On paper, these programs are nearly identical except for a few fairly minor differences in required courses and electives. Both are part of the Physics department, but of course admissions for one is Engineering and the other is LAS.
Apart from admissions probably being more selective for Engineering Physics, can anyone comment on any other differences?
Research opportunities, graduate school admissions, advising, internship placement, honors program admissions, merit scholarships, minors or dual degree options- really anything to help decide which one to list as 1st choice and 2nd choice?
My son is leaning toward Engineering Physics and we’ve discussed the obvious differences, but any comments on less obvious aspects would be appreciated. Obviously he may change majors later, but for now this seems to be the last thing he needs to decide to finish the application.
The sense I have is that you may be under the impression that admission will be easier to physics than engineering physics. Though the physics major is in the LAS college, the physics department that controls it is in the engieering college and follows its admisison criteria, including that the middle 50% range of those admitted to physics is more akin to what you see for the enignnering college and not that for the LAS college. In other words if your thinking put physics first because it is easier to to get in, you would be incorrect.
Though the two are similar, engineering physics diverts from regular physics in the junior and senior year when the enigneering physics major gets to pursue a chosen concentration that can be a more prcaticable application of physics and can include another engineering concentration such as computer engineering. In other words, it can be used to pursue course work that can lead to employment as an engineer, and it results in a true engineering degree. Nevertheless, what you choose now can be changed later as long as grades are decent. Engineering physics could have some slight advantage because admisiion to it includes the possbility of getting scholarships offered by the engineering college which usually has more to offer than the LAS college. However, unless you are in the high end of engineering admittees, you should not expect much, if any, scholarship money.
Thanks for the response. We had the impression about admissions selectivity being somewhat more difficult in engineering physics from our information session, though it was a general admissions advisor, not a Physics program advisor. We actually had the impression that the Physics department that controls all these majors is in the LAS college, but that’s just a technicality whichever way it is. In any case, I don’t expect admissions to be an issue, which is why I was mainly curious about the other possible differences apart from admissions to help decide which is 1st choice and which is 2nd. For example, if he goes on to want a MS in engineering, I presume the EP degree is advantageous, as it probably would be if he pursued a career with a BS. But what if he decides to go MS in Comp Sci or pHD in Physics, for example? The descriptions seem to indicate both are good choices for graduate study, not surprising since they are so similar.
I advised my son pretty much what you said- you can always change later. And it’s generally easier to change OUT of engineering than INTO engineering, especially in later years if you don’t have the pre-reqs, but with LAS Physics it’s nearly all the same classes anyway. He might have a chance at a merit scholarship based on ACT and GPA, so unless we can find any other major difference, perhaps that’s another reason to go Engineering Physics. Plus he gets a few more concentration options. Thanks again!
The two are almost identical. The (very minor) differences are mostly about what you’re planning to do with the degree. He should choose LAS if he thinks he might want to teach, maybe if he knows he wants to go to grad school for theory. Engineering might be better if he doesn’t plan on going to grad school as it’s probably a bit more marketable to employers. I’m in Specialized Physics in LAS, which is basically the grad school track. It’s a bit more focused than the Science and Letters program, so be aware that there are multiple options in LAS (the teaching track is also an option.) There are some differences on the college level. If he didn’t take four levels of foreign language in HS, he’ll have to take more when he gets here if he’s in LAS, since we have to have four, while Engineering Physics majors only have to have three levels.
But in all reality, everything is in the same department and it’s not that much of a hassle to switch if he ever feels the need. Most of the people I know literally just chose whichever one sounded cooler to them.
As a side note, however, don’t count on merit scholarships from here just based on ACT and GPA. I graduated with a 4.00 (my school didn’t weight) and a 35 on the ACT and didn’t get a dime in merit, it’s very competitive.
Thanks for the input! That’s pretty much how I saw it, easy enough to switch if needed. My son has similar stats. We know merit is a longshot, but if engineering physics has more possible merit scholarships then I guess it’s a good place to start. Plus, as you said, if he decides not to go on for an advanced degree, the engineering program may be a better choice.