<p>I am thinking of majoring in applied physics as the title suggests. but i am kind of clueless about what kind of job i would be able to do in the future if i did. i have always been attracted to physics as a student, particularly mechanics. i am applying to caltech, stanford, berkeley and uchicago (association with fermilab being my main motivator for applying here). anyways, i wont probably get into caltech or stanford. inshaAllah either berkeley or uchicago might just somehow work out. but then again scholarship would be a problem. so i would also like to know, if anyone can tell me, how good berkeley and uchicago are for undergraduate physics. i am also willing to switch applied physics for theoretical physics. berkeley application deadline is looming and you have to select the major when applying and i think it is binding. and can you minor in computer science while majoring in physics at berkeley and the other universities stated above? you cant minor in something like aeronautical engineering while majoring in physics or can you? there is no option of selecting a minor in the application form of berkeley. so a quick reply would be appreciated.</p>
<p>btw i could also consider double major but there is no option for selecting that either.</p>
<p>Berkeley does not have an “applied physics” major.</p>
<p>It has a [Physics</a> major](<a href=“http://sis.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_view_req?p_dept_cd=PHYSICS]Physics”>http://sis.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_view_req?p_dept_cd=PHYSICS) in its College of Letters and Science, an [Engineering</a> Physics](<a href=“http://sis.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_view_req?p_dept_cd=ENGSCI]Engineering”>http://sis.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_view_req?p_dept_cd=ENGSCI) major in its College of Engineering, and various other engineering majors in its College of Engineering.</p>
<p>For Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science, your indication of major is does not really matter for freshman admissions*, since all who are admitted as freshmen enter as undeclared, to declare their majors later after completing the freshman and sophomore prerequisites. However, the College of Engineering admits by major, and those who enter as freshmen enter in the major marked on the application. The College of Engineering is generally considered more selective than the College of Letters and Science.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s career survey can give you some idea of [what</a> Physics majors do after graduation](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Physics.stm]what”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Physics.stm). It also has a listing for [Engineering</a> Science](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EngrSci.stm]Engineering”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EngrSci.stm) majors, but that includes three other majors as well as Engineering Physics.</p>
<ul>
<li>Of course, you don’t want to mark something inconsistent with your academic record and essays.</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you a lot for the reply. Going by your name you are a berkeley alumnus. I guess then engineering physics is more like applied physics and the physics major in the college of letters and sciences is more like theoretical physics. Am i right? Later in life I would want to either join as a university teacher or an organisation like NASA, CERN or FERMI lab. Hence i thought physics major in college of letters and sciences would be more appropriate. But if that would block other options i would be willing to change my choice to engineering physics or mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>For such career goals, you are probably better off with the regular physics major. The engineering physics major allow substitution of engineering courses for some physics courses (e.g. the EE version of advanced electricity and magnetism for the physics version, or the mechanical engineering version of advanced mechanics for the physics version).</p>
<p>But note that your career goals do typically involve getting a PhD in physics. Also, there seems to be a surplus of physics graduates relative to the pure physics jobs. Fortunately, the “excess” physics graduates often transition to other well paying jobs in those areas of engineering where PE licensing and an ABET-accredited degree are not required, computer software, finance, etc. (a much better situation than faced by biology and chemistry graduates).</p>
<p>The good part about a physics program is that there is usually a good opportunity to take engineering courses if they are available at your school (Univ. of Chicago does not have engineering). Even if you don’t have an official “applied physics” degree, you can go to graduate school in applied physics or engineering physics or engineering, all depending on your research interests.</p>
<p>If you are specifically intent on applied physics programs, you should also look at engineering physics programs which are more or less the same thing. At [Illinois</a> Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.iit.edu%5DIllinois”>http://www.iit.edu), where I am a physics professor, we can’t call our applied physics program “engineering physics” because the physics department is not in the college of engineering. On the other hand at [University</a> of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign](<a href=“http://illinois.edu%5DUniversity”>http://illinois.edu), where i got my B.S. there is an engineering physics program because the department has a foot in both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as the College of Engineering.</p>
<p>Semi-hijacking the thread: For grad school, I’m debating sticking with physics to get a PhD in theoretical condensed matter, or switching to applied physics (and doing something in a generally condensed matter-ish area; whether that would be materials science, nanotech, etc I’m not really sure). I can’t really see myself in academia (or getting through the arduous process of getting tenure, anyway), so I’m wondering: would one degree or the other make it easier to get a good job in industry?</p>
<p>The other name for Applied Physics is Engineering Physics. You can go for masters in several Engineering disciplines(probably all)</p>