<p>I’m an engineering physics major concentrating in computer science. EP is the hardest major. That’s what everybody tells me. Physics majors say my major is harder, engineering majors say my major is harder, math majors, cs majors, etc., all say the same thing.</p>
<p>It’s tough. We have more hard material to study than regular engineering majors, and we have more project-like work than other physics majors. I’d say most of the smartest physics undergrads I run into (I’m basing this on their grades and presence in honors classes, participation in UG research, scholarships, etc.) are engineering physics majors, not straight physics majors. And like many other EP majors, I plan to go to grad school for a PhD in physics (graduate next May, I almost can’t believe it).</p>
<p>I can heartily recommend EP as a precursor to physics grad school or a job in engineering. If you want to get a job after your BS instead of going to grad school, concentrate on internships and projects. If you want to go to grad school, concentrate on undergraduate research and more math and physics classes (at my school we have a lot of leeway in how much physics/engineering to take to get our degree and even which engineering classes to meet our engineering requirements).</p>
<p>As far as the route to becoming a professor, here is my advice: don’t expect to become one. I’m certainly not expecting to become a professor of physics (though I don’t think I’d mind). Get a PhD because you <em>want</em> to, not because you expect some reward afterwards. Professorships are rare because turnover is low (you are essentially waiting for professors to die so a position can open up), and the supply of people with a PhD is way higher than you might think (ignore what the media says about a scientist/engineer shortage in America, it’s a myth drummed up by businesses to ease immigration law and get the government to subsidize STEM education) so there are like 200 applicants for every open tenure-track position even at lame colleges in crappy towns. That’s to say nothing of the huge number of qualified immigrant PhDs who really don’t mind going through the process of becoming a professor because they are used to a lower standard of material living.</p>
<p>But let’s assume you are one of those people who will win the lottery and become a professor. Here is how it goes:</p>
<p>1) Get your PhD
2) Get a post-doctoral position (“post-doc”) either at a research institution, government lab, university, etc., which usually involves doing research (not your own, helping somebody else) and possibly some teaching. The post-doc position could also be straight teaching, as a “lecturer” or “adjunct teacher” or some similar title.
3) Move from that position to assistant professor, then to associate professor, then to professor.</p>
<p>I just described a dream scenario that happens to people who are very fortunate. Many people hope in vain for a professorship to open up and stay on the “post-doc treadmill” for a decade or more, moving from state to state, wherever post-docs they are qualified for open up. It may be two or three post-doc positions before you reach assistant professor status. If you get advice on becoming a professor from actual professors, remember that you’re talking to the fortunate few, AND that depending on their age they may have become professors during the great professor boom of the post-war period.</p>
<p>After WW2, and especially after Sputnik, there was explosive growth in the number of people going to college and universities were being created or expanded all over the country. Professorships opened up like mango worm holes on a Ghanaian dog (look it up). But in the past thirty or so years, hiring has been flat. With the birth rate actually going down, fewer people will be going to college and if anything demand for professors in America will probably fall.</p>
<p>But hey, I’m not letting any of this stop my plans.</p>