicating about complex subjects: Present and write about your findings so others can understand and benefit from them.
- Mathematics: Gain a solid theoretical and practical understanding of relevant mathematical skills that are useful in many fields.
- Independent learning ability: Develop the ability to engage in self-guided research and learning. Paired with a growth mindset, this is practically a superpower.
These skills will serve you well in your career, no matter which profession you choose. They will make you a higher-value employee and a more confident, capable person.
Enhance Your Perspective
Studying chemistry trains you in the scientific method of reasoning. Beyond your specific knowledge of chemistry, you’ll learn a reliable way to make sense of the world. Studying chemistry makes everything around you more fascinating.
Enrich Your World
Chemistry grads do work that makes the world a better place. You could find yourself pushing the envelope of industrial innovation, saving lives through pharmaceutical solutions or establishing truth and justice through forensic chemical sleuthing. No matter your path, a chemistry degree equips you to improve lives in countless ways.
Study Chemistry at Mount Wachusett Community College
Looking for a quality, affordable chemistry education in Massachusetts? Consider starting a chemistry degree at Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC). The application is quick and straightforward. With no fee and no essay, it only takes minutes to apply and start the road to your chemistry degree.
You’ll be trained by caring, qualified professors who are focused on your personal academic success, thanks to our small class sizes. With a two-year associate degree in chemistry from MWCC, you’ll have the knowledge, skills and credits to embark on an exciting career or transfer to a four-year school. With MassTransfer, you can transfer credits to a Massachusetts state university, and you might qualify for tuition reduction.
Why get a head start at The Mount? Besides the rich and attentive education you’ll receive, you’ll save thousands of dollars! A semester at MWCC could cost as little as half the price of a semester at a nearby four-year college. The money you save will make starting your chemistry education that much more accessible.
Apply for free online in a few minutes to start your journey!