Post #35034 by stentiki on Tue, May 20, 2003 11:39 AM

On 2003-05-19 23:54, Humuhumu wrote:
I'm afraid that my salary wouldn't be high enough to pay the rent and the tiki habit if I stay in academia, so I'm looking at industry. Despite the low pay, I was thinking about looking at Caltech -- You don't happen to know of any really small biotech start-ups in the LA area?

Hey Humu,

I'm not sure of what part of academia you are in (research?) but being in the academic arena myself, I know that the faculty at Cal Tech are very well paid, probably at the top of the scale. Being a lowly administrator myself, I am amazed at the salaries some our professors command. That, combined with summers off, makes for a very nice life. I am not well schooled in Bio-Tech field but the college consortium I work for recently founded a new grad institute for applied life sciences.

I live in HB and commute about an hour to work everyday. Believe me, it's worth it! We live within walking/biking distance to the ocean and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Despite it's small town feel, HB is a large city but was recently ranked as the #9 safest large city in the U.S. That, combined with great weather, surf, sand and Tiki make it an awesome place to dwell. There are still some affordable places in HB (at least in my neighborhood) but they are going fast and rapidly increasing in value. A great investment at least, if you have the means.

BTW, I went to grad school in Northern Cal and I loved it, but the beaches are much different there, with the exception of Santa Cruz. I missed to the So Cal lifestyle and was glad to return.

Anyhoo, good luck with your decision and drop me a line if I can be of further help to you.

P.S. Melintur, sorry to break the news to you, but the only thing that 'sucks' is your attitude.