Should I take MATH or APPM at CU Boulder?

I’m going to be a freshman this coming year, and I’m majoring in physics, but I’ve been told countless times that physics won’t get me a job, so I’m thinking of going through the IUT process to transfer to engineering physics.

I completed Calc 1, 2 and 3 in high school, but I’m definitely retaking Calc 3 this semester. The question is, since I want to transfer to engineering, should I take the applied math course (APPM 2350) or the mathematics one (MATH 2400)? The IUT page says they would prefer APPM, but that the MATH courses still count.

All of my friends who go to CU and have taken it tell me not to take APPM, because it’s so much harder and apparently the teachers aren’t great. Searching around online seems to give me the same general consensus; that APPM is much more challenging and I should just go with MATH.

So I was thinking to just take the MATH course, especially since for the IUT I need to meet a 3.0 GPA and 2.7 technical GPA, and I don’t want to risk not meeting it. But I also hope that at least since I took the class in high school, I might have an easier time in either class than some other students.

So, even though MATH is, apparently, the easier class and I wouldn’t have to worry as much about my GPA (although I know it will still be hard), would APPM still be more beneficial in the long-term if I do get to switch to engineering physics? What is the difference in the material taught? Would the MATH course still prepare me enough for engineering?

Thanks in advance!

@Saturn1 The two classes you are comparing are both Calculus 3, multivariable calculus. The applied math version will delve into more about Gauss, Green and Stokes’ theorems.

Either math class will be fine. They are largely equivalent.

There are thousands of high paying jobs for physics majors. Some go on for advanced degrees, for the best job options.
A physics major can prepare you for careers in physics, if you continue and earn a PhD in physics. There are thousands of jobs for PhD physicists in the USA, look at Department of Energy labs like Sandia in New Mexico, Department of Defense labs like Naval Research lab, alternative energy labs like NREL in Golden Colorado, NIST in Boulder, and many industry positions in magnetic storage, meteorology, (NCAR Southwest Research etc ) , aerospace industry likes physicists, electronics and computer industry hires physicists, and computationally intensive jobs at Facebook and Google and many academic research institutions. Every single university teaches physics, so there are always jobs for physicists in the USA.

PhD Physics candidates are on stipends, so their tuition is 100% covered and their either teach or do research or both, to earn their salary at universities. The pay for physics grad students is about $32,000 a year. The degree takes four to five years. Then, once you get a physics permanent job, the pay will be upwards of $80,000 to $140,000 in government and academic physics research jobs. Pay for researchers at research labs for Facebook or Google is even higher. See Facebook’s new research lab in Seattle, mostly physics and electrical engineers! ( Oculus Labs.)

If, you don’t want to earn a PhD, then a physics bachelors degree leads to careers in high school physics teaching, or data science, or engineering too. Google hires physics grads as well as CS grads. . Physics grads often get into electrical design related jobs , or meteorology or computational software positions.

Physics in my opinion, is one of the strongest undergraduate majors at CU, with small class sizes, and there are physics research options on campus, look at JILA, an on campus laser physics lab, or NIST, the government standards lab, which is walking distance on the west side of Broadway. Undergrad physics majors have options to work at both labs!

https://jila.colorado.edu
https://www.nist.gov/pao/nist-boulders-precision-measurement-laboratory

Physics is harder than some engineering majors, for the amount of math you will learn. Paradoxically the College of Arts and Sciences at CU has a lower admissions standard, than the College of Engineering, but physics will weed out weak math students quickly. (that does not sound like you, you have already completed a lot of calculus, and are well prepared for either physics or engineering physics)

You can transfer between the two programs, they are similar but look at the requirements of both degrees
and see which appeals to you more.

Engineering physics is a fine major too, and will introduce you to more electrical and mechanical engineering concepts if that interests you. So more practical classes in CAD mechanical design and electrical design. Physics will be more focused on a series of classes in mechanics, electricity, magnetism, quantum mechanics (how very small things behave), statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, and some special topics like optics, and relativity.

Both engineering physics and physics majors have lab requirements and similar job options. One is more applied to topics like solid state devices, but both majors will include software skills as those are key for physics, especially if you want to pursue computational physics.

Sorry I didn’t reply sooner.
Thank you for telling me all of this. I’m still not entirely sure what I want to do in the future, but I would still have to wait a year before I could transfer to the College of Engineering, so I do have some time to decide.
I guess I’ve always been more interested in the theoretical stuff than the applications of it, which is why I originally went with pure physics.