<p>Could math or physics major work as engineers? Whats the difference between them and an engineering major? Which would be better if you want to work as engineers?</p>
<p>well, if you want to work as an engineer, why wouldn't you pick an engineering major?</p>
<p>What if we dont have engineering at our school? Woudl Physics still work? Is it hard to get into grad school without an engineering degree?</p>
<p>Science and Engineering are distinctly different. One is theory, the other practicality. It would be rough for a theoretical person to think in this world we dub "reality."</p>
<p>a physics major is definitely good preparation for an engineering grad program. Provided you do well in your physics major, you might even have a leg up on those who have an undergrad engineering degree! Pure math major, I'm not so sure...</p>
<p>I disagree. The engineering profs teach you how to think like an engineer. The fact of the matter is: that's the hard part. The reason engineering has such a "drop out" rate is because not everyone can think that way. You may be able to think theoretically - but that doesn't cut it. </p>
<p>On the other hand, many engineers could never survive the theoretical world.</p>
<p>A physics major is OK preparation for an engineering grad program, but you will definitely be behind compared to everyone else. Let's say you go into a EE program. Most people will already have taken circuit analysis and design (analog and digital), signals and systems (analog and digital), semiconductor devices, and other classes, while the only relevant classes you have are electromagnetics. Everyone else will jump right into grad classes and research, while you're still taking undergrad classes and trying to catch up. Math majors are totally useless for Engineering.</p>
<p>And forget trying to find an Engineering job with just a math or physics degree. Unless they specifically list those as one of their considered degrees, your resume will probably never be looked at.</p>
<p>Any good physics program will also offer courses in electronics (analog and digital). Physicists need to understand electronics to carry out experiments. Signals and systems, as far as I know, is almost entirely rooted in mathematics so thats no biggie. Physics majors tend to get exposed to much more advanced mathematics than engineering majors. I also think the physics majors have an advantage because they will probably understand the electronic components at a far deeper level than what you get exposed to in engineering courses. IMHO.</p>
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Any good physics program will also offer courses in electronics (analog and digital). Physicists need to understand electronics to carry out experiments.
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I've seen the syllabi for physics courses in electronics, and they are far, far easier than the Engineering counterparts. Also, they only teach circuit analysis and perhaps fundamentals (how they physically work), but not circuit design. Remember, physics is theoretical while Engineering is applied, so you won't learn any design.</p>
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Signals and systems, as far as I know, is almost entirely rooted in mathematics so thats no biggie.
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It is a biggie if you haven't taken any.</p>
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Physics majors tend to get exposed to much more advanced mathematics than engineering majors.
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Physics majors get exposed to math classes like partial differential equations, complex variables, and fourier analysis. All of this is useless in grad school, even if your area is something mathematical like signals and systems. I doubled majored in math in undergrad and have never used anything from my classes in grad school.</p>
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I also think the physics majors have an advantage because they will probably understand the electronic components at a far deeper level than what you get exposed to in engineering courses.
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This is true only if you go into semiconductor devices or electromagnetics, since everything else is analyzed at a higher level. Even then, graduate classes cover all the theory you need, so your advantage is very slight. You're still behind everyone else in the applied part that was taught in undergrad. My area of specialty is semiconductor devices, and I've taken 2 quantum mechanics classes, 2 electromagnetics classes, solid state physics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics as part of my curriculum.</p>
<p>I also disagree about engineering professors teaching someone how to "think like an engineer". My most serious reservation about going into engineering is that 99.99% (allright so maybe I'm exaggerating) of engineering professors have NEVER ACTUALLY WORKED AS ENGINEERS. They've just progressed up the academic latter and that's it. Maybe some have dabbled in consulting. This scares me. A lot.</p>
<p>I hope you're wrong.</p>
<p>eng_dude... You're incorrect. Many professors <em>have</em> worked as engineers in the professional world.</p>
<p>The other thing is, yes they <em>do</em> teach you to think like an engineer. They also teach you extensive theory <em>behind</em> the practicality of engineering, so you get just as in depth if not even more so than a physics major would. I guarantee that my physics major friends know more about quantum theory than I do, but that I know way more about beam theory than they do because of my background in structural engineering.</p>
<p>And there's absolutely no reason to be scared that many engineering professors haven't worked as practicing engineers. There's a distinct reason why you have to work for four years and then take an extensive exam in order to get your PE license is so that you can learn how to be a <em>practical</em> engineer once you've gotten your extensive background training in theoretical engineering and code comprehension.</p>
<p>Once you have your bachelors degree... or even your masters degree... your learning has just begun. You've only hit the tip of the iceberg!</p>
<p>All that being said, physics is an <em>okay</em> preparation for an engineering graduate program. You'll learn tangentially related theory, but like others said, you won't have learned any of the practical engineering applications of that theory, and you won't have learned how to think like an engineer, which is exceedingly important. You'll have a lot of catching up to do in terms of coursework, too.</p>
<p>Thanks for confirming my beliefs, aibarr. :)</p>
<p>Which have a higher salary? Engineering or physics major? And which is more difficult?</p>
<p>most of my engineering professors have worked in industry...</p>
<p>Engineering majors have higher starting salaries for every degree (BS, MS, PhD). In my opinion, a BS in Engineering is harder than a BS in Physics, while a PhD in Physics is slightly harder than a PhD in Engineering.</p>
<p>i think that if you become an applied physics or applied mathematics major that you could fit right into engineering for grad school. one of my friend's dad pursued an undergrad degree in applied physics and went on to get his master's in EE @ WashU. he worked for boeing and recently retired. in addition the professor i'm currently doing research with was an applied mathematics phD (his specialization was in fuzzy logic). he later came to the U.S. and got his phD in electrical engineering. from what my parents have said (they went to the same school as him), he didn't seem to study a whole lot and held a full-time job and still aced all of his exams. i think he graduated with a nearly perfect gpa as well. later on to help his wife out (she was a biology master's student who decided to pursue an UNDERGRADUATE degree in computer science, he decided to enroll in the same course, and in his spare time (he was an associate professor at the time at umichigan) got a c.s. degree.</p>
<p>however it is probably a good idea to take some engineering courses (perhaps minor in one of them) especially with an undergrad math degree, because you take a lot of classes that are pretty much useless for engineering (abstract algebra, real analysis, etc...)</p>
<p>The fact that they got their grad degrees in EE while majoring in applied physics or applied math really says more about the person than their undergrad preparation. My friend majored in Philosophy at University of Chicago and is now a Mechanical Engineering PhD student at Northwestern, but that certainly doesn't mean that Philosophy provides any sort of necessary background!</p>
<p>Aibarr: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach!" ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, I was definitely exaggerating and perhaps certain engineering disciplines have more industry experienced profs. You cannot deny, however, that in certain fields like BME and EE (both of which I'm considering), a majority of the profs have spent their entire lives in the academic world. Which could be said of most majors, its just that there is a very definite practical and commercial aspect to engineering that doesn't apply to say, philosophy or english literature, etc... My Dad and friends of his have told me to beware of schools that just hire the academic-type engineering professors. I'm still trying to figure out which schools fall into that category!</p>