<p>So, long story short, I'm a highschool student who's current plan is to attend the RU/VT physics/engineering program, which is a program where you get a physics degree from RU and an engineering degree from VT in five years. I was curious if anyone knew what sort of career paths this would realistically open up; I'm pretty heavily interested in robotics, and that's the career I'm shooting for, so in my head this setup makes sense. Electrical engineering gives me the knowledge needed for the complex circuitry in advanced robotics, and physics gives me access to the mechanical theories. I know the EE degree is going to get me a job /somewhere/, and probably one that pays decently, but will the physics degree help substantially? Maybe not in pay but in getting a job/getting a good job? I know a physics degree on its own is sometimes an iffy endeavor, but from everything I've read elsewhere, physics degree + just about any professional degree means a lot better job prospects; I've heard of people getting great finance jobs with accounting + physics on account of the physics degree.</p>
<p>So, tl;dr is an EE + physics degree going help with jobs/pay/quality of work at all than just an EE degree?</p>
<p>The demand for EEs is so high that I’m skeptical that double majoring in Physics will net you any substantial gains over someone who just majors in EE alone.</p>
<p>Additional pay is probably going to come from work experience and/or a Master’s degree for EE in my experience.</p>
<p>I got a BS in physics, then MS in engineering and am now doing a PhD in engineering. I’ll try to provide as much insight as I can.</p>
<p>Judging from your post, it looks like you believe that the physics major will cover the mechanical parts of robotics and EE will not. I believe, in general, this is not true. Most modern physics undergraduate programs go over mechanics only to a very elementary level. At my school at least, classes relevant to the mechanical portion of robotics was taught under the mechanical engineering department. </p>
<p>The true strength in modern physics programs lies in its quantum mechanics education, a subject almost all fields of physics research today uses. Quantum mechanics is heavily applied to EE in the field of microelectronics and photonics (work involving semiconductors, transistors, photovoltaics, lasers, LEDs, etc.). If you’re in EE and would like to work on the forefront of these areas, I think a physics education would be a great supplement to your EE education because it gives you a deeper understanding about the materials and devices. But in the field of robotics, I’m not sure how much a physics degree will actually help and a lot of what you learn there might be a waste of time. A lot of my friends that worked with robotics just majored in EE and then learned the rest on their own through hands on experience. </p>
<p>You’re welcome to PM and I’m happy to answer any questions you have to the best of my abilities. Best of luck with everything!</p>