Engineering Physics vs Electrical Engineering

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I have to choose which engineering specialization I do in about a month and I've narrowed it down to these two. Could somebody who really understands the difference between them do a comparison, keeping in mind that I definitely want to go to grad school after my degree?</p>

<p>Here are some of my pre-conceived notions about the two programs that I am hoping somebody could confirm or correct (note that at my university, EP is a part of the electrical engineering department):</p>

<p>-EE teaches you more than EP in the domain of eletronics/eletrical-related stuff, which EP makes up for in the area of physics
-EE is more practical, while EP is more research/theoretical
-EP focuses more on the "cutting-edge" of technology than does EE
-EP is better if you plan on going to grad school, while EE is better if you plan on working right out of college</p>

2

<p>You could always do EP with an emphasis on EE. At least, at OSU you get to choose which of the engineering specialties your engineering credits come from, you could do EP with aerospace, EP with nuclear, even EP with computer and information sciences. You may plan right now to go to grad school, but plans could change. What do you want to do <em>outside</em> of school?</p>

3

<p>Your assessment is essentially correct.</p>

<p>If you just want a BS and a job, go with an EE. If you want to go to grad school and do research, go with EP, or better yet, plain old physics. Everyone respects a physics degree (and rightly so).</p>

4

<p>I don’t think EP is any better for graduate school than EE.
It sounds to me like at your school, EP is just a subset of EE.
So you should pick the major that has the courses which interest you more.</p>

5

<p>

thats the best answer you’re going to get.</p>

<p>also, EP tends to vary a bit at different colleges. some have REAL ep curriculum that have been designed, mine is just the basic physics major with engr classes (typically ee) instead of traditional physics electives. </p>

<p>dont trip over the difference. the gap between engr and physics is really small in the cases you’re looking at (ie doesnt work with particle/astro physics). EP is just a really small wedge inbetween them.</p>

6

<p>Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. Based on what I’ve read here I’m very likely gonna go with EP.</p>