| I was once upon a time a botany hopeful like you when I was 18. My father said be smart and get something sensible like an accounting degree but I had this romantic image in my head that I would be traveling the world like 'MacGyver.' The reality of it was the building where the botany department was housed was a dirty, 100 plus year building that was shared with the chemistry department which was badly in need of a new roof, it leaked every time it rained. Now, that kind of tells you the some funding (or lack of) it had. Now the business department on the other hand was housed in a brand new building all tricked out with the best of everything from grateful alumni with deep pockets. And this was at one of the big ten schools. It was not a romantic major, I was told that with a botany degree in hand I would probably spend my days bent over a microscope in a lab somewhere if I was lucky enough to get a job in the first place. So I ended up changing majors junior year and finishing with a different degree. Later on I took a 2 year horticulture degree from a junior college. Fortunately I had so many credits already that I was able to finish in only 2 semesters. It was a lot cheaper and more practical. And they were by no means in a category that I would term as well to do. But as Laag mentions, there still weren't alot of good paying job opportunities. The only folks making pretty good money seemed to be those who owned (not worked for) design/build firms. But they were by no means exactly well to do either but just making a respectable living instead of eeking by on minimum wage. | 
