College "this or that" question... why not ask TB?!

[Din Of Win]

So,

I've been in and out of college numerous times over the past 10 years since graduating high school. Most of it has been in community college, with a stint or two at the University of Maryland, and i've garnered 2 AA degrees and a few various scholorship-worthy awards. Anywho, I started as a Physics major, but had a TERRIBLE teacher, so i dropped out, hitch-hiked/train-hopped the country and joined a band, which spent a few years touring. I then went back to school for Ecology. While i LOVE the subject (i even spent a summer in Niceragua studying/teaching local farmers about sustainable agriculture), the politics got to be too much of a headache. Finally, and most recently, i have myself steered in the direction to (finally) get a BS in Linguistics.


Now, i have a great job, that i love, working for a Clinical Research organization as a Clinical Data Manager. I work with lots of numbers, and spend most of my time developing data collection databases for drug trials. I've discovered that one of the more "in demand" possitions is for a Bio-Statistician. So, my head-wheels are 'a turnin'.

...do i finish the 3 semesters and get a degree in Linguistics (which i think would be helpful across the board)?

...'start over' and persue an Applied Statistics degree, with the thought of furthering my education to a Bio-statistics degree? Which would also set me up, if i end up hating the CRO biz., to go BACK to my love of Ecology, and get a more-or-less politic-free degree in Population Biology.

...eff skool. plae moar basz?

...open up a martial arts school (of which i'm a 20 year martial art student), with NO experience in opening a buisiness, other than knowing i'm a good teacher?

...carrot farmer?



This may just be more of a rant... but hey... TB OT, right? There are BOUND to be Bio-Statisticians, Linguists, Population Biologists, and Dojo Owners on here that could lend some insight, right?

I'm gonna chock most of this up to the fact that i'm a year away from turning 30, and it's got me all kinds of "Life"/"Big Picture" thinking.

[MJ5150]

Open the martial arts school, or go back to Nicaragua.

-Mike

[Vorago]

Skip the Linguistics, won't get you anywhere unless you PhD and want to do research, or specialize in computerlinguistics & develop a program that answers customer emails automatically.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I don't think you get good Physics teachers, if they are a good physicist, they probably have social problems

[hrodbert696]

I'm not following the benefit of the degree in linguistics, unless you mean the general advantages of having a BA of any sort. I suppose if you're thinking of going back to Nicaragua and there are native languages other than Spanish, you could work on getting a grammar done of them and start the translation process. If the next step for your career is toward statistics, yes, start over and do the statistics degree.

Martial Arts studio I do NOT think is a good idea in the current economy. That is the kind of thing that is very dependent on families being willing and able to pay for their kids to take lessons, and when everybody is budget-conscious, the kind of thing that families cut first.

And yes, no matter what else you do, of COURSE play more bass.

[Munjibunga]

Applied statistics.

Note: from the letters of this, you can spell the one-word advice Mr. Robinson gave Benjamin Braddock: "Plastics." It's got to mean something.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Din Of Win

Anywho, I started as a Physics major, but had a TERRIBLE teacher, so i dropped out, hitch-hiked/train-hopped the country and joined a band, which spent a few years touring.

I mean, what else could you do?

[SoonerMatt]

Drop linguistics, go statistics.

[jp58]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

I don't think you get good Physics teachers, if they are a good physicist, they probably have social problems

Very true. Every physics major I've ever talked to was a nut. The professor I had talked to herself and talked about herself in the third person.

[Tsal]

Statistics is always in need with biological fields. Most biologists I know are very no-no on maths - that's why they are biologists and not mathematicians! Starts to be a valuable skill in biological/medical lab research as well, since you see more computerized quantification methods all the time. I'm a biochem/physiology major, and at the moment am trying to learn some bioinformatics related fields (read: statistics and computer science) on my spare time, just to be able to handle future lab work better.

[Lazarus.Bird]

My vote is for whatever puts you in the least amount of debt

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by jp58

Very true. Every physics major I've ever talked to was a nut. The professor I had talked to herself and talked about herself in the third person.

One of the lecturers here does that, he talks about himself in the 3rd person when he talks about previous work he did, or in the first person when at the current institute!

There's another one which can happily talk away then walk out of the lecture theatre mid-sentence!

Originally Posted by Tsal

Statistics is always in need with biological fields. Most biologists I know are very no-no on maths - that's why they are biologists and not mathematicians! Starts to be a valuable skill in biological/medical lab research as well, since you see more computerized quantification methods all the time. I'm a biochem/physiology major, and at the moment am trying to learn some bioinformatics related fields (read: statistics and computer science) on my spare time, just to be able to handle future lab work better.

Interesting, my BSc(hons) in Biochem had a lot of stats work (a lot of bioinformatics work too), as well as some other maths for calculating tertiary protein structures (ramachandran plots).

I will agree that stats are important, which is why I'm surprised they aren't big in some bio-degrees!

[Lazarus.Bird]

Also Din, it sounds like you have several options that would make you very happy in life, which I think is more than some could say! I'm only 25 but I don't dread turning 30. Isn't that supposed to be the point in your life when you are experienced and wise enough that you can live your life to its potential? Look at it that way!

[KJung]

There are many opportunities for someone with a background in applied statistics. It is a great field, especially if you can combine it with additional training in a complementary field (business, environmental science, political science, social work, etc.).

In my case, I combined undergraduate degrees in Business and Experimental Psychology (emphasis in experimental design/statistical analysis), Master's work in Psychology and Business, and eventually a doctoral education in Psychometrics (as my emphasis area within an Industrial Psychology program). After a stint in what was basically a post doc position in biostatistics, I jumped into the business world in market research.

I left the corporate world about 20 years ago (I am reaching the end of both my playing and consulting career), and started a marketing oriented statistical consulting company that is still going strong! It has been a wonderful ride, and there are still massive opportunities out there for someone with data base management skills, a good knowledge of statistics at the applied level, and some sort of business background (or other additional experience) that allows you to focus on solving problems with data. My primary consulting work involves everything from site location modeling, new product testing, advertising evaluation, customer and employee satisfaction, etc. in a wide variety of categories ranging from medical devices to high tech hardware to package goods to durable goods.

A secondary emphasis is key to have along with the applied stats background. Become an expert in data base management, for example. If you have a 'hook' (in my case a business background combined with a reasonable heavy duty quant background), good things start to happen.

Hope that gives you at least an example of someone who has gone down the path your are considering.

Good luck!

[warnergt]

Would the statistics degree help you get a bio-statistician job at
your current employer?

If you've got your foot in the door toward this job, you should
definitely get the degree and capitalize on your situation.

[IconBasser]

Most fields require work with statistics at some level. Hell, you could even go work for national governments with a statistics degree. It's a good field to get into if you can hack it.

[jp58]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

I will agree that stats are important, which is why I'm surprised they aren't big in some bio-degrees!

I'm one algebra class short of having a stats minor, but they aren't required for degrees around here.

I just figured it made more sense to look into it with all the statistics we have to use in our lab reports. Well, I take that back, we don't "have" to use them, but I my reports constantly get better grades when I incorporate some kind of stats, even if it is just chi-squares or hypothesis testing.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

It really is used in (nearly) all aspects of biology.

Heck, even though I do completelly different research now (Biophotonics), we still use statistical studies a lot!

[Din Of Win]

Thanks so much for the replies, everyone!

I treated my CRO's Biostatistician to lunch yesterday to talk about the Biostats field. He was very excited that i expressed interest in it, and even thinks that since it's so 'in demand' for CROs to have good Biostatisticans, that he'll talk to our company President to see if they might be able to assist with some financial aid.

So, i dusted my old Ti-83+ calculator lastnight and zipped an e-mail to UMBC's Math and Statistic department to set up a face-to-face and plot out a course for me.

I'm excited. Trajectory is nice



@Lazerus - I'm not dreading 30 really... it's more like one of those "red flag" kinda things. I feel like i need to have A B and C in order as i pass X... X being the age of 30. I blame it on my Highschool's 10 year reunion earlier this year. It's hard not to play the 'compairing game'. I'm not in a bad state by ANY means. I'm VERY happy with how my life's gone and the descisions i've made. It just doesn't hurt to plan for the future

@i_got_a_mohawk - Haha, it's funny: MY mohawk was the lightning rod to 'that' Physics professor's jerky-ness. I had the look of a quintessential crusty punk... dread-hawk, patchy pants, shirts with the sleeves cut off, tattoos, piercings... she would INSESSENTLY bring up how i didn't "look" like a physicist and that i should persue an "artsy fartsy degree". It was to the point that she would openly mock me in class. It just sucked. Oh well... i got to experience a ton of neat stuff thanks to her ignorance.

[Tat2dHeart]

Statisticians rawk! Go for that Stats degree. Even if you decide to change from a science focused stats to something else - statistics are everywhere!