<p>I think I realized that I will probably never get a job in what I plan to study in college/grad school, and I am completely fine with that. I just need to make sure I have as many options as possible so I'm trying to figure out what the best double major combination is.</p>
<p>My choices have been narrowed down to pure math and ee, and physics and applied math. Eventually, I would like to go grad school for ee. I have an interest in electronic musical instruments like synthesizers, so I ideally I would like to end at some place like stanford's ccrma or even for a master's at ga. tech's center for music technology and then apply to a phd program. </p>
<p>Now, I think inevitably I will end up becoming a high school teacher, so what I'm wondering is would it be better to double major in physics and applied math and take enough ee electives for grad school, or do math and ee. I figure physics and applied math is a better route because it would give me more job opportunities in terms of teaching. But right now I am on the math and ee path, and because of scheduling conflicts I will lose the option of switching to physics in sept. Unless, I can get a prof. to move a class, then I can put off making this decision for another semester, which may be the best option as of right now.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure this is what I want to do, but then again I've said that before. I will be a soph. in sept. and am also working in a physics lab this summer to gain experience doing research. </p>
<p>Which also brings up another question I have. How important is it to do research in a field related to what you want to go into as an undergrad? Is it simply enough that do you research and get a publication or 2 in an unrelated field? I'm sure doing research in a field related to what you plan to do in grad school can only help you, but I don't really have those opportunities available right now. So i'm trying to do the best with what I have. </p>
<p>Sorry this is such a long post, but I think this is the first time I have seriously thought about my future.</p>
<p>Okay, you are describing two very different careers: electronic music researcher, or high school math or physics teacher.</p>
<p>Electronic music: I am not sure what research is still to be done in this area, but I would stick to straight EE - it is still versatile and career oriented, and I do not expect that much general math or physics in your area of interest. Quite probably the best thing to do would be to combine EE with either acoustics or music, assuming your school offers those fields at the undergrad level.</p>
<p>High school teacher - much easier qualifications, you should be good with an undergrad in any science field provided you then go and get a teaching certificate. An engineering degree provides sufficient math and physics to teach those fields in high school, but you still need the teaching courses. Most schools of education include masters programs for people in this situation.</p>
<p>Really, you need to pick one of those options and go with it. If you change your mind a few years down the road you can switch, but you are going to have a very hard time going for a research degree and a teaching certificate at the same time.</p>
<p>On the research issue, the closer you are to your intended field the better, but anything is better than nothing.</p>
<p>The thing is though if I did stick with ee, I don’t think I would be able to find a job doing research in “electronic music” (it’s actually called computer music). Thats why I was considering physics. Also, based on what I know so far, there is some math involved, such as fourier analysis, and besides signal processing is also heavy on math.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would be impossible getting a teaching certificate with a phd. There were at least 4 teachers at my high school with phd’s in different things and 3 of them were in science/math. </p>
<p>As for acoustics or music, my school only has music, but I am no where near good enough to be a music major. I’ve been playing the drums for a number of years, but I don’t really anything about music theory and can barely read real music (i don’t mean music for drums which i can read, but like piano music).</p>
<p>I guess though, that if an ee degree will provide sufficient preparation then maybe I should just stick to the path I am on right now, which is math and ee. Hopefully, I can get the scheduling conflicts sorted out and be able to take both the next physics and math courses in the sequence. For some reason intro to analysis and waves and optics are both at the same time on the same days. Its almost as if they are forcing you to pick!</p>
<p>There are certainly high school teachers with PhD’s, but that is the exception not the norm, and very very few of them got PhD’s with the stated intent of becoming high school teachers. They either got the PhD locally and part time while teaching, or else decided post-PhD that they wanted to teach. The PhD is really intended for those who intend to pursue a research career - you become vastly overqualified for high school.</p>
<p>As to the EE connection, my point was that computer music does not seem to require any particular level of math or physics beyond what all EE’s take - fourier analysis and signal processing are staples of EE. I am not trying to dissuade you from studying those fields, I am just saying they seem unnecessary to your stated goal.</p>
<p>If your school offers music minors, especially in theory, it would serve you well - the point of the programs are to teach you, and for minors they often allow little to no prerequisite knowledge. If you cannot, c’est la vie, but if you can it will help you significantly.</p>