I'll tell you some of my interests. I like math, science, video games, and computers.t like it.

Sounds to me like you already got a degree in bein a dork heh J/P

Computer/Game/Etc. fieldsI was recently thinking about becoming a game programmer. How would this work out? What exactly do I need to go to school for, what kind of code do I need to study, stuff like that. A game programmer seems like it would be the best thing as far as actual programming goes. Though, I'd probably like to program any kind of software.

I'm starting at a community college, then I'll transfer after 2 years here. Any suggestions on what to study/major in to become a programmer would be greatly appreciated.

If you want to be a game programmer then do yourself a favour and don't go after a Game Design course or whatever, just do straight computer science. You'd learn everything you'd need to try and break into the industry notjust a Gaems subset that nobody will take seriously.

I can't recommend what to major/minor in to get into university for it though because I dont understand how your college system works at all

jesus christ man 10-13 years in pharmacology that you might end up hating? idk if you wanna go into that!

Pharmacy- My original intention was to become a pharmacist, but now that I think about it, I don't think the job would be very enjoyable to me. Plus, that seems like a long time to go to school. 4 years for a bachelors, 4 years to get PharmD, then 2-3 residency training.

Well, I'm currently in year 3 out of 4 of my Pharmacy degree, so I can comment about this choice.

What recently made you think that the job wouldn't be very enjoyable for you?

I don't know where you live, but at least here in Canada you don't have to go to school for as long as you just described. Here you need at least one year of general sciences courses at the university level before you can apply. That's it. Some people choose to finish their degree before they go into pharmacy, but there are quite a few people who just go into the programme with a single year of sciences. (That's what I did. Of course, the application process is very competitive and you have a greater chance of getting in with a prior degree and more school experience but if you got good grades during your first year of university and you can express yourself well during the interview process there's no reason why you can't get in.) The pharmacy degree itself is 4 years, so in total the minimum time you'll spend in school is 5 years.

Here you don't need a PharmD to practice pharmacy. All it takes is a BSc Pharm. to be a community pharmacist. Some do choose to get a PharmD in order to have greater knowledge and perhaps specialize in a certain area of medicine or to be able to teach pharmacy students but the grand majority of practicing pharmacists only have a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy and perhaps their original degree if that's what they chose to do beforehand.

The 2-3 residency training only applies to hospital positions I believe.

So yeah, I guess it mainly depends on which direction you want to go with after you get a pharmacy degree. If you just want to do community then 5 years is all you need to do. If you want to go into hospital then there is more training that the hospital itself will make you undergo. If you want to teach or go into pharmaceutical research then you'll need a PharmD.

From what you've written it seems like you're leaning towards hospital. Is that right?

For some reason I don't have much interest there and I'm definetely leaning towards community. There's more patient interaction, a normal work schedule, and great salary. I found the hospital pharmacists were either stuck in the basement of the hospital pharmacy checking scripts (ugh boring) or being out on the floors doing clinical rounds and seeing patients (much more fulfilling). The advantage of being in the hospital is that you'll really know your stuff and get to see a lot more variety in cases, but the down side with it is that you'll never form any long lasting relationships with your patients. Once they're discharged that's it. Of course, there are quite a couple of hospital pharmacists who do a community shift or two on the side for variety.

There's a lot you can do with a pharmacy degree. I think it's quite worth it myself!

jesus christ man 10-13 years in pharmacology that you might end up hating? idk if you wanna go into that!

Pharmacy =/= Pharmacology

Pharmacology is more chemistry-oriented in that you learn about drugs and how they work. Pharmacy you do cover that (but in much less detail) but in the end of your degree you can work in a pharmacy setting and dispense drugs. You can't do that with pharmacology. One's a theoretical degree (pharmacology) whereas the other one (pharmacy) is more practical as it directly enables you to get a job in the pharmacy world.

yeah what mateui said, I know at least one friend getting a pharmacy degree and he never mentioned it being as long as med school. are you sure you have those numbers right?

yeah my cousin is in pharmacy school (apparently around these parts the cool thing for polish people kids to do is become PHARMACISTS) and she's in a 6-year program that gets her a bachelors and masters all at once. I'm not sure if that includes residency, but I dont think she mentioned needing to do that.

wait you live in NC? whereabouts?

you coulda said what city/town dogg I'm not going to fuckin duplin county any time soon so. I'm in Cary which is next door to Raleigh, where Campbell opened their new law school, so I recognized it.

I used to want to study pharmacy, and was took about half a years worth of biochem classes that would prepare me for pharmacy school.... but consider the following: Sure you'll get paid a lot, but do you really want to go through all that shit just so you can work in the back of a Rite-Aid?

A family friend who's a pharmacist turned chiropractor told me that over a beer

all I have to say is: Self Prescription


that is all

all I have to say is: Self Prescription


that is all

physicians write prescriptions not pharmacists* 



* in most statesin the US

oh my bad, I know that but what I meant was:

Self filling your own made up prescriptions

Engineering can be very interesting but you'll need to get specific, chemical engineering ain't the same as electrical engineering

Computer/Game/Etc. fieldsI was recently thinking about becoming a game programmer. How would this work out?

it probably won't. You need to have a much deeper interest in computers and how they function to be a decent programmer rather than want to make little games. Almost everyone I knew studying computer science switched their major to IT about halfway through because they got in way over their heads and were just not interested in a lot of the stuff that you've gotta learn to get a CS degree.

yeah a lot of them have no drafting at all. unless you mean CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS.

Man if you're interested in mechanical engineering and want to travel the world while making BIG BUX you could look into the merchant marines.

I don't know if its the same engineering you're talking about but you can go to an academy or a college I don't know if NC has a nautical engineering program but I'm most definitely sure Virginia does. A few years college will get you your 3rd engineer's license and you could be making up about 80k and from there it only gets better.

Or you could start out as entry level in the engine dept and work your way up to an engineer. It'll take a few years but you won't have to go to college and you can start working after a few months (still making good wages).

You might totally not be into this kind of thing, but I'm just throwin it out there incase you've got an interest


EDIT: I forgot to mention that you'd be making 80k and only working about 6-8 months out of the year