- #1
tamtam402
- 201
- 0
I'd like to apply to university in an undergrad physics program because I love math and physics (I took college mechanics, E&M and currently taking waves and modern physics). The university I plan to go to offers different specializations for the final year, one of them being computational physics and scientific calculations.
It adds 4 courses, one of them being databases (we're required to take 1 or 2 CS courses in the first year), one more CS course focused on scientific calculations, but I think it deals with high-performance calculation using supercomputers, etc. Then there's the meat of the theory, a course that teaches a crapload of stuff such as the Monte Carlo method, and more "problem solving and computing" theory/methods that I could dream of. The final course in the specialization is a project. I would also get to choose some electives on top of that, either classical courses such as a third course on quantum physics, or other courses that would be more on the math/compuation and modeling side.
This stuff interests me, and I think I'd enjoy working on simulations/modeling in industry. Is this specialization the kind of stuff that would land me such a job? Of course I'd get an MSc in a computational physics/mathematics field to pursue my knowledge. I think this would allow me to learn more about physics, which is something that interests me a lot, while also allowing me to branch-off to more a employable sub-field, but I could be wrong. My other option would be to go for Electrical Engineering, but I don't know what kind of doors EE grad school would open; it might not be math/theory/research heavy enough for me.
Is it a bad idea to go for physics if this is what I'd like to do later-on? Is this sub-field of physics/math employable in industry? I'll be 5 years older than the average undergrad since I'm going back to school, and graduating with a useless degree isn't something I can afford to do unfortunately. I know EE would be more employable than physics, but maybe computational physics is different.
Thanks in advance!
It adds 4 courses, one of them being databases (we're required to take 1 or 2 CS courses in the first year), one more CS course focused on scientific calculations, but I think it deals with high-performance calculation using supercomputers, etc. Then there's the meat of the theory, a course that teaches a crapload of stuff such as the Monte Carlo method, and more "problem solving and computing" theory/methods that I could dream of. The final course in the specialization is a project. I would also get to choose some electives on top of that, either classical courses such as a third course on quantum physics, or other courses that would be more on the math/compuation and modeling side.
This stuff interests me, and I think I'd enjoy working on simulations/modeling in industry. Is this specialization the kind of stuff that would land me such a job? Of course I'd get an MSc in a computational physics/mathematics field to pursue my knowledge. I think this would allow me to learn more about physics, which is something that interests me a lot, while also allowing me to branch-off to more a employable sub-field, but I could be wrong. My other option would be to go for Electrical Engineering, but I don't know what kind of doors EE grad school would open; it might not be math/theory/research heavy enough for me.
Is it a bad idea to go for physics if this is what I'd like to do later-on? Is this sub-field of physics/math employable in industry? I'll be 5 years older than the average undergrad since I'm going back to school, and graduating with a useless degree isn't something I can afford to do unfortunately. I know EE would be more employable than physics, but maybe computational physics is different.
Thanks in advance!