<p>I graduated last year with BS degrees in physics and applied math. I also took heat transfer and fluid mechanics courses which helped me land a job at an aerospace company before getting terminated recently due getting my INTERIM denied. I'm not too disappointed with that as I didn't see myself working there long-term. The work seemed dull and I missed learning new things in school and working on research projects. I could continue looking for another engineering job or just apply for grad schools. I'm leaning towards getting a phD much more now than in the past. The problem is I have no idea where to apply as i have a broad range of interests but nothing in passion</p>
<p>Based on my undergrad research experiences, i'm certain that i want to avoid experimental work and instead work on computational simulations of physical systems. I am certain that I want to do modeling/simulation research for my career, whether it be in academia or industry. </p>
<p>The programs I'm considering are:
1. materials engineering - Two of my undergrad research projects were related to materials modeling, which were pretty interesting. I thought quantum mech was ok, but I wasn't too excited by it. Also, I've read some interesting articles related to lasers in online magazines. I also never got to take solid-state physics but it seems interesting. However, the few job listings I've seen that look for this background do work I'm not interested in, such as working with solar cells, semiconductors and electronics, etc</p>
<ol>
<li><p>mechanical/aerospace - I liked the theory covered in heat transfer, such as the heat equation, but didn't like using it to solve electronics cooling problems. Also, the aerospace industry may not be for me as evidenced by my clearance denial. But I would love to work on weapons, missiles, rockets, etc. I'm not interested at all in the other fields that MEs go into. CFD also looks interesting but I haven't taken an advanced fluids class</p></li>
<li><p>applied math/ computational math and science - I liked most of my math classes especially linear algebra, numerical analysis, real analysis, math modeling, ODEs, and PDEs. But I didn't really like fourier analysis and abstract algebra for being too abstract. I don't think I would like programs that require alot of CS. I would like to use applied math for physical problems, so I thought materials modeling or CFD would be good fits for me</p></li>
</ol>
<p>can anyone help me with this?</p>
<p>On a side note, I had planned on doing my MS in ME/AE part-time while having my company pay for it until I suddenly lost my job. Now, I probably won't attend that MS program.</p>