<p>Right now I'm a double major in mech/space engineering. Still not sure what I want to do yet though. I'm a freshman in a state school at the moment so I haven't taken a lot of college courses yet my favorite so far has been calculus. I have not taken a physics class yet in college but I did in high school and loved it. (which really means nothing since high school and college classes can be very different). I will be taking physics next semester. Trying to decide if I should stick with engineering or go into the astronomy/physics major that's offered at my school. I really love astronomy but I know the jobs in that field are limited but the amount of people entering the field is also very small and I have no problem going to PhD level. I also like teaching and research a lot. But would only ever teach at the collegiate level. So my question is it worth it to do all that school (money wise)? How much physics professors make at the university level?
Are university professors generally happy with their jobs and is it actually possible to get a job in the astronomy/physics field?
My other option is aerospace,mech or (even nuclear engineering I've considered). I know their is a lot more jobs in these field as well as money. I do like engineering as well and like building/tinkering with things. Basically the cons between the two for me are astronomy/ physics is job outlook and money and for engineering I've heard long hours and pressure along with big corporation environment.
Anyone with a PhD in Physics or astronomy or in that industry that has some insight into whether physics or engineering is a better option?
Also a small side note: Which of these two would give me more opportunity (to travel or live) internationally?</p>
<p>As an undegrad Physics major I can definitely tell you that you need to take 2 intro classes in calculus based physics before you even consider the jump. That’s assuming you have time to take a class or two before making the switch. Performance in those classes will absolutely not be indicative of your chances of future success, but it will definitely let you know if you should steer away from it. If you want to get an idea of salaries for professors, you can actually find that information online since professor salaries (at least in my state) are public information. So you could actually just sift through all the physics professors at a university and see their position and salaries. From what I have seen, physics professors have a wide range of salaries from say 70k to 100+. Another thing you should do as soon as possible is contact professors in astronomy/astrophysics and set a time to talk to them about what your goals are. They can better inform you than anyone can here. They will definitely tell you to get involved with undergraduate research right away because you cannot know for sure if you enjoy research if you haven’t experienced it in a university environment. </p>
<p>Hope this helps, but I will repeat one more time that you should talk to a professor or two as soon as possible.</p>
<p>As a physics professor and academic advisor, I can try to give you some answers.</p>
<p>Salary - the salaries for any university professor and OK but not as high as in industry. This goes for physics and engineering. You don’t go into academia for the money…</p>
<p>Physics majors can jobs right out of college but they usually are not called “physics” jobs. It is helpful to have some programming skills to be able to compete for jobs in the financial sector or as an engineer. I would say that Astronomy/Astrophysics is slightly harder than physics to find a job just after college.</p>
<p>If you do a Ph.D. in physics, you should not be paying tuition. Rather, you should only pursue this if you get full funding with a Teaching or Research Assistantship. For Engineering, it is much the same thing for a Ph.D. but for a Masters, there is often little funding by the university. Bottom line, don’t go into major debt for a Ph.D. </p>
<p>Astronomy/Astrophysics is a very hard field to get a job with after a Ph.D. The same can be probably said for theoretical physics. Experimental physics is somewhat easier and closer to Engineering.</p>
<p>As the previous poster says, take a couple of physics classes, they are resuired for your engineering major anyway. Learn about the options for engineering and physics by talking to other students and faculty and then choose according to what is most exciting for you.</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>You probably won’t have to decide until your third or fourth semester, since the freshman and sophomore level math and physics courses for both mechanical engineering and astrophysics should be the same (though you may be taking a few extra introductory engineering courses like materials, solid mechanics, etc. for engineering, and may have to find schedule space for an introductory astronomy course for astronomy and astrophysics majors).</p>