<p>i currently plan on graduating next fall semester, with a physics B.A. Also, i accepted an internship for this private defense contractor for this summer, where i'll be doing physical modeling. my main concern is when i plan on applying to grad school next fall for mechanical engineering, probably in computational fluid mechanics, for an MS.</p>
<p>i studied hard in my undergrad to earn a high gpa (3.85), thinking the whole time i wanted to get a phD in physics. i just changed mind recently as i took more upper-div physics and an REU in physics last summer, that i want to go into engineering instead of physics, and get a MS instead of a phD.
well i heard that prestige of grad school for an engineering MS doesnt matter at all, so i earned a high gpa, did undergrad research, for nothing.</p>
<p>my goal is to eventually work for a large defense contractor, like boeing, lockheed martin, etc. i want to work on rockets, missiles, etc and do more theoretical rather than experimental work</p>
<p>Having a physics degree with an engineering degree might may you more appealing to some employers.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar position. I was supposed to graduate this may with a B.A. in Journalism. I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to get a bachelors in Computer Science and Mechanical engineering.
A choice that has earned me an additional four years of college. But… if it’s something you really want to do, do it.
I’d rather suffer through another four years of college and end up in a career I want than just graduate now and end up in a career I dislike.</p>
<p>This is why I laugh at most physics majors…currently taking Quantum Mechanics and it takes all of my willpower not to burn my textbook and jump off a cliff while doing the work for that class. Can’t imagine what the upper level classes are like. Everything is way too theoretical.</p>
<p>Nothing you can do about all that hard work you’ve already put in… too bad you already got such a high GPA too.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what the OP’s question is. It seems to me you’d like to go to grad school and you have the GPA to be able to do so… what’s the problem? Don’t worry about the prestige of schools, go where you can work on something you like in an environment you enjoy. Hard work always pays off in one way or another… challenge yourself and go to a good grad school. It will be worth it.</p>
<p>As other posters have almost unanimously agreed, you didnt waste your effort. In the absolute very least, you should be proud that you were able to do so well. And at the very most, you might now be able to get into MIT, Stanford, Caltech - or wherever. I think you will find that a name like this on your resume will always have added value for you - for the rest of your life!</p>
<p>Chill out lol, youre in a spot that many would love to be. Just be thankful that it wasnt the other way around and you goofed off all through college and then decided - oh yeah, I actually want to go to a good grad school </p>
<p>i heard it from my advisor. she knows this stuff since she always talks with the engineering department</p>
<p>"I thought engineering undergrad didn’t matter, but grad did… "
apparently its the other way around</p>
<p>“I don’t understand what the OP’s question is. It seems to me you’d like to go to grad school and you have the GPA to be able to do so… what’s the problem?”
its not really a question as it is a realization that i wasted my college years studying too much instead of doing other things like socializing more, and reading more, outside of physics</p>
<p>“i wasted my college years studying too much.” I REALLY don’t understand this statement. You can never study too much during college. Trust me. You don’t have enough time to do it later!</p>
<p>Your advisor doesn’t know squat if she thinks undergrad means more than your grad school. I suppose it depends on what your job is, but if you are getting a job that is looking at your undergrad school as more important than your graduate school, then you are probably trying to get a job that you are overqualified for IMO. You will be doing BS level work as an MS holder. If you want a PhD, then it is MUCH more important to have a good grad school than undergrad. Go to your department’s website and look at some of the faculty. Tell me how many went to East Bufu State for their BS but got their PhD from Princeton or MIT, then compare it to the ones who did their BS at MIT and got their PhD at Southern Nowhere U. I bet it is more of the former. Your graduate school most definitely carries more weight, especially because of the fact that your undergrad school often takes into account what you can afford, whereas your grad school reflects just how well you did in undergrad, as well as graduate school, and is less dependent on finances since if you are good enough, you get funding.</p>
<p>Step back from the ledge. You are in a position that I think we all wish we were in.</p>
<p>“Go to your department’s website and look at some of the faculty. Tell me how many went to East Bufu State for their BS but got their PhD from Princeton or MIT, then compare it to the ones who did their BS at MIT and got their PhD at Southern Nowhere U.”</p>
<p>she knows that prestige of grad school matters if you want to go into academia. but since i’m certain that i dont want to, then she said that grad school prestige hardly matters</p>
<p>“This is why I laugh at most physics majors…currently taking Quantum Mechanics and it takes all of my willpower not to burn my textbook and jump off a cliff while doing the work for that class. Can’t imagine what the upper level classes are like. Everything is way too theoretical.”</p>
<p>Contrary to what you think - people actually use this in the real world.</p>