Meme9230

Thank you for your reply. I think that I am going to stick with the 2nd bachelors degree for now. I will probably defer graduate school if I can or decline admission if I can't. The chemistry program also offers opportunities for undergraduate research, so I will probably look into that. I will also be looking for internships and temp lab technician positions in my area as I'm completing my second degree.

Okay, thank you for providing me with your input. It is appreciated. I am going to look into some PharmD programs and see what they have to offer. I have also been searching for potential positions and seeing what their requirements are, and I think that sometimes it just depends on the company. Most of them are looking for a bachelor's in a science field, but some say that a master of science is either preferred or a plus. I will continue to search, but for now I am leaning towards putting the MS on hold and getting the 2nd bachelor's since classes for that program start next week.

The degree that I will be getting by doing the master's program is a Master of Science in Pharmaceutics. I am not trying to become a pharmacist, so I am not looking into PharmD programs. My interest is actually in cosmetic science. I do understand the importance on hands-on experience with this field which is why I am skeptical about starting a graduate program which is completely online. The on campus program is actually located in NY, though. I'm live in the south which is why I was interested in the online program or maybe a hybrid program to get hands-on experience. There are only a handful of programs tailored towards this field, and most of them are online or hybrid programs. Some are full on campus as well. However, I think that most of the people that go through these programs either already have a science bachelor's degree or have experience working in the field.

I understand what you are saying, completely. However, the MS program is fairly new in comparison to the on campus program, and it is completely online. So, I feel like since I already lack experience, I also will be missing out on some hands-on experience. I have already taken chemistry through organic chemistry, and I have taken a number or biology courses that have included labs. So, I have some lab experience, but I don't know if it will be enough to get the job that I want after completing the program. I know that there are always internships as well, but I don't know if the graduate degree would give me a better chance at an internship to gain hands-on experience than the 2nd bachelor's in chemistry. Also, the bachelor's degree is cheaper and can probably be finished in the same amount of time as the master's depending on how many classes I take a semester in either program.

I was accepted into graduate school for MS in Pharmaceutics with a specialization in Cosmetic Science in the spring. I could not attend due to the fact that I was completing a prerequisite course and working in the evening part-time which conflicted with my grad school classes. I decided to defer admission for a semester. I am supposed to be beginning in September. However, since deferring the program, I have decided that a second bachelor's in chemistry (BA) may be a better and more cost effective choice (my first bachelor's is in psychology), so I declared a major as a post-bacc student at the university where I was taking grad school prerequisites. I have already talked to the grad school about this, but I have not asked about deferring again because I would be done with the second bachelor's in December 2020, so I would have to wait until Spring of 2021 to begin graduate school which means I may have to reapply. I would like to break into the cosmetic industry and ultimately become a cosmetic formulator and a science degree is a requirement. I currently have no experience in the field. Would it be smart to defer or decline admission to grad school and get the second bachelor's first so I can try to gain lab/work experience for a bit before grad school, or should I just go with the master's program? I have also played with the idea of possible taking a few grad school classes while getting my second degree, but that will require me to take out more student loans.