Engineering and Physics

[Joel Dawson]

I am a high school senior and I have really enjoyed both physics and math. As I look at majors for the future, I am somewhat torn between engineering and physics. I was wondering if I could get some comments from people who are/were in the majors on what the major differences for them might be.

 

[TFielding]

Still in High School, but I am also looking into those majors and my dad is an Engineer.

From what I've seen, Engineering is more applied and physics is more theory. But, both are good choices as they are some of the highest paid professions. I believe that in Engineering, you will have more choices (Civil, Electrical, Agricultural, Chemical, etc.)
Finally, both are similar subjects so you would have time to choose in college, because in engineering, you need to know some physics.

 

[dmase]

I'm a bio medical egr major. I've done little in my specific major because I went to community college which focused on mechanical engineering.

Physics is a broad study. The topics discussed will be brought into more depth in engineering classes but usually only specific ones. If your just in high school you have time, especially if you haven't done a university physics class in high school.

Most colleges don't make you declare you major till probably your sophomore year. Because at that point they have classes that are major specific and they don't want people bullshitting around in classes that won't be their career. Set your schedule up to be as general as possible the first year, try to get Calc 1 w/ analytic geometry out of the way before going to college. Take your chem, physics, calc 2, and maybe a light engineering elective. Do something similar the second year getting chem2, physics 2, diff eq or vector calc, one more egr elective.

Until you've been there and done it you can't make a decision like that easily. Going to the egr classes won't be a waste, because even if you do go down the physics path you'll be much better prepared to tackle the visible physical parts in physics. Any reports you write up will be in much better shape after taking egr classes. And I think that certain egr electives can count as technical electives or something.

Physics, Chemistry, and biology are the classes that will get you a taste of various disciplines. Your teacher may glide through stress and strain and you get an easy A on that section well that little bit he covered is almost the entirety of a mechanics of materials or statics class. If you find anything that sparks your interest i'd talk to your teacher or maybe one of their grad students about possible major choices.

 

[Bloedhoest]

I am a high school senior and I have really enjoyed both physics and math. As I look at majors for the future, I am somewhat torn between engineering and physics. I was wondering if I could get some comments from people who are/were in the majors on what the major differences for them might be.

Go with engineering. Because it's awesome.

Serious, what line of job do you fancy? As stated above engineering has a lot of choices. Even in mechanical you can go like a hundred different directions. Welding, metallurgy, LEAN you name it.

 

[Zantos]

Physics will teach you a whole range of things, whereas engineering can teach you a massive amount of depth and knowledge into certain areas. Not wanting to biased, as if I was I'd be telling you physics is the most amazing course in the history of man, I'll leave you with a statement from an MoD recruiting officer I talked to in a careers fair: "We like engineers because they can do what we want straight out of the box, but we prefer physicists because we can train them to do anything."

 

[Joel Dawson]

I am a high school senior and I have really enjoyed both physics and math. As I look at majors for the future, I am somewhat torn between engineering and physics. I was wondering if I could get some comments from people who are/were in the majors on what the major differences for them might be.

Go with engineering. Because it's awesome.

Serious, what line of job do you fancy? As stated above engineering has a lot of choices. Even in mechanical you can go like a hundred different directions. Welding, metallurgy, LEAN you name it.

I have no idea what I would like to do with engineering or physics. I asked my physics teacher today and he suggested a double major in both in order to open up job opportunities in both fields.

 

[dmase]

I am a high school senior and I have really enjoyed both physics and math. As I look at majors for the future, I am somewhat torn between engineering and physics. I was wondering if I could get some comments from people who are/were in the majors on what the major differences for them might be.

Go with engineering. Because it's awesome.

Serious, what line of job do you fancy? As stated above engineering has a lot of choices. Even in mechanical you can go like a hundred different directions. Welding, metallurgy, LEAN you name it.

I have no idea what I would like to do with engineering or physics. I asked my physics teacher today and he suggested a double major in both in order to open up job opportunities in both fields.

Double majoring like that... while impressive is crazy. Expect on average 21 credit semesters, if you think you can handle it go right ahead but what most people don't think about is with each college course there is almost always a recitation class(physic always has one). There are lab classes common in engineering and physics fields with lengthy lab reports. And to top it off you should make yourself more appealing to employers by applying for work studies and connecting with peers.

 

[Bloedhoest]

Also, engineering as a job is something you need to roll in to.
I now work for a company that builds customer specific machinery for automated assembly, packaging and pick&place. Every machine we build is a one of.
Never thought 6 years ago I would be designing those things but when I saw the possibilities there I thought "Fuck, let me build some!".

At this moment another company hired me to design jigs, mostly for welding. One od the jigs weighs over 6 tons and also rotates over his 'x' axle. It holds an aluminium frame that weighs roughly 3.5 tons.
Point is, automation, welding, machining you name it, you can do it. But as an engineer I'm a little bit biased concerning your choice.

 

[tstorm823]

I have no idea what I would like to do with engineering or physics. I asked my physics teacher today and he suggested a double major in both in order to open up job opportunities in both fields.

Pro-tip: Physics, as a pure science, doesn't have job oppurtunities beyond teaching it or researching. The next step after a physics degree is most likely grad school. If you do get a job out of college after studying physics, it's likely you will use your education minimally, because honestly, only the first 3 or 4 physics courses have practical uses.

Engineering is supposed to be the flip of that. It's supposed to, rather than delve into the depths of human knowledge on a subject, teach you the practical applications of the science. I won't say it always succeeds at teaching only pragmatic lessons, but that's the premise. On that note, there are a lot more working oppurtunities for engineers than physicists, but of course, all this depends on which engineering you're doing. If you're interested in physics, it's probably be civil or mechanical.

Double majoring in both may be entirely feasible, but it's dependant on the universities curriculum for the two.

My absolute suggestion is to go in ambitious. It's hard to screw yourself over with too much science and engineering. It's much easier to switch out of something difficult and finish in 4 years than it is to switch into it and do the same. If after a semester you have science courses, you can switch to business or something, but if you start easy, you probably wont get another chance to try the tough stuff.

Double majoring like that... while impressive is crazy. Expect on average 21 credit semesters, if you think you can handle it go right ahead but what most people don't think about is with each college course there is almost always a recitation class(physic always has one). There are lab classes common in engineering and physics fields with lengthy lab reports. And to top it off you should make yourself more appealing to employers by applying for work studies and connecting with peers.

I have a friend who's double in civil engineering and physics. The way it is here, there's enough overlap of classes that she gets through with 17 credit semesters with 2 out of semester classes (we have a one class winter session optional between fall and spring) in 4 years.

 

[artanis_neravar]

I am a high school senior and I have really enjoyed both physics and math. As I look at majors for the future, I am somewhat torn between engineering and physics. I was wondering if I could get some comments from people who are/were in the majors on what the major differences for them might be.

Go with engineering. Because it's awesome.

Serious, what line of job do you fancy? As stated above engineering has a lot of choices. Even in mechanical you can go like a hundred different directions. Welding, metallurgy, LEAN you name it.

I have no idea what I would like to do with engineering or physics. I asked my physics teacher today and he suggested a double major in both in order to open up job opportunities in both fields.

Engineering eliminates almost any possibility of a social life by itself, you throw a physics major on top of that and you might not make it out alive. Engineering itself is an 18 credit per semester major that is 18 hours of class a week, and they suggest that you do at least 3 hours of studying/homework for every hour in class time, that is 54 hours a week of studying. Now add physics to that around 122 credits for a major added on to the 144 credits of an engineering major. Assuming that 10 of those classes work towards both majors, that still leaves you with 236 credits to graduate. Over 4 years of school that is 30 credits a semester. Not only do most schools not allow that, they usually charge an extra thousand dollars($1000) per credit beyond 18 or so credits. So you would have to pay an extra $12,000 a semester. Now back to study time. 30 credits a semester gives you 90 hours of studying a week add to that the 30 hours of classes, that leave you with 48 hours a week for sleeping eating and socializing. Since the human body tends to need 6 hours a night or so, that's 42 hours a week, and leaves you with 6 hours a week, less than an hour a day for anything else. Now I'm not trying to scare you away from your choice, I am just making sure you understand what you would be getting yourself into and how hard this would really be.

I am a Mechanical Engineering Major by the way

 

[artanis_neravar]

I have a friend who's double in civil engineering and physics. The way it is here, there's enough overlap of classes that she gets through with 17 credit semesters with 2 out of semester classes (we have a one class winter session optional between fall and spring) in 4 years.

I'm curious where exactly are you? and are you sure she is not Majoring in Civil Engineering with a minor in physics? Because at my school we couldn't get away with 17 credits a semester as an engineer we needed 18 and our last two and a half years were strictly engineering only classes.

 

[tstorm823]

I'm curious where exactly are you? and are you sure she is not Majoring in Civil Engineering with a minor in physics? Because at my school we couldn't get away with 17 credits a semester as an engineer we needed 18 and our last two and a half years were strictly engineering only classes.

Pretty sure. And also, we not only get away with 17 credits in civil department, we get charged extra for taking more.

 

[Hyperrhombus]

If you`re unsure about your potential career, as my Physics teacher said:

If you take a degree in engineering, you can do engineering.
If you take a degree in Physics, you can still do engineering.

Physics by far is far broader, and keeps many more doors open until graduation. Physics grads are highly sought after in the financial sector, since they can analyse the flow of money (apparently)(you probably knew this anyway...)

Being in the UK, my situation isnt quite the same as yours, but I ended up choosing physics over engineering since I have a wider choice of careers after university. Hope this helps!