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Bioengineering vs Cell Biology - Which is better?

Hi! I'm a first year college student debating switching from cell and molecular biology to Bioengineering with a focus on molecular biology. While Bioengineering will keep me in college for longer, I hope that the major will get me a more competitive job in the future which more matches my interests of researching and developing new biotechnology. To what extent is this true?

spring25 career-path biology college-majors molecular-biology bioengineering cell-biology spring-25
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Karin’s Answer

Hi Varchas,

I think that , somewhat unfortunately, you are correct that a bioengineering degree looks better for industry. Molecular cell biology is expected to have strong job growth as well, though.

I am not sure that it is really necessary to switch your major to bioengineering. You could complete your current bio degree and do your masters and/or PhD in bioengineering or be co-supervised. That way you'd get the best of both worlds.

I would recommend to talk to people in bioengineering and biology, maybe take some classes, with them, and aim for a masters project in bioengneering.

I hope this helps! All the best to you!

KP

Karin recommends the following next steps:

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/field-of-degree/biology/biology-field-of-degree.htm
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm
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