A major in engineering or physics? (undergrad)

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Hi, right now I am a High School Student heading to college next year. Because I didn't apply to as many schools as I would have liked to, I only have the options of going to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Boston University, or UMass Amherst, though I am seriously considering transferring to a different school after my first year. Both Boston University and UMass Amherst have fairly large physics departments, though neither are particularly distinguished. WPI is known more for its engineering from what I can tell.</p>

<p>Anyway, I am currently in AP Physics and AB Calculus (and AP Statistics, if that helps), and am doing fairly well in both. I am very interested in Physics, and I enjoy tying together the material learned in both Calculus and Physics to solve problems. I have been somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of disciplines of engineering, and right now I am leaning toward a major in physics. I suppose if I were to tell you what I was specifically interested in, it would be things involving space travel or planetary exploration (life on other planets has always been a fascination of mine, though if anything I suppose that would be a biology thing.) I am also interested in what little I have seen of theoretical physics, though I have hardly had any experience with things like String Theory apart from watching discovery channel movies on it.</p>

<p>Advice from others, as well as some research online, has led me to believe that while a physics major is useful, more often than not physics majors end up in careers involving engineering. I have also been encouraged to do graduate studies in more practical disciplines than physics, which makes sense to me.</p>

<p>However, as an undergrad, would majoring in physics be at all practical? I have also heard of a major called Engineering Physics, which seems to combine the best of both worlds into one major. However, I have heard that it requires a significant amount of work (some have said I would graduate in 5 years with this major). I do not mind putting in the extra work if its worth it, but will this major really help me, or would I just be killing myself even more for nothing?</p>

<p>TL:DR Is it practical to get a major in physics in today's world, or would a major in engineering be a better decision?</p>

<p>P.S on an unrelated note, can anyone tell me more about what Computer Science is, and what kind of careers that major would entail?</p>

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<p>Engineering degrees are essentially applied physics degrees. My personal opinion is that for an undergraduate degree, an engineering degree will be more marketable than a physics or engineering physics degree because it will qualify you for a wider range of jobs.</p>

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<p>I would say that a physics degree qualifies you for a wider range of jobs, but that an engineering degree makes you much more attractive for a certain class of very good jobs (engineering jobs). Generally speaking, if you want to go physics and really do physics, graduate school will be required.</p>

<p>Computer science deals with theory and practice of computing. Most jobs in industry deal with the production of software. It’s pretty fun and job opportunities are good. Good for engineering, too.</p>

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<p>I think you can do pretty well with an engineering physics degree. Yes, the major is hard and super-hard if you take it at Cornell where you only get 6 credits of electives (Yikes!).</p>

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<p>AMT, why do you say that a BS in physics qualifies you for a wider range of jobs? I disagree with this. I would consider mechanical engineering and physics to be closely related but I think there is a much wider range of jobs for ME graduates than for physics grads. I know there is overlap between the two degrees but in my opinion, for undergrad, the engineering degree will provide more options. That is not to say that someone with a BS in physics couldn’t be hired into an engineering type of position, but i think it will be fairly difficult if you are competing with degreed engineers. As you said, for a lot of physics jobs, a graduate degree is probably necessary (more so than engineering).</p>

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<p>hmm, i’m still kind of torn between the two it seems like engineering would make me more money but I think I am more interested in physics. The reason I say I think is because my only experience comes from what I’m doing in high school, which I guess is more applied physics (what an above poster described as engineering) than anything.</p>

<p>The reason I asked about computer science is because it seems like something that would be interesting and the job opportunities are certainly good, but I’ve never really had any experience in things like that within school (in my younger days I attempted to learn some C++ and other programming languages, but I always got bored because of all the syntax. I have also built a computer from spare parts, though that doesn’t really require any relevant knowledge other than putting things where they go.) </p>

<p>I suppose all I can do at this point is go to college and see what I like, but I feel like it will be hard to get a good feel for all three of these subjects (physics, engineering, and computer science) by the time I should focus on a specific thing. Would knowledge gained from a major in physics be applicable to both engineering or computer science? If that is the case I am considering doing a major in physics with courses in either engineering or comp sci, and then later doing a graduate program in whichever field I feel suits my interests. </p>

<p>I am really getting overwhelmed by this whole process, I’m not really sure what I want to do and from the three schools I got into I am not sure which would be the best for me. I am straying away from WPI because the curriculum there is not very broad (there is a focus on things like engineering and comp sci), and there do not appear to be many research opportunities. On a non-academic note, I would also like to meet a wide range of people in college rather than limit myself to just other technical people.</p>

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<p>I would think that Physics degree and even my undergrad major, Math would have to have an “applied” feel to it in order to be considered for engineering. A Physics major wanting to get into EE would have to take some EE courses. I know I don’t think I would have been considered for software jobs with just the CS that was required for the “traditional” Math major.</p>

<p>I would say a B.S. in Applied Physics (like Applied Math) would open up more doors.</p>

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<p>MyNameIsJohn,</p>

<p>You may want to consider an emerging major called computational science/computational engineering which (to me) is a blend of Physics, Math, Engineering & Computer Science.</p>

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<p>ME 76:</p>

<p>All I meant to imply is that a physics major may very well (with some luck, special courses, etc.) dance his way into something a MechEng, ElecEng, Math, Chem, CS, or Stat guy might have done instead. Not to say you’d be as competitive, but physics really is a broad degree.</p>

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<p>mynameisjohn:</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, I ended up double majoring in CS and Physics because I couldn’t choose. If I had chosen, I would have gone with CS only.</p>

<p>Most physics majors I know (at Auburn, anyway, so grain of salt) are double majors in something more… readily employable. Minors and double/dual majors are good ways of having your cake and eating it too (of course, you sacrifice some depth, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch). Besides, research or project experience is worth more than depth at the advanced undergraduate level anyway.</p>

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<p>Figure out if you enjoy scientific research. I’m guessing you haven’t done any research in high school, and your only exposure to it is from the media. Scientific research is different from what you may expect. It may be tedious and unfulfilling to you. As a freshman, go to seminars and lectures, and do research with a physics professor. </p>

<p>If you don’t like research, go with engineering.</p>

<p>The job market for software engineers is huge right now, imo.</p>