<p>My son only applied to colleges known for engineering, and before he attended orientation he’d decided he was going to be a math major… He did have many AP credits and will likely dual major with engineering or CS, or possibly physics. Point of this story is it’s a big year, and he may change his mind multiple times between now and when he has to pick a college. Sounds like he’s definitely a STEM kid, so at least you know where to focus. I would recommend picking a college that has all of what you/he believe are likely majors for him, and not planning on more years and expense to get an undergrad degree.</p>
<p>Physical engineering is offered at a handful of schools (Laval University and Polytechnique come to mind), but how is physical engineering different from engineering physics?</p>
<p>If he is concerned about job and career prospects, he may want to look at the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a> .</p>
<p>bovertime and sax - That is exactly what I’m think. That pay difference is huge. Especially since I’m sure we are going to borrow some money for his education. No idea about how much at the moment. I’m afraid like sax’s child. He’s all I want to by a physicist now and go grad route. But what if he gets sick and doesn’t have anything to fall back on. >.< I’m super confused.</p>
<p>ucb - You can’t compare it to MIT they are not typical of other schools. But yes that makes me feel slightly better. But Caltech and MIT you don’t get to declare a major til your sophomore year. I think he would probably be alot more set in his decision by that time.</p>
<p>Hmm with the other replies, I think the dual major degree would be best. But its so hard to do with engineering right? The workload is a little on the extreme side. This will be his first time away and I thnk it’s going to be this crazy distance.</p>
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<p>There is always the possibility of a major and a minor. There is also plenty of time for your kid to make up his mind: just initially focus on basic courses common to both areas the first semester or two, maybe get some advice from key professors, and make a final determination sometime during sophomore year.</p>
<p>Just checked the dual degree requirements at son’s school. The engineering option has all the same requirements as the regular physics degree except the engineering students will have one different recommended elective (not an extra) in their course of study depending on what type of engineering they are interested in. Son’s school has articulation agreements with 2 state and 3 private engineering schools. So, other than it will take 5 years instead of 4 it doesn’t appear to be a more strenuous curriculum for the dual degree. I would look at the degree requirements usually found on the dept web page for the schools your son is interested in attending and check their articulation agreements. </p>
<p>As an earlier poster said the advantages to a smaller LAC school are many. Son has loved his small and attentive physics dept. The profs go out of their way to suggest classes, make classes and recommend research projects for the students. He’ll be attending his second national physics convention in the spring presenting his research with all expenses paid. On the down side, a larger school would have more electives available each semester and more major opportunities i.e. astrophysics, etc.</p>
<p>I look at Basic Engineering as an extension of physics or application of the principles of Physics. Strong knowledge in Physics actually helps with the foundation of engineering. So if he wants to do dual major in Physics and Engineering, that’s a positive. It is not worth the fight now. The kids will know a lot more when they are in college (going to career fairs, talking to others etc.). They will be in a perfect position to decide the majors/minors at that time.</p>
<p>Canada, and Quebec in particular, is an entirely different bag of beans in the engineering vs. physics game: since there isn’t that many people who graduate with a Physics degree to start with, ~70-80 yearly province-wide, with 6 Us doing it, 4 of which are actually decent (UQTR and Concordia are the Quebecer bottom of the barrel, while Laval, U Sherbrooke, U Montreal and McGill are the decent, nationally-ranked ones), ~50 going on to grad school, and the latest data, with respect to Quebec, indicate that average starting pay and placement rates (among other indicators) are comparable in many ways for both orientations.</p>
<p>So, really, I could have chosen either path and still have a financially fulfilling career to look forward to.</p>