Physics

[Anonymous No.7594364]

Hey /sci/, I was wondering if anyone here has graduated with a BS in Physics? What kind of job prospects am I looking at out of college with a physics degree? I don't want to end up like my highschool physics teacher, teaching a bunch of bastard kids because they couldn't find any other jobs. Is Physics a pointless degree unless you plan on going to grad school?

[Anonymous No.7594398]

I have a physics BS and, with any luck whatsoever, will have my PhD next week. I do know people that did not go on to grad school with a physics BS and aren't unemployed losers. Straightaway, however, know this: you won't be doing physics. You simply aren't qualified. What you do have is training in quantitative problem solving and should have decent programming skills. You are qualified for various positions in the financial sector as well as programming in the tech sector if you can build a portfolio showing off any sort of skill (or know someone in the field through internships and the like). If you focus on experimental work and work in the right labs, you should be qualified for various engineering positions as well. The problem is that you are not necessarily going to beat out someone that holds a degree in these fields for the same position, but you can generally apply to a broader range of technical positions than others and be taken as a serious candidate.

[Anonymous No.7594401]

daily reminder

[Anonymous No.7594419]

>>7594401
>>7594398

So basically if I settle with a BS im doomed to work in a field I most likely wont enjoy, and I wont be qualified for any jobs that would interest someone going for a physics degree? I dont know if I can handle grad school, as im still a freshman so I don't even know how undergrad is going to go. I considered minoring in astronomy because that is basically my biggest interest.

[Anonymous No.7594422]

>>7594419
phys, like math, is a meme degree
if you want a job, or to do anything remotely important, just do engineering

[Anonymous No.7594461]

>>7594422
or bio, chem or bio/chem fields.

[Anonymous No.7594464]

>>7594461
ayy lmao

[Anonymous No.7594478]

>>7594419
With an undergrad degree, you won't be doing anything in the pure sciences; you are not qualified to do research at that level. You can be a lab monkey, but lab monkey work in physics labs is not nearly as prevalent as it is in biology or chemistry labs due to the more academic culture of industrial physics work compared to industrial biology and chemistry work.

[Anonymous No.7594487]

>>7594461
>or bio....

fucking dont. that's just as bad as womens studies at this point.

chem based majors are still relatively safe, the job market is just shit if you dont live on one of the us coasts.

[Anonymous No.7594493]

>>7594478
I should clarify that the "academic culture" in industrial physics means that it is more in line with the culture of academia where there is much more openness about the basic research. As a result, you have an open door between industrial labs and academic labs that provides a number of qualified researchers. In industrial biology and chemistry labs, things are more proprietary, preventing this flow between academia and industry.

[Anonymous No.7594503]

>>7594487
While I do agree that it's probably smart to avoid a "bio" major unless you're premed, the specialties of Bio are promising in the job market. Genetics, molecular bio, etc.

[Anonymous No.7594511]

>>7594398
This tbh

The thing about someone with a physics bs degree is that it shows they're very versatile in pretty much any high tech industry job
You aren't specialized but you've done enough of everything to pick things up relatively fast which is a really valuable resource to employers
Of course you're always going to lose out to the nerd who focused on mini audio stabilizer technology for a job focused on car quieting engineering

[Anonymous No.7594521]

>>7594511
Man I know you get pumped by propaganda from your faculty all day, but if we're talking industry the nerd who focused on mini audio stabilizer technology has more background and versatility than a physics major because he not only has a far more extensive background in applied science, but also in other professional disciplines before he started his project.

Your background in introductory QFT is not helpful when you're designing a heat exchanger.

[Anonymous No.7594528]

>>7594521
Of course it is. Just model everything as dimensionless spheres and shove the higher order corrections under the carpet.

[Anonymous No.7594631]

>>7594521
>Your background in introductory QFT is not helpful when you're designing a heat exchanger.
That is why you work in experimental labs that need someone to build a heat exchanger or some other bit. You won't get that experiment through coursework as a physics major, but you can get it through volunteer lab work pretty easily.

[Anonymous No.7594636]

>>7594631
>You won't get that experiment through
Should be "experience," not "experiment."

[Anonymous No.7594697]

>>7594422
>tfw /sci/ consistently told me my pure math degree would be a meme degree
>tfw got a job immediately out of college as a "financial analyst" making $56k
I mean it's nothing to really brag about and less than my engineering friends but the point is that if you study what you love, work hard, and aren't autistic you should be able to get a decent job. My brother and sister were both English lit majors and even they ended up making $50k out of school by just being proactive with their job searching.

[Anonymous No.7594707]

>>7594631
I've never understood this "you can into engineering as long as you do a lot of engineering" logic.

Why not just get an engineering degree and study the physics in your spare time, then you have the official credentials instead of needing to spend 4-8 years jumping through bureaucracy hoops. I don't see any valid reason to do physics unless you want a career in physics.

>>7594697
That's just obvious major politics bait. Don't dignify it with a response.

[Anonymous No.7595258]

>>7594364
You'll be fine

Literally no reason to go into engineering over physics or physics over engineering unless for some reason you're really into a specific engineering degree

BS really don't get very specific even if you spec into a branch
A bs in electrical engineering and a bs in physics aren't really that much different on the market

I don't know a single physics major who didn't end up getting a career
Sure one of them ended up working on the stock market but that's still a career job

No one hires Physicists they hire engineers
The only major difference in physics and engineering majors are A) the way they approach problems and B) the engineer will have more experience in a certain field than others (this is good and bad depending on the job and industry level. Small tech companies generally need engineers who can do a shit ton of things because they're small. Large tech companies can afford stupidly expert engineers.)

The biggest thing I'd say if you're looking to go into industry go get an internship that isn't research/academia based