[damiencmv920]

Hey everyone. I just signed up on these forums. My names Damien and I am from NYC. I took chemistry in high school but goofed off and really didn't pay any attention. Now it's time to go to college and time to decide what I want to do with my life. I have always been interested in chemistry. I decided I'm going to go to school for chemistry but over the summer I would kind of like to get a edge on everyone. I found this old text book "Chemistry" (by John McMurry and Robert C. Fay) and am going to try and get through the entire text book over the summer and do my best to comprehend it all (Although I did take chemistry I don't remember anything ). After I get through all this I would like to pursue a career in Organic Chemistry and was wondering what some of the job opportunity's are in that field and how the pay is  . Thanks and you will all be seeing me lurking around here.

EDIT: Im sorry it seems I put this in the "General Chemistry" Section, I meant to post it in general section

[Mitch]

McMurry will be a really good book to read through before you start classes. Smart move.

[enahs]

I take the approach that when you are learning information like this, it is best to learn it before you learn it.

That is, it is not easy to first be introduced to new words and concepts, and at the same time learn the more detailed and advanced aspects of them.
I would recommend you start with something like this:
Cartoon Guide to Chemistry
It is an easy read. You can complete it in a a couple of days.

This gives you a quick introduction on topics and gets you familiar with them. Then when you read the more detailed Chemistry book, you will be covering many things a second time but more advanced.

At least for me, that method works better for me. And it is always good to look at concepts from two different perspectives. I personally learn better that way.


The pay for a degree in chemistry is typically the top in any "hard science" fields at a bachelors level. But at a bachelors level expect to be doing quality control or regulatory work.

[SM30]

I have a B.S. in chemistry and currently work in organic chemistry. Depending on where you end up living many of the job opportunities would be QA/QC stuff or research associate level in med chem. There are jobs in agro, fuels and mat sci, but those are less organic chem intensive. The classical job market for an organic chemist (mainly phd) in the next 5 years is not likely to be good (especially in pharma) as many people are outsourcing and slaughtering their workforce. Make sure you really really like chemistry if you want to end up doing it for a lifetime. The pay isn't great (you shouldnt expect it to be). You end up with 50-60K starting. The pay raises for a PhD, but you actually have to get the phd and the job market is worse. You also have far more responsibility.