Is it a good idea to study physics?
I'm pretty good at math and I'm interested in physics so I'm considering studying it at university after the summer.
Would it be a good idea? I've heard that it's very hard to get a job if you don't qualify for a research program. Could I get a job for a company like SpaceX (something similar but less selective)?
>>7999512
>Is it a good idea to study physics?
No. Major in engineering and/or math instead.
>>7999512
if you ace all your AP physics and math tests and feel superior to everyone else at your school, you should go for it. Otherwise go into some type of engineering. If you aren't good with theory then you won't make it as a physicist, and that's okay. Some people are better when it come to applying their physics and math to the real world. You're gonna have to take a lot of the same core classes either way, the only difference is when you get to 300 and 400 level classes so you have time to decide.
>>7999524
Why is that?
>>7999543
>ace physics
Sometimes.
>ace maths
No.
I guess I shouldn't go for it? Then I'm choosing between EE, CS or ME..
>>7999555
Definitely go with EE out of those three. I'm a senior astrophysics major and I feel like if I went into engineering there would be a lot more job/research opportunities and applicational knowledge taught.
>>7999583
EE has a lot of maths in it compared to the other two though
>>7999588
True...I'm just telling you what I wish I did. Maybe I'm biased because I didn't learn much about circuits as an astrophysics major and now I feel like I'm completely screwed if I want to have a career in science. It's essential shit that they did a poor job of teaching me in the astro department whereas for an electrical engineer I'd think it's drilled into their brains pretty hard. no gay pun intended.
>>7999512
>I'm interested in physics
You should take physics. Being interested in the subject is important.
In terms of employability you will have to sell your practical experimental skills, if you want a job at SpaceX you would probably find it easier with an Engineering degree (but don't let difficulty stop you)
>>7999512
Study physics and go abroad afterwards. I heard too that America is not able to give proper jobs to professional physicists. Although if you studied physics you proved that you are able to handle anything with math, programming and complicated problems (even if you haven't dealt with at university). As far as I know they recognize this ability in Germany and therefore physicists are bareley unembloyed. Most of them don't do research though.
>>7999643
Yeah, it seems much harder to get a job with physics degrees. I will have to figure out if it's worth the trade off to study what I'm most interested in, I guess.
>>7999648
I'm actually in Europe, so that would be pretty easy. Seems like an engineering degree would be better though, if I'm not going into research.
>>7999690
Time was engineers were ruthlessly ridiculed on /sci/
I guess that time is over because the majority of faggots ITT suggest you choose engineering over physics (which is a mistake imo)
>>7999731
Why is it a mistake? Job opportunities are so much more common for engineers and they make more money.
>>7999741
this
>>7999741
Is money really that important? Why do you want to do research in the first place?
You really should try out what fits your interests best. A friend of mine told me that math in engineering is ridicoulisly easy compared to physics. Are you really fulfilled if you are not mentally challenged?
I suggest you to try out physics first and then switch to engineering if it's too hard or to less fun. That's what some of my friends did. (From one of them came the information about the easy math)
You can even take some useful knowledge and CPs with you.
>>7999873
That's all true, but being unemployed and then being forced to work with something unrelated to your degree really sucks.
>>7999512
Just do applied math
>>7999873
If you're equally interested in physics and engineering for example, I don't see a reason to stay for physics, since engineering is so much more promising employment-wise and money-wise too. I would love to do physics because it is very interesting to me, but then again I'm just average in maths so I would have a hard time becoming a good physicist and would like to more money as an engineer. I guess it all comes down to personal preference and ability.
Just look at which school you'd like to go to, and the program credit requirements for each field. Theres bound to be some overlap. So take the first year shit thats good for all of your choices (ie basic calculus, physics, programming) and see what you like and go from there.
>>7999916
protip: most engineers don't work in their field. they end up being cost analysts or some other shitter tier excel/CAD monkey.
engineering will land you a """""job""""", but not the kind of job anyone would really want.
if you do engineering, you better be fucking good at it, and you better be doing all the extra shit on top of getting good grades. /sci/ likes to argue with me and say all the extras are unnecessary, but i guarantee that when you are applying for a good internship at Rolls Royce or Tesla, there is going to be a guy in that pile with the same GPA as you, but with a fuckload of other stuff that BTFO's your shitty little resume.
and then you will run back to /sci/ and complain about not getting your dream job and that engineering is "saturated".
>>8000021
>Theres bound to be some overlap
Engineering courses are quite different from the physics ones
If an engineer takes classical mechanics he would learn about stress tensors or some shit while the physicist learn the lagrange and hamilton formalisms
>>8000033
What extra shit should I aim to do?
I've heard about the shit "engineering" jobs but it seems like many engineers get an actual engineering job.
>>8000060
First off, start building a portfolio. it should include:
>Awards from scholarships and competitions (you are applying/competing right?)
>letters of recommendation from faculty and employers
>Samples of your work.
This is a big one. Nothing will impress a potential employer like a stack of slick CAD drawings. start making shit in your schools machine shop/lab.
second. join your professional organization (ASME, IEEE, etc). its cheap for students and they invite you to shit. also try to pick a more specific kind of industry and read the associated magazines and journals. keeping abreast of this stuff and knowing who the movers and shakers are really helps, and its a marginal time investment.
next, get some third party certifications. typically from whatever company makes software/instrumentation relevant to your field. CAD/CAM software publishers are a good place to look first. Take the goddamn FE exam, and take it early.
Finally, make sure you get internships. internships, internships, internships. That meme about "needing experience to get the experience" is kind of true. don't be afraid to take an internship your first summer or so that isn't optimal. sometimes you just gotta pay your dues.
>>8000111
Thank you. I had no idea of most of this. I'll try to do as much of this as possible.
This could really help me, I think. I kinda missed out on this stuff in high school because I didn't know what to aim for and I had no direction. Now I have.
looking for perspectives on this video... i saw the pic of the LHC. so i thought i'd post this here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82V6E4sm054&nohtml5=False
>>8000650
perhaps i should specify... i'm looking for educated, productive perspectives on this subject.
>>7999524
eng is for people that actually want to be HR and get revenge on people they perceive to be interferer and lazy but are actually hard working and better people who make society and people around them feel better. People who would self sacrifice.
You can call yourself a engineer by doing a 6 month course and then spend the rest of your working life telling people you're a engineer while out drinking. They'll all think "yeah, right, prick alert" while you mull over how superior they must think of you while your brain slowly forgets the basics like pythagoras formula as you don't use basic mathematics in work as you're too busy trying to legally get one over someone who had sex from the ages of 13-17 and boosted about it. You might think the extra few grand and "manager title", "office" is worth it but you know your a fraud.
>>7999524
Engineer if you want to deal with Hardware
Math is good all around if you have connections too.
Physics + something else is good, CPSC becomes useful again with Physics
>>7999512
>Is it a good idea to study physics?
YES! It is ALWAYS a good idea to study Physics. To get a good job you also need a PhD (no, I am serious). I did that and don't regret it.
>Would it be a good idea?
Yes.
> I've heard that it's very hard to get a job if you don't qualify for a research program.
might not be too hard but for research you need to du a PhD.
Main problem is that many have strange ideas of physicists and getting a job in industry can be harder than it should. With a well rounded degree you should be able to work in industry, including software, electronics, QA, auditing, IPR and more. I did all of that.
>>7999512
Depends. From an economic viewpoint, in my country physicists and astronomers are the best paid professions after executive vocations.
>>7999543
I am not so sure about this. I got a 5 on my Physics test but the course is a fucking joke. All you have to do is pay attention and do your homework. No real studying is needed.
>>8000650
This is absolute bullshit. The LHC collides protons with each other. The only thing escaping the detectors are myons. Do you really think some myons would have an effect on the sun?
>>8000825
So you mean CS is useless?
>>8001715
>To get a good job you also need a PhD (no, I am serious). I did that and don't regret it.
Yeah, this was pretty much all I was going to add to this thread. A bachelors in physics only seems to set you up for a phd. But that's not a bad thing, I mean if you want to do physics then that means you probably want to do research.
>>7999512
>Is it a good idea to study physics?
No. If you are not a Perelman-tier man, you will never get success in any science.
It's better to leave your wet dreams about "muh science and shiet" and start to think about real career
>>8002402
Exactly.
I just wanted to add that with a PhD in Physics there are many fellowships available around the world. Sure, it is a badly paid rat race but you get to see interesting places (I went to many places including Japan) and learn skills you can apply many places later on.
When my research field went out of fashion I went to industry and /thankfully) was able to apply research methodology in many of my tasks. Proper analytics early on saves a whole lot of time and bother later on.
