

Ask HN: So I've finished College. Now what? - buckwild

So first off, let me introduce myself. My name is Nik and I am soon going to complete a bachelors degree in biotechnology (bioinformatics). I am trying to decide what to do next in my life. The choices I am trying to choose between are (1) Going to graduate school, (2) going to work in the industry, (3) do a start-up.<p>So far, people have been encouraging me to go to graduate school but given the mass budget cuts to the california budget issues, its become very competitive and I am not even sure if I will be able to get into a grad program at the university I am graduating from.<p>I have lots of work and internship experience, but I am not sure if there are many positions opening up for BS degrees in the biotech industry (seems to be dominated by Phd, Md, and MBA from what I've experienced). Even if I do manage to secure a job, people tell me it will be difficult to get myself to get back into school.<p>A few of my friends and I have a few ideas for a biotechy web start-up, but we haven't taken the time to plan or put anything into action.<p>I've been reading the articles posted here and going through the user profiles of people. You seem like an intelligent group of folks. This is exactly why I am posting this question here, because I am sure there are other readers out there (registered or not), who are pondering similar questions.<p>So in YOUR opinion, HN, what do you think I should do and why?
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menloparkbum
If you want to stay in biotech you should go to graduate school. The entry
level bioinformatics jobs available to someone with an undergraduate degree
are really lame. I know this because I have done them.

A startup with your friends would be the most fun. However I think a lot of
money in biotech still comes from grants and pharmas so you might want a grad
degree or someone with a grad degree in your startup.

~~~
buckwild
Can you be more specific as to what you mean when you say lame? Do you mean
that I'll basically end up being the guy who does all of the boring-routine
work and won't be able to use my creativity or something? Or are you referring
to the scandalously low, poverty-like wage companies try to force us into. One
company I worked for paid me $10 an hour as an 'intern', but gave my peers
(who had just graduated and were really no more experienced than me other than
a degree) something around $25-$30.

I ask because at this point I feel like an industry day job is a very possible
option.

~~~
menloparkbum
In my experience it was a lot of java infrastructure work that was very far
removed from biology. It was the same sort of thing that one would do at a
bank or insurance company.

The pay was fine, but lower than other industries. I think this is because of
the high percentage of academics in the field. PhDs in the sciences have
worked for $17,000 a year for so long that $60,000 a year seems like a king's
ransom.

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paraschopra
In Biotech or Bioinfo industry, real work is done only by PhD or Masters. So,
if you want to enter the industry, go to graduate school.

I am not sure how easy would it be to start a biotech startup at your stage
because biotech startups require a lot of funding to get started. However, you
can always start a bioinformatics startup which is akin the web/software
startups. But even with Bioinfo startups, it is hard to monetize because the
culture of open source bioinfo tools is quite prevelant in academia and
industry.

~~~
menloparkbum
_But even with Bioinfo startups, it is hard to monetize because the culture of
open source bioinfo tools is quite prevelant in academia and industry._

I actually think it's harder to monetize because you have so few customers. If
you make a bioinformatics tool, there's probably a few hundred potential
companies that may need it, and probably only a few dozen of them are actually
interested. Thus many of the tools become grant-funded open source projects
because there's hardly anyone to sell to in the first place.

23andMe is interesting because they are the only bioinformatics startup I've
heard of that also sells to consumers.

~~~
buckwild
Yeah, I kind of felt the same way. One would have a hard time selling
bioinformatics. One would have a much easier time selling information derived
from bioinformatics. A very important point to be made indeed, especially
since most of the bioinformatics packages and software I use are free (and I
would love to keep it that way!). In fact, the open source community is vital
to the field; otherwise everyone would just keep having to re-invent the
wheel.

Just to keep everyone up to date, I talked to a few professors this afternoon
about grad school. The condensed version of what they said is that given my
major, I can choose to research in a field that applies bioinformatics (i.e.
evolution, molecular biology, etc), or I can study bioinformatics itself
(making better tools, optimizing algorithms, etc).

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biohacker42
Both graduate school and a startup are good ideas.

This being the worst economy since 1930, graduate school may be the way to go.

You can also do both at same time.

~~~
buckwild
The only predicament I have about applying to grad school is that I am afraid
my GPA is not very competitive. It is past the minimal requirements, but I am
afraid its not enough (seeing that I've been rejected from a few schools
already). My GREs are average/above average. Nothing spectacular though. I
have great relationships with my professors, but it doesn't seem like
recommendation letters are doing any good. Another thing is that I am already
going to a university which has a good reputation, and if I go to grad school
it will probably be something a little less prestigious. Given that tidbit of
info -- if I get into the industry now, I may be better off than if I did down
the line with a graduate degree (from a mediocre school). Plus, I may be able
to get into the schools I've been rejected from within the next two years
(given I have 2 years of industry experience...I hope).

I don't mean to come off as looking down on your suggestion. I'm just playing
the devils advocate here. Personally, I find I can better analyze things that
way.

Thanks to all of you who have replied so far, I really appreciate the help.

~~~
jaspertheghost
The issue is your field. If you just had a B.S. and you were doing computer
science, I'd say go for startups, but the barriers to entry for biotech firms
are much higher. Typically they fund professors and Ph.D's and not undergrads.

~~~
buckwild
Well, if I did go forward with the start-up, I know I'd be able to get PhDs on
board (mostly because I am best friends with a few). I'd be happy to do so if
it guaranteed funding (I know, but then again, a start-up can never expect to
get guaranteed funding). But then again, a lot depends on the product one is
trying to sell and the way its pitched, right?

------
tocomment
What are your ideas for a biotech startup? I've always wanted to do one of
those but I don't know any biotechnology. The community here will tell you to
do the startup.

~~~
buckwild
Well, I don't want to give too much away, but I suppose I can humor you guys
:-D. I think it may be more of a web start-up than a biotech start-up to be
honest. It's a web start-up with a biotech foundation, if you will. We are
basically taking our knowledge of genetics, (insert mass biotech-major
curriculum here), and bioinformatics to people via the internet. It'll be full
of cool stuff that joe the plumber will be interested, if not curious, in
knowing. The only issue is that we haven't found a way to make any sort of
income off of this yet without inconveniencing potential users :-(, which is
one of the main reasons we have yet to put the wheels into motion on this
project. I'm afraid we have only minimal business experience.

~~~
tocomment
How about something with genes and chemicals? maybe an improved crop plant? I
wish I knew how to do that.

~~~
buckwild
We could do something with genes, chemicals, and crops, but there are a lot of
obstacles (more than we'd like to deal with). The main issue (for me at least)
is the mass amount of time and research it will take to work with that sort of
science. We could do it, but in my opinion I may as well go to grad school
because I'd probably be doing the same sort of research anyway (but getting a
Phd at the end of it).

Plus, people are only now coming around to not looking at GMO foods as alien-
mutant-degenerate crops. Europe is still very much against it.

My current job is to take the sorghum and maize genome and to analyze the
genes (basically figuring out which genes they share, when they diverged, and
how that can be applied to improving their yield).

~~~
tocomment
wow, that sounds really fascinating. computer science may have been the wrong
major for me :-(

