What will I miss out on if I major in physics instead of engineering?

<p>I'm interested in engineering (mechanical/aerospace mostly) and want to major in physics. There is physics, of course, in an engineering major, but I'm still more drawn to the physics major. The only thing holding me back is how this could hold me back or leave me unprepared.</p>

<p>Well…which field would you want to ultimately work in? Physics or engineering? If you feel compelled to major in physics but want to work as an engineering, I’d reevaluate your reasons for wanting the physics degree instead of the engineering degree.</p>

<p>Does your school offer a minor? I plan to get a minor in physics, at the very least, when I transfer to a university. If I had the time and could borrow the money, I’d like to get a double-major.</p>

<p>You’ll obviously miss out on the “engineering” perspective. While your Physics background will give you a strong foundation it’ll still be much more theoretical than an engineering degree. </p>

<p>For example, while you could still know about entropy and thermodynamics, you might miss out on the cycle specific processes. Other topics such as stress, machine elements, material processing or turbomachinery will be absent as well.</p>

<p>I say you have 3 options</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Double major engineering/physics: Most drastic but will give you both educational background. Honestly, if you want to work in engineering they physics degree won’t help–you’ll be hired as an engineer not as a physicist.</p></li>
<li><p>Physics Minor: Much more manageable </p></li>
<li><p>Supplement classes: You can take some key physics classes as an engineer (use them for your elective classes) such as Modern Physics for Engineers or Quantum. You’ll be able to get your feet wet in some of the specialty topics. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>In terms of job outlook, it will be harder (but not impossible) to get an engineering job as a physics major. While you won’t be able to work as lets say a rotating equipment engineer but you’ll still be qualified for R&D, tool development and other specialty topics such as nuclear interactions or gamma-rays.</p>

<p>Major in physics if you want a PhD to do research. If you want to “engineer” major in engineering. If you want both, and want to do so respectfully, be prepared for the 4 most intense years of your life.</p>

<p>Techy is right but I’d like to add a small caveat (from my experience):</p>

<p>A PhD Engineering is “easier” than a PhD in Physics.</p>

<p>When I say easy BY NO MEANS do I mean coursework and material–some of the EE’s have to do hard core quantum mechanics just like the physicists.</p>

<p>However, I feel that funding is more plentiful within engineering and that engineering professors try to graduate their PhDs a bit faster than natural science majors.</p>

<p>nshah makes an excellent point. My dad says they have more endowed chairs and scholarship money in the engineering school at Texas than they know what to do with, while the science departments really struggle to get the extra funding. Maybe because engineering alumni make more money and want to give back to the school? The university is actually asking donors to consider giving to departments other than engineering!</p>

<p>Naw its not the alumni that make the difference, its the government grant money. Most grants range the gammit from 100 grand to man millions of dollars (my school just got awarded 100 million for a new department). Alumni donations are great, but generally don’t compare. Grant money comes in to professors to fund lab work, equipment, graduate students’ and researchers’ pay and other research related expenses. This money then has a trickle down effect to improve educational quality by having better resources and teaching ability. </p>

<p>There is orders of magnitudes more money out there for engineering than physics since people are more willing to pay for engineering research than pure science research. While physics research is great, it is the research in the engineering labs that generally lead to the big improvements like better cars, cleaner energy, etc. While it is based on work that might have theory from physics, the physics work is so many generations into the theory that, to be brutal, most people dont care. The funding goes out to the projects that have the here and now results, of which most by far is in engineering labs.</p>

<p>You would be surprised at the money that petroleum engineers donated to the Unviersity of Texas. It was a lot, apparently.</p>

<p>An EE, Dr. Charles Kao, just won the Nobel Prize in physics.</p>