Physics vs. Applied Math vs. Pure Math vs. CS

College Majors Science Majors
1

(First post on CC, so please tell me if I’m not following some protocols.)

I’m currently a physics major At University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (the Edinburg branch, formerly UTPA) in south Texas, but I’m not sure if this is what I want to pursue (although I am going to go to graduate school eventually and getting a Ph.D, no question about it.)

  1. I'm interesting in physics because it's the study of the universe around us, and for years I have wanted to be a scientist.
  2. I'm interested in math because it's fun and so much can be simplified to mathematical equations, and algorithms and I'm more a math nerd that anything else.
  3. I'm interested in computer science because it is where the cool stuff is happening, although so far, coding has not particularly interested me. Also, I love video games and game design is definitely something I am interested in (although I fully expect that I'll need a few years of experience in more useful software design before I can get a good job as a game dev).

I’m minoring in computer science, and from what I understand, I could definitely go into software development with a physics or math degree and a computer science minor. A math degree may even be preferable for cryptology and other math intensive CS. So although CS interests me, I’m unlikely to switch majors to that.

What I want to know are the reasons to choose Physics, Applied Math, or Pure Math when the careers I’m considering are physics research at a university, applied math, or pure math research.

2

It depends on your future plans. Applied Math would be the most useful field for industry, a PhD in this field can do very well working in the aerospace/defense industry. If you want to go into academia/research it doesn’t make too much of a difference.

3

Frankly, I could say the same for physics and CS is also a great major for a good career. You need to choose what interests you the most and not look back.

4

Physics is already basically applied math! You could do computational physics, since you need some knowledge in all 3: cs, physics and math.