<p>I am going to be a senior this year and it is time for me to start thinking about a major. I live in Arizona and will most likely end up going to the University of Arizona. My problem is that I don't know if I want to major in Optics or in Physics (Arizona is ranked in the top 10 in optics). I know that both are very similar since optics is a branch of physics. I eventually want to go to grad school for quantum physics. So which major should I go with?</p>
<p>Anyoneee? Pleaseee</p>
<p>What are your career perspectives?</p>
<p>Quantum optics is a subfield of quantum physics. So either will get you there. I think you should google both and see where you fit. Also, a fair amount of math will be useful.</p>
<p>I would like to be a researcher</p>
<p>Thanks! I think I will get into optics and minor in physics. Or the other way around…</p>
<p>If you get a chance, call or visit each department and talk about your future plans and see what they say.</p>
<p>From what I have seen, everyone takes an Optics class in Undergrad, but it isn’t until Graduate school that you can actually specialize in it. Unless you are referring to Optical Science and Engineering (just a quick glimpse at the UA site), in which case you’ll likely be focusing more on Engineering than Physics. Since you are talking about Optics in terms of Physics, I am thinking it is a specialization in Grad school.</p>
<p>If you want to go to grad school for quantum physics, major in physics.</p>
<p>Absolutely, there are elective courses in a physics curriculum and you can put optics in as a minor. From a Physics degree you can either continue in physics or move more toward engineering.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! Anymore opinions?</p>
<p>Well…one doesn’t really go to grad school for “quantum physics,” but for physics in general. When you finish grad school, you will have a PhD in physics…not a PhD in quantum physics.</p>
<p>If that is your goal though, then you should major in physics. Majoring in optics would leave you unprepared for the requirements for physics grad school. You could easily minor in optics within a physics major though. There will be a lot of physics requirements to study optics anyway, so adding the minor won’t be too bad. </p>
<p>A lot of that depends on what you mean by optics. Optics is a field of study within physics…but there is also optical engineering. What are you referring to specifically? You said you want to do research, so I’m assuming you mean studying the physics of optics. If that’s what you want to do, then you really need to have a solid grounding in physics.</p>
<p>Looking into a bit more, the optics program at AZ is a BS in Optical Science and Engineering. So curt makes a good point. I did also notice that there is a minor in optics and that could fit into the physics program.</p>
<p>So should it be better to minor in optics or math?</p>
<p>Well, again…that’s optical engineering. It isn’t optics “research” as you’ve expressed interest in. Quite a significant difference there.</p>
<p>You’ll get some exposure to optical theory within your physics classes. As far as optical research goes, that would be more of a graduate concentration. Optical theory relies heavily on quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. You’ll get a lot of exposure to optical theories within those courses. The introductory quantum mechanics sequence that a physics undergrad takes is fairly cursory, but that second sequence in QM, and the grad level exposure to QFT are what will really be crucial in that study. As I’ve said, the actual study of optics is more likely to by a graduate research concentration. </p>
<p>Optical engineering is the study of how to build lenses, microscopes, telescopes etc. It isn’t a study of the theory behind why or how they work. It’s very applied, rather than being purely theoretical. There’s certainly a lot of optical theory behind it, but it’s the same optical theory that you would get in advanced physics courses.</p>
<p>If your ultimate goal is to go to grad school for physics, a math minor would be more beneficial in my opinion. The optical engineering could be beneficial too though, depending on what you ultimately aspire to do with your degree.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your responses!</p>
<p>I’d look into what exactly the requirements for the optics minor would be. Odds are, they would be more of the applied aspects of the engineering of optical devices. That’s a minor that’s probably intended more for engineering students that want to branch into a second field.</p>