Ever since I was young astrophysics was very interesting to me and I always planned to get a phd in astrophysics because I was so interested in it. But as I have got older I have learned how there is a glut of graduates, a low turn over rate for academia, and not very many non academic jobs, so I was wondering if it was worth pursing the phd and hoping to get a permanent academia job after post doc work or just go into an engineering field like mechanical.
What grade are you in?
If you’re truly passionate about it then I’d say go with it. Is a position in Academia a negative? Are you math inclined?
Studying physics gives you a wide skill set that can be applied outside of astrophysics. If you’re in highschool, I’d suggest searching colleges that are well connected in astrophysics/astronomy/physics and have your alternate major.
I worried about this also at the beginning of the year. I really want to study astrophysics but I’m also interested in aerospace engineering. (See the pattern?) As a result I’m ranking all my colleges on having engineering. Aerospace engineering is rather rare so I’m looking at Grad opportunities because if someone is doing it then maybe I can learn from them. Is there a better way of doing this?
There’s a physics forum that has answers from people who studied astrophysics which you should look up. The general consensus is do your undergraduate on physics with an astrophysics/astronomy focus. Jobs wise there were stories about their major landing them on Wall Street. Physicists need to know a lot of math which makes them employable.