With a 4 year undergrad degree in biology; truthfully; you are suited to do little else than research. IMHO the biology degree is a jumping off point. It’s for pre-med or pre-dental or ugh pre-teacher (sorry lasses, luv you teachers). I have worked at one of the top five biomedical research centers for the past twelve years. We/they hire people with 4 year biology degrees by the truckload.

With fairly descent grades you will have no problem securing employment. Pay for the starter is ~35K/year. There is a promotions ladder where you jump up in pay quickly so don’t be discouraged about the teacher sized starting pay (again I think teachers are grand).

What else can I tell ya . . . Oh yeah, don’t quit after your undergrad, keep at it. Get you MS and PhD. You can work through you MS and your PhD over several years. What’s the payoff? You direct your own research rather than schlep other Investigator’s projects. By the way that’s what they are called in the business of research, “Primary Investigators”. With a four year degree you’re called Bob or Ted or Alice or in your case “hey you” cause you don’t have a name 🙂

The garden variety P.I. You’ll drive a nice (really, very nice to you unless you come from money. Do you come from money? No of course not, you can’t even afford an avatar )car and get your own parking spot in the best part of the garage with a big’ol plaque that says, stay the hell out of my parking spot because this is a big shot’s spot. What it does not say is that you are up stairs in your labs directing important research to save the planet but it need not because everyone knows that simply because you have the bloody parking plaque (see how it works).

But I digress, a four year degree in biology will certainly get you in the door. Note* Study your butt off. Grades mean a lot. What you know means more. How you use it can take you as far as only you can imagine.

That said, there are incredible (and well-paid) opportunities in biological research- bioinformatics, genetics, microbiology, biotech, cellular pathology, biological psychology, etc. By all means get a bachelor’s in biology (or biochemistry) and go on to grad school and a research career. Good luck…