Becoming an engineer with a Physics degree

cmerickson21

I want to become an engineer but I am also interested in playing football at a small NAIA school that does not offer a degree in any kind of engineering but they do offer a degree in Physics. I was wondering how difficult is it to become an engineer with a degree in physics or if it is even difficult at all. Also if I could get a degree in physics can I then go on to get a masters in engineering?

WarPhalange

Going to be tough, especially coming from a small school. How good is their physics program? Do you have a course catalog online or something that lists the available classes?

You might have to go to graduate school to get a Master's in whatever engineering field you want before you can become an engineer.

The reason I say this is because employers won't really want to hire you if all you know is physics from a small school. But a graduate school won't be as reluctant to take you on. You will however have to make up for it a bit with undergrad classes at the new school.

cmerickson21

I do not know how good their program is here is the degree requirements
http://www.snu.edu/physics-major
and here is the catalog
http://my.snu.edu/catalog/catalog.asp

WarPhalange

Are you on the semester system or quarter system?

paddo

Similar situation here.
I've nearly finished the science part of engineering/science. After this year I have 2 years to go. I am sick to death of uni and would rather leave after this year and apply for a job as a mechanical engineer. Do you reckon this'll work? My science majors are maths and physics (I like them but don't like uni).
Cheers.

WarPhalange

It wouldn't hurt to apply, and then if you get accepted you just drop out? Would that work?

TMFKAN64

How hard do you think it would be to be a doctor with a degree in music?

OK, physics and engineering are more related than that, and I'm sure that *somewhere* there is an M.D. with a music degree... but if you want to be a physicist study physics, and if you want to be an engineer, study engineering. You'll be doing yourself a favor in the long run.

Mihael

A same thought here as well, but I went in different path.
I have taken engineering degree, however my dream is to become a physicist. And, I was planning to do master of physics in the future. Because I want to work in engineering field as a physicist status.

leumas614

A medical doctor with a degree in music? I don't see why that should be hard. The only science you need to know before med school are the standard pre-med requirements.

TMFKAN64

Feel free to choose a better analogy.

It's one thing to get a degree in one field and then realize you wish you were in another field. But it flat-out makes no sense to *plan* on doing this.

Although on second thought, I should go back to the original post. If you're getting a football scholarship so you are getting a free degree... OK, I can see trying to make that work.

Howers

Actually, I myself would be interested in knowing if one with a physics bachelors can be declared an "engineer" after completing an advanced degree, ie. masters, in said engineer field.

Future-boy

I have a question.
Is physics a no-no if you are not so good at explaining things ?

Or can/must you learn it while at university?

I am insecure.

atyy

No, physics is very easy and anyone can learn it (at least at the undergraduate level; it will often take you a week to solve a homework problem, but that's the same for 99.9% of physics majors) - as long as you are interested in it and curious about the questions it asks, and you have teachers who love the subject and care about their students (the teachers are not so important, but it helps). Anyway, most football players solve in practice problems that would be much too hard to put on exams. So this should not be an obstacle.

As for going from physics to engineering, I have no idea. One possibly useful resource is "Landing Your First Job: A Guide for Physics Students" by John Rigden. It's published by the American Institute of Physics, and the physics department or career office at your school might have a copy.

atyy

Hmm, seems you can take engineering classes at Oklahoma Christian University nearby:
https://my.snu.edu/catalog/catalogex...talogYear=2008

cmerickson21

I never noticed that before. Thank you for that. That makes this decision a lot easier.

ks_physicist

In my state, you CAN NOT take the FE/EIT exam unless you have a BACHELOR'S in engineering. If you have a bachelor's in physics, a master's and a Ph.D. in Engineering, and teach engineering coursework at a university--you STILL can not take the FE, and therefore can NEVER become a licensed engineer. You (with your Ph.D. in engineering) would HAVE to complete an undergraduate degree in engineering first.

This was explained at great length by a high-ranking, long-term member of the state professional engineering board during a visit to my university several years ago.

Now, if you want to work for a company as an engineer, but they don't require you to be EIT or to pursue a PE license, then you can do that. But those jobs seem to be less common than they supposedly were a decade or two ago.

Future-boy

This is bad :(

I wanted to study bachelors in physics and then go to biomedical engineering (with focus on nano-robotics and molecular engineering)