/biz/ - Business & Finance

Studying math/physics at a respectable level (that is, above the baby math and physics that engineers go through) is one of the best things you can do for future success. Combine this with learning how to program at an advanced level and you'll be set for life. If you on top of this master social skills, sales and marketing, the world will bend over, spread her legs and let you rawdog it. You'll be light years ahead of everyone else.

Why? Because proper physics and math teaches you how to think logically. It teaches you how to think from first principles. It teaches you how to solve complex problems like nothing else. It literally makes you smarter, and it carries over to almost everything else you do. If you're good at physics and math, learning any new skill that requires some level of cognition will be effortless (like programming, other fields of science or engineering, finance etc.). Engineering does this too somewhat, although to a much, much lesser degree, because there you just use results, plug numbers into formulas and calculate. You hardly ever derive or prove anything in engineering, and that's where the real magic lies. Engineering trains you for a job, math/physics trains you to become a sharp-minded, problem-solving machine.

God tier life plan:

>Study physics/math as an undergraduate while picking up as much programming as possible
>Once finished, start your own business (create software, do online marketing, shopify, cryptos, whateverthefuck it really doesn't matter because whatever you go for, you'll be smarter than everyone else and you'll crush it. You have to learn marketing, sales and social skills for this though, you should've picked this up in college but if you didn't it's never too late).
>MOON past all the low-level dumb-as-shit plebs and pajeets who's got shit for brains
>Profit

Physics undergrad, 4th year staying on an extra year, 3.2 GPA (yeah yeah shitty. I have pretty severe OCD, am great at math, and have changed my life dramatically over the last year so I'm not doomed). I'll be doing work this summer + thesis/research until I graduate with the help of a researcher who's well respected in high energy theory, and has taken an interest in my career due to my circumstances - forever grateful.

I'm 21k in debt, and I figure after another year of loans I'll be ~30k down. I love physics, love love love physics and if I could do it forever I would.

Realistically, can I pay off my loans during graduate school? TA positions pay 18-23k/year (dunno if summer is included). Is it smart to pay loans off ASAP, or should I invest an equal amount (or more) of what I'm paying off. I'm great with numbers, but the economy is totally strange to me.

Do econ guys do a ton of variational calculus?
What the fuck should I do with money?