[quote=walterwhite]so, if you were a kid starting college interested in science and engineering, is there any particular school or area of study that seems particularly attractive nowadays?[/quote]
With the incredible advances in microbiology and genetics, and the advances in computers and instrumentation over the past 30 years (hey, the baby boomers did some things right), there has never been a more exciting and challenging time for a high school kid to be starting a career in the sciences. Here are some of my recommendations:
* Medicine, particularly infectious disease, epidemiology, public health
* Informatics (incl. public health informatics, clinical research informatics, and translational bioinformatics)
–The link below is for the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). If you look to the left of the page, you’ll see links to the various areas of informatics. http://www.amia.org/about-amia/science-informatics
Below is the website for The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), which is kind of an umbrella advocacy organization for researchers in the biological and biomedical sciences. The link opens to a page of the professional societies they cover; each of those links should be a good place for you and your kid to gather info on possible career choices. http://www.faseb.org/Who-We-Are/Constituent-Societies.aspx
If your child has worked hard and has very impressive academic records and SAT results, and money is not a huge problem, have him/her apply to Ivy League or private schools that have strong science reps (e.g., Duke, Johns Hopkins, Stanford). He can probably earn scholarships, and many of these schools are well-endowed and provide a LOT of aid.
If money is a problem, there are many very fine state schools with great science programs (Univ. of Michigan, Ohio State, UNC-Chapel Hill, UCLA, UC Berkley). Very competitive, so grades/record will have to be excellent.
If both money and grades are a problem, try a wide range of state schools, or else send him to a GOOD community college for two years to get the grades up. Keep in mind that, in many of these jobs, postgrad education is a virtual certainty. So there is time to get those grades up after high school if necessary. Plenty of mediocre H.S. students end up in Ivys for their graduate science studies. Also, many graduate science programs carry stipends for teaching that can cover tuition and room/board. So look for schools/career choices that are more likely to offer that.
If your child is not fluent in at least one foreign language (or even if he/she is), I’d recommend language courses in all four years (in all 8 semesters, if possible). Think about the possibility of Chinese. I may get my ass kicked by some, but more and more of the significant research is done overseas, in Europe and in Asia. While our esteemed all-wise congress has sweated over creating a favorable atmosphere for corporations, they’ve basically told science to go to hell by slashing budget after budget for research and education assistance, and by “reforming” education with programs like “No Student Left Behind” that teach students to pass nonchallenging standardized tests rather than teaching them to think. Unless there is a drastic and immediate change in attitude by our congress and our political “leaders”, your child will have to seek a postgraduate job overseas.
