I'm thinking of becoming a scientist... I need help from those who know?
539718
I wrote a long list yesterday of the qualities needed to be a successful scientist, I'll copy and paste it later.  In order to be a biologist, you need to take a major in biology or biochemistry (I would recommend biochem, because it's more rigorous and harder to learn later in your career), then, assuming you want to be an independent scientist running your own lab, you need to get a PhD (4-6 yrs), an MD with research training (4-5 years not counting internship), or an MD/PhD (7 years, again not counting post-grad work).  Then, you need to do at least one postdoctoral fellowship, preferably in a top international laboratory (3 years)- often, 2 post-docs are required for very high-level training.  So, after high school, you are looking at 4 years of college, 5 years of grad school on average, and about 5 years of post-doctoral work-Generally scientists are hired as professors (or scientists by pharm companies) when they are around 27-30...this is when you start your independent career.  For me, and all those I know who run their own laboratories, it is a dream job- fascinating work, travel around the world, the feeling you are doing something important and helpful to humanity, nearly complete independence, close association with often brilliant and always interesting people, teaching and mentoring young students, good pay (about $80,000 to start), very very stable job security, never having to worry about being bored, ability to choose your own hours and work schedule, ability to research whatever you find most interesting or personally important, constantly challenging at a very high levels, being on top of the newest technology and discoveries....I could not imagine doing anything else.  A recent job satisfaction pole put University Professors as the second most satisfying careers because of a combination of job security, pay, community respect, intellectual and professional satisfation, and relatively low stress.\nAbout your specific question-no, they (don't say "he" since over half of the grad students coming up are women) dont make as much as physicians, generally.  As a prof, you make $80-150,000 a year, as a scientist in a pharma company you make $100-200,000 a year (but lose your independence)- The working hours are fairly low for a professional occupation with that pay-certainly lower than most physicians, but you pick what you work on, where you work, when you work, when you take time off...there is incredible independence and freedom.\n Now, about the qualities-Ill cut and paste the other question\n\n\nMoral values or professional values? Ethically: honesty would be the most important by far- Modesty or at least the ability to admit when you are wrong ( so you dont cling to a hypothesis against the data), generosity-this leads to collaborations and sharing of data, which accelerates the process of discovery; kindness, so that you design the experiments with the wellfare of the animal in mind.\nAs far as the professional values go: Open-mindedness for examining data and coming up with correct conclusions; logical thinking..that;s obvious; intuition, for those many times that verbal and mathamatical thinking fail you; conservation, to design experiments that use the least amount of material, time, and animals (or whatever test material or subject is being employed); sexiness, by this I mean the excitement or current interest level of the public or scientific community, so that you can obtain grants for your research; delayed gratification, because often it takes years to answer the question; patience, both for the time it takes through trial and error, and the training of students in a very difficult and demanding career; judgement, so that you choose the *most* important question to be addressed, and apply the proper proportion of effort; discipline, because the work requires extreme care and attention to detail, you must be able to ignore some very interesting questions so that you can apply yo
1181159
Yes, absolutely.  You could work at a biotech company like Amgen (which I live nearby -- it provides thousands of jobs to scientists in fields like yours)
321926
Science will help you get employment in many fields.  It has so many uses that are crucial to our lives today.  There is medecine, Astronomy, Physics for engineering and a host of other things.  I wish I could have done more in that field when I was in school.
546165
This link will take you to Discovery science projects.  The link below is to their main page.  \n\nGood luck...*!*...\n\nhttp://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/ideas.html
738828
You need to take as many science courses as you can...\nMath is also a necessity
712378
Get a degree in physics or engineering.  Get a good job.\nBuy a telescope (and maybe a camera) and do it as a hobby.\n\nThere are very few 'good jobs' in astronomy.  However- if you are extremely bright and love math- forget what I said and go for it.
609130
Hi there,\n\nAs a university student, here is my advice to you - go to university and try some things out, try reading books about subjects that interest you and asking people at the uni questions about it. Most importantly, don't expect to choose your career before you get to uni - very few people actually do that, most people actually don't really choose what they wanna do as a career until half way through their first year - but keep in mind that University is expensive, and you don't want to waste your money. SO, you should choose a general course like science or arts or liberal studies, and choose subjects that you like (I'd recommend getting into science and choosing biology - based on your question), and then probably by the end of the first year or semester you will have a better idea of what you want to do, but you will still be able to do it without having to repeat first year. Just ask around at the university!\n\nAlso, I don't recommend you take ANYONE's idea for what you should do as gospel. Listen to people's ideas (including my own and other people's on this site), but just be wary that their choices may be influenced by their own likes/dislikes not yours.\n\nFinally just keep in mind that Uni is expensive and that what you study may well be what you do for the rest of your life! so think long and hard before you make your decision, and research into it as much as you can (ask your parents for help with the research or even friends, they can help motivate you to think about it thoroughly - but don't let them influence your decision too much)\n\nhope this helped,\nFahed
419089
You could work as a science correspondant, you could be a science writer working as a consultant, you could get a job in sales of science products, you could get any of a number of medical-related degrees such as nursing, pharmacy, etc, physical therapy, laboratory technician, get your MBA and work for a pharmaceutical company, be a science teacher in grade school, high school, or trade school-If you are negating botany or zoology, that leaves most of the other options open, such as microbiology (bacteria), cell biology, genetics, organ-specific studies (neuroscience, cardiac science, etc), become a wildlife specialist...the list is longer, but the options are legion.
1170797
If you are still in high school, you've got plenty of time to explore your options. Some topics you can focus on include virology and infectious processes.\n\n I'd suggest volunteering at the hospital and go from there. Once you get into undergraduate school and start taking some of the restricted electives, you'll find your interests. Right now, talk to some of your science teachers. Or if you have incredible ambition, go to the local college/university and talk to some of the professors, or go out to your community and interview doctors.\n\nGood luck!
281841
1. Graduate. Grit and bear through it, you cant change such in the last one year and you dont want to throw out 3 years worth of work. \n\n2. Find something enjoyable to do for that one year. take a fun course. pottery or photography or differential mathematics, if you like that kind of thing.\n\n3. Your school might have a psychological or counselling service for free. contact them, they can really help\n\n4. The best thing to do once you graduate with a science major when you are throughly confused is go join the peace corps or something like that for a year. go to underpriviledged countries and teach physics or chemistry. see the world, learn how other people survive. It will make u a better person, it will give you enough time to think about what you want to do with the rest of your life. it will give you a chance to give back to the world, for all it gave to you, It will give you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.\n\nPoint 4 is just an idea and not necessarily sound advice, talk to your counsellor first
1091331
Physics, Chemistry, Biology???
722603
honestly! you would make a good science teacher. share your knowledge with the kids, inspire them to learn, love and understand sciences. sharing what you know, making it easy for others to  learn science and inspiring them to become one in the future - you're gonna love it.
704890
Says Dr. Sally K. Ride ...\n\n"The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry, and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut. I think the advice that I would give to any kids who want to be astronauts is to make sure that they realize that NASA is looking for people with a whole variety of backgrounds: they are looking for medical doctors, microbiologists, geologists, physicists, electrical engineers. So find something that you really like and then pursue it as far as you can and NASA is apt to be interested in that profession."
1064560
Hopefully these will help you out :)\n\nhttp://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?p=what+are+the+%22divisions+of+science%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&vc=&x=wrt&meta=vc%3D\n\nhttp://www.heumann.org/u1/branches_and_careers.html
60451
Yes, I have visited.\n\nPhysics is an area of knowledge, so in a way it is similar to other areas - learning to write well, learning to help people, learning to be a lawyer, ... (I don't know what else you could compare this too - lots of things).\n\nGuys seem to be a littl emore attracted to physics because, at least from my point of view, it stems from "how stuff works" mentality, taken further and further into details, eventually mathematical, space, particle theories, etc, etc.\n\nSaying that, one of my top college professors is woman who is a well known particle phycisist at a well known national particle laboratory, investigating and using particle accelerators in oncology, the treatment of cancer.\n\nSo, back to your comment - You are likely smart enough to visit and understand the physics site, but you may not enjoy it, or have the motivation to work to understand physics and learn more.\n\nThen again, you might! Try it.
677436
I am a scientist.  I am trained in hematology, not physics, though I have a good understanding of many principles, and I love exploratory thought processes.  If you want to shoot me a line, I have connections at the Ferme lab in Ohio (if it goes anywhere), and, of course, I'd be personally interested to hear it.\n\nianklansek@yahoo.com
927887
I can't help you with your chemistry, but once you get into the labs it will be mmore intersting.\n\nA degree in general science will get you teaching jobs.  Take a course in teaching methods and get your teaching certificate and you'll be able to teach middle school science and lower level high school science.