Choosing between physics and engineering?

[rbk mama]

Anyone have some suggestions for DS - resources to read through or guidance?  He loves physics (and has a renewed love for math since entering calculus), but is hesitant about the thought of graduate school.  Engineering sounds good because it involves physics and can lead more directly to employment after undergrad.  Unfortunately this does seem like a decision that has to be made before applying.  He is in 10th grade now, so he has some time. 

[8filltheheart]

He could look into programs that have a double in physics and electrical engineering. Our ds loves physics and originally thought he might not want grad school, so he started with the double. After a yr or so, he decided that he really loves physics more, and he dropped the EE. But some of his core physics requirements are taken an satisfied in the EE dept. (He entered with physics credits, so he took electromagnetics and wave theory through EE.)

[Joules]

Will he be applying to different colleges depending on his choice?  Or is it just the universities of interest make you choose a college or major when you apply?

 

If it is the second, keep in mind that, though it may be difficult, most colleges do let you change your major.  Overall, usually engineering departments are harder to get into at places that you must declare at application.  So if he can get in engineering, it should be easier to slip into physics later.  OTOH, if he is a marginal candidate, it may be easier to get in to physics, and then he can impress someone and move to engineering later.  Check with the schools and online to see how they admit by major.

 

Another possibility is an applied physics program, which can be a terminal degree.  It might split the difference.  Some, though, are five year programs that terminate in a masters.

 

What does he want to *do* after graduation?  If you share more of his interests and what he loves about each, we may be able to give more specific advice.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2016 by Joules

[Joules]

If you haven't already, take a look at this thread:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/585681-engineering-physics-degree-any-tips-hints-or-cautions/?hl=%2Bapplied+%2Bphysics&do=findComment&comment=6807837

[rbk mama]

He could look into programs that have a double in physics and electrical engineering. Our ds loves physics and originally thought he might not want grad school, so he started with the double. After a yr or so, he decided that he really loves physics more, and he dropped the EE. But some of his core physics requirements are taken an satisfied in the EE dept. (He entered with physics credits, so he took electromagnetics and wave theory through EE.)

 

A double - engineering and physics - sounds overwhelming to me, but that might be the best fit for him.  Did he apply to the engineering school and then switch over to physics afterwards?  (How did he "start" with that double?)

[8filltheheart]

He declared EE on his app, but he met with the physics dept before he applied. He was able to add physics as soon as the semester started.

 

Fwiw, physics is a pre-req for EE courses, so it is not a difficult way to start out.

[rbk mama]

Will he be applying to different colleges depending on his choice?  Or is it just the universities of interest make you choose a college or major when you apply?

 

If it is the second, keep in mind that, though it may be difficult, most colleges do let you change your major.  Overall, usually engineering departments are harder to get into at places that you must declare at application.  So if he can get in engineering, it should be easier to slip into physics later.  OTOH, if he is a marginal candidate, it may be easier to get in to physics, and then he can impress someone and move to engineering later.  Check with the schools and online to see how they admit by major.

 

Another possibility is an applied physics program, which can be a terminal degree.  It might split the difference.  Some, though, are five year programs that terminate in a masters.

 

What does he want to *do* after graduation?  If you share more of his interests and what he loves about each, we may be able to give more specific advice.

 

It seems like most universities require you to apply to their college of Engineering OR their college of Science, Arts, etc.  That is why I'm thinking a decision has to be made before applying.

 

He has no idea what he wants to do after graduation! :laugh:   He is very much a theoretical type - would rather sit with paper and pencil than actually touch anything.  He's had no exposure to actual research, though, so its hard for him to imagine spending hours in a lab (he has hated his homeschool lab experiences so far).  Right now he is fascinated by quantum physics and enjoys watching MIT OCW lectures in his spare time.   So this makes me think - great, go for physics!  DH feels like engineering makes more sense from a financial perspective, and DS just doesn't know enough to make that decision. 

 

 

If you haven't already, take a look at this thread:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/585681-engineering-physics-degree-any-tips-hints-or-cautions/?hl=%2Bapplied+%2Bphysics&do=findComment&comment=6807837

 

Thanks!  I remember reading that thread with interest.  It doesn't seem to be a very common option at colleges though, correct?  Engineering physics or applied physics both sound like great options.

[AEC]

FWIW - I was accepted to my Univ as a physics major.  In the summer before I got there I was working/reading and had a change of heart - decided to switch to CompSci before I arrived.  The switch was difficult to convince them to let me do[1] - generally engineering majors are impacted.  I suggest if you're undecided that you apply to engineering and transfer later if you decide on physics.

 

Some thoughts...

- the overlap btwn physics and EE is larger than you'd think, really.  Lots of math...

- a really decent fraction of physics majors end up as software engineers in the more mathy parts of the tech/chip industry.  Honestly, it's easier to get a job.  they do fairly well, but it'd have been easier to just start w/ CS.

- understand that doing physics processionally means getting a PhD.

- at the end of the day, what cemented my switch was a realization that Shannon, more than Maxwell or Bohr, held the key to understanding the universe....but not everyone has seen that particular light so YMMV.  :D

 

 

[1] they told me flat out that switching from physics to engineering (CS) was impossible and not allowed.  I asked if they would allow me to sign up for the CS classes that weren't part of the physics sequence if there was space left in them...and they agreed.  I did that for almost two years, then pointed to my trackrecord of As and asked again if I could transfer.  It worked for me, but I know of many other people who wanted to switch and were denied.  It's generally easier to go the other direction.

[rbk mama]

Thanks AEC!  This is exactly the kind of experience I was hoping to hear about.  DS is also considering computer engineering (is more interested in hardware than software).  Makes sense that it would be much easier to begin with engineering, like 8Fill's DS, and change later if he wants.

[AEC]

IMO/E, someone interested in physics is likely to find a better fit in CompSci than EE.  In both physics and computer science, what you're really doing is constructing a mathematical model whose behavior matches some system you're interested in, and then optimizing that model.  The art, in both fields, in in the model construction.

 

I ended up taking upper division CS, EE and Physics classes as an undergrad.  Upper division CS classes (queuing theory, stochastic optimization) felt much more like physics (analytical mechanics, thermodynamics) than EE (circuit theory, solid state design).