cj85kr

Thank you for all of the feedback! I know there are some tech-level positions available at the baccalaureate level, but I wonder how easy they are to come by these days with the state of the economy. And moreover, even if I found one that I really liked, I wonder if I would still end up going back to school anyways just to be able to move up in the industry. I know that I will have many more options holding a PhD, but I just can't help but cringe at the thought of being perpetually overworked, underpaid, and extremely stressed for 5-7 years. I know everyone's grad school experience is different, but it really doesn't ease my mind when all I've ever heard are horror stories

Just hoping to get some feedback from current students and applicants. I graduated with a BS (bio major) in 2010 and since have been working full time while "figuring out" what I want to do next. I've always been an inquisitive person and have been working in a lab environment for over 4 years now, one of which was spent at the NIH. I am currently in the process of applying to grad school (interdisciplinary bio PhD programs), and feel that I have a strong application, but my heart still isn't set on it. A PhD just seems like such a long, grueling ordeal from all of the horror stories that I have heard, but I feel that unless I want to spend my entire career as a tech performing menial benchwork, it's my only option. I don't think I want to become a PI or go the academia route, so I guess a PhD isn't "necessary," but I think that I'm quickly approaching a glass ceiling with just my BS. I'm not even sure that I want to be at the bench forever. Anyone have any thoughts to share? What are my options without a PhD? What other doors will I open with a PhD outside of research?