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How many of you have a degree in physics?

hoopyfrood

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Title says it... how many of you have degrees in Physics? or even considered it. If you considered getting one, what turned you off from it?

Basically, why should or shouldn't I choose physics as my degree? I wanna hear what people think about it (especially those with the degree).



p.s. I put this in SO instead of Sci and Tech or Careers/Edu because it has more people that read it (I think), and because I need a second opinion. :) If mods deem it unworthy of this forum, move it without hesitation.
 
Basically, why should or shouldn't I choose physics as my degree? I wanna hear what people think about it (especially those with the degree).

If you are one of those people who finds maths a struggle at the best of times (or one of those people like me that struggles to get beyond basic integration and differentiation) then that would be one good reason for not doing a physics degree.

If you are a fundamentalist christian it may drive you insane. They don't mention god once!
 
A couple of factors from my experience:

1) Physics, especially at the undergraduate level, will require a lot of lab work. And not like high school physics labs (those were always cool, whereas looking at an osciliscope for 4 hours is not exactly dropping stuff off of the school roof). Confusing and expensive equipment, where things can go badly if you don't understand what's going on. For example, I took ~350 volts to the hand during a lab exam, simply because I didn't know how to use the apparatus. I had a friend who did something very foolish with magnets and ended up in the ER. However, a lot of people take physics because they like the lab element. Especially people who want to go into x-physics fields in further education (i.e. bio-physics). And some people like seeing things "in action" and playing with expensive machines.

2) You will have to be able to do math. You'll probably take about 1/2 as much math as a math student would. At minimum multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra and possibly calculus of variations. You will also have to know how to code on a very basic level, and use functional programs such as Matlab, Origin or Mathematica. Furthermore, some physics courses will be essentially math courses, just in the physics department. I took a course on Fourier analysis and one in quantum mechanics, both which were completely math. But also, if you like math too much, especially in a sense that you are "wowed" by it, then physics might frustrate you becuase you won't necessarily prove things, and it can get a bit hand-wavy and such. I am a math person, and it always bothered me how the math presented in physics felt "incomplete."

3) If you are a heterosexual male, there will be little oppertunity for dating within the department.

4) Metaphysics is kind of frowned upon within most physics departments. The lectures get disrupted by people wanting to bring non-physical concepts into the classrooms (that aren't the non-physical math elements necessary for the degree). So it can teach you a lot about how the world works, but not why it works in this particular way (in a profound sense).

5) Is there an element of physics that particularly interests you? If so, I'd find a school with reputable staff that know it. If you want to do astrophysics, find a department with decent research in the topic. I first wanted to do astrophysics, but went to a school that only taught one course on it, and the faculty kind of joked around about that course.
 
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A couple of factors from my experience:

1) Physics, especially at the undergraduate level, will require a lot of lab work. And not like high school physics labs (those were always cool, whereas looking at an osciliscope for 4 hours is not exactly dropping stuff off of the school roof). Confusing and expensive equipment, where things can go badly if you don't understand what's going on. For example, I took ~350 volts to the hand during a lab exam, simply because I didn't know how to use the apparatus. I had a friend who did something very foolish with magnets and ended up in the ER. However, a lot of people take physics because they like the lab element. Especially people who want to go into x-physics fields in further education (i.e. bio-physics). And some people like seeing things "in action" and playing with expensive machines.

2) You will have to be able to do math. You'll probably take about 1/2 as much math as a math student would. At minimum multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra and possibly calculus of variations. You will also have to know how to code on a very basic level, and use functional programs such as Matlab, Origin or Mathematica. Furthermore, some physics courses will be essentially math courses, just in the physics department. I took a course on Fourier analysis and one in quantum mechanics, both which were completely math. But also, if you like math too much, especially in a sense that you are "wowed" by it, then physics might frustrate you becuase you won't necessarily prove things, and it can get a bit hand-wavy and such. I am a math person, and it always bothered me how the math presented in physics felt "incomplete."

3) If you are a heterosexual male, there will be little oppertunity for dating within the department.

4) Metaphysics is kind of frowned upon within most physics departments. The lectures get disrupted by people wanting to bring non-physical concepts into the classrooms (that aren't the non-physical math elements necessary for the degree). So it can teach you a lot about how the world works, but not why it works in this particular way (in a profound sense).

5) Is there an element of physics that particularly interests you? If so, I'd find a school with reputable staff that know it. If you want to do astrophysics, find a department with decent research in the topic. I first wanted to do astrophysics, but went to a school that only taught one course on it, and the faculty kind of joked around about that course.

1) Loved high school labs... I'd imagine college labs will be a tad more rough. But I can deal with it.

2) I'm not too worried about my capability of doing math (not say I'm not worried about my motivation though. I found first and second semester calc easy, granted I had a good teacher...

3) The single greatest flaw in science.

4) Not too interested in metaphysics as a career...

5) I like astrophysics a lot, quantum mechanics/physics, optics, nuclear physics, nano-related stuff, astronomy... pretty much anything within the realm of technology development or space science. I'm still not sure I want to get a job within private corps or as a professor.

What career did you have redleader? Did you end up using your physics degree? What do you do for work? That's what I'm most concerned about: after-BS job (or grad school, if I chose to go down that path).


Did you go to grad school? Do you find your job interesting? Was it what you expected? Do you wish you were payed more?

As you can see, I've got a lot of questions that can really only be answered with other people's experience. I wanna get this whole career path thing right the first time.
 
p.s. I put this in SO instead of Sci and Tech or Careers/Edu because it has more people that read it (I think), and because I need a second opinion. :) If mods deem it unworthy of this forum, move it without hesitation.

well, by not posting in those forums, you're not giving them the traffic either.

just sayin'...

:|
 
I don't know about the substance of the degree, but if you're looking to go grad school physics is great scholarship wise.

My friend and I are both going to grad school. He's doing physics for PhD and is getting money he didn't even apply for, I have a different major and had to apply for loans... :|
 
hoopyfrood I'll still move this over to E&C because it belongs there. But you can check in on it and bump it every now and then if you want it to receive more attention :)
 
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