Let me rephrase that my position goes toward bachelor-level degrees. Once you've moved beyond into a masters program, you are dealing far more with specific skills. So doctors, lawyers, CPAs, and other professionals where an M-level degree is required... they're beyond this. The purpose of their B-level degree is to show the M-level program that they can be trained.
And I say this knowing (believing?) that the *real* requirement for lawyers is to be able to pass the bar exams... and that some folks who have never had formal lawyer training in school can and indeed do pass the bar exam.
I have seen (and worked with) both kinds of people -- those who have taken their B-level degrees and made a career out of it, and those who have used it as a stepping stone. My wife falls into the first group -- she got her degree (in social work), so in her mind, if she didn't get a job in social work, her college years were wasted. I fall into the second group -- I learned things, and I continue to learn things. And this continues to take me to new places.
I guess one of the things to consider is how often people *really* know what they want to do for the rest of their lives when they're in college. I know I didn't (although I had some ideas). In the years since then, I've done quite a few things, and I think my list of "what I want to be when I grow up" is getting smaller.
Please don't consider my remarks to be disparaging toward those who do know what they want to be when they're going through college. In fact, I believe my comments support them :
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So Larry, my suggestion to you would be to figure out what you'd like to be doing in five or ten years, and pick courses that support it. honest!
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If you do know what you want to do, then get more learning that helps you get there. If you don't, get more learning in things that interest you. You never know what they might lead to.
And for reference, one of the computer consultants I mentioned did indeed investigate a career early on in the same general field as you mention (toxicology / infectious diseases... I forget which, exactly). He decided he didn't like it enough to deal with the long-term impacts, so he came over to computers.
Hmmm... perhaps "computers" is really the new McDonald's..... the repository for everyone who can't get a job anywhere else [img]smile.gif[/img]