/sci/ - Science & Math

>>10199593
better focus on getting good at programming

>>10199593
My parents always wanted me to do something besides physics. It is fairly clear to anyone that knows me that I am not a stellar at physics--I get by fine in my classes, there's a non-trivial chance that some graduate school will accept me, and I have not been fired from my lab yet, but it is very apparent that I am not among the top students in my department, much less my generation. In an era where there is an overproduction of PhD's, not very many tenure track university positions, and shrinking fundamental research budgets, I don't expect to become a university professor. What are my choices at that point? A wide array of technical and quantitative jobs, from industry research to quantitative finance to science policy to something completely random and unrelated. I decided to major in physics in part because I love it, and in part because I felt like it closed off the fewest doors. In that sense, it's not a bad career move.

But that doesn't mean it's the best career move. You could major in something else that would be more useful at the various technical jobs that physics majors hold--electrical engineering, CS, statistics, economics--and have a comparable if not better chance of getting a specialized job in a certain field. You could major in something that takes less time than physics majors often do (not going to suggest any here for fear of opening that can of worms) and spend the extra time getting a minor in another useful field to expand your skill set, building professional skills, networking, etc. You could major in something more immediately and obviously applicable and save yourself the time/effort of explaining to employers why the time you spent considering quantum field theory for a semester make you useful. It's not the world's most difficult sell, but sometimes it can be a bit tricky. /2

>>10199636
>>10199593

The thing that my parents worry about is not so much that I have made my life unnecessarily difficult by trying to do a less specifically useful major, but that by majoring in physics you tend to be surrounded by a disproportionately large number of people who go into academia or similar. Your professors did the traditional academic track, as did/are the people in your lab, and likely a fair number of your classmates. While it's true that many other majors have a fair number of individuals expecting to go to graduate school/into academia, I think physics has a comparatively large percentage. The worry then becomes that you begin to want the same, and it is unfortunately true that the market for tenure track academic positions is a very competitive one. You are not necessarily hurting your opportunities for the vast majority of "career paths", but you might begin to narrow your sights to something that is harder to obtain.

>>10199593
Doing a theoretical science bachelor will always be useless unless it's applied science like chemistry

is true banks like to hire guys with physics degrees or did i get memed on again

>>10199593
All undergrad degrees are useless in 2018.
If you don't plan on grad school, then don't go to college. Just go for a trade instead. You really need connections to land a decent job immediately following undergrad.
t. "non-traditional" MD PhD who struggled severely after undergrad despite being well spoken and intelligent.

>>10199711
are you white anon? just curious

>>10199716
Yes, why?

Occupy Academia

>>10199718
figures

>>10199721
What do you mean, figures?
You have better chances if you aren't White or Asian.

>>10199735
yeah that's what I mean affirmative action is not a meme especially when it comes to entry level positions and the like I knew plenty of completely clueless non whites who secured all kinds of prestigious internships and entry level positions with fortune 500 companies and nasa and the like

if you're white without any connections it's super hard to get a job if you're in undergrad you're better off coughing up money to join a frat than you are buying textbooks because at least then you'll be forming a professional network

the memes are real

>>10199745
Whites without connections don't exist.

>>10199749
*blocks your path*

>>10199749
i am one

the best my "connections" got me was working for $80 a day with Mexican illegals doing landscaping with a third cousin I never met

poor PoC have a much easier time of getting all kinds of ridiculously paying entry level jobs than poor wypipo thanks to affirmative action

>>10199775
Just find a white company that only hires whites and accepts you because of white nationalism and white brotherhood. I bet there's hundreds of these companies in the rural part of America

>>10199809
literally don't exist but I wish they would, hopefully some day

>>10199812
That stuff doesn't exist in the present when people elected trump?
Weird. Very weird

>>10200188
I can't tell if you're memeing or not.

>>10200188
La Cringré

>>10200195
If most people and especially white people are willing to elect a far right guy into office, then it's weird why those same people don't hire each other into their companies.
Since most hiring is based on networking it wouldn't be that hard to justify it.

>>10200204
Trump isn't far right and race itself is not a subject of kinship or pride for whites, so being a "fellow white" means jack shit to white people.

>>10200204
You'd think this line of thinking would lead to you questioning whether the people who voted Trump were even white nationalists. Maybe it would lead you to question whether Trump was a white nationalist. I don't pretend to support him, but you don't have to look at or listen to him for very long to know he isn't a white nationalist.

>>10199749
yes they do lol
>>10199809
>>10200188
7/10

>>10199701
only if you had a PhD before the recession but its not because they caused about physics they just hired people they thought were smart so PhD from top tier universities in physics, math, and engineering. Nowadays its much better to be PhD in CS or Stat for quantitative hedge funds but it very competitive and they only take Ivy League, Stanford, and MIT PhD.s

>>10199593
Yes go work at a warehouse and put in the time and effort to get a promotion.

>>10199593
If you are doing a physics major for the job and not for the sake of doing physics, change your major and kys

>>10200217
4chan could have fooled me

>>10199593
It's not useless. You can be a high school teacher.

>>10199593
my old roommate was a physics math double major that got hired by boeing directly out of undergrad to "analyze circuits", although everything he's doing is too classified for him to tell me about in detail. last I heard he was making pretty decent money.

>>10199593
Only if you got your degree from a shit uni, if you're from a top prestigious university just leverage your quant abilities into a chad finance job

t. Cambridge chemistry bachelor working in investment banking

>>10199636
Do a BEd after-degree and you'll always have a fallback job as a high school physics teacher.

>>10199642
studied physics undergrad, graduated 2012.

if you are extremely career oriented, it is a terrible choice. if you are curious and want to have a very broad skillset, it can work well.

since graduating i worked as an aerodynamics engineer for a small drone manufacturer, then as a geophysicist for a mining exploration company. the last two years in the mining industry i spent most of my free time learning programming stuff and i just started a computer science phd.

the math/physics background has enabled me to jump into different industries, but its always extra work on your part. many companies will never even give you a shot.

i would make exactly the same choice again though.

>>10199735

Damn I never knew affirmative action was that big lol

>>10199642
Are you in undergrad? I'm considering EE instead of physics because I've seen interesting jobs and industries which are more open to EEs than physicists, but your point of considering the time a major takes also struck me. Maybe I should do a physics degree with a minor in CS, applied math, or statistics of some kind. God I wish EE didn't take a full 4 to 5 years.