Pitfalls of Pursuing Physics: What to Know Before Making the Change

  • Thread starter bryarcanium
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In summary, a physics crush can be enough to sustain you through reading layman-level books or introductory classes, but it probably won't be enough to get you through the years of long, difficult homework sets and lab write-ups. True love and determination are needed for that. For you, the determination is worth it because you are obsessed with getting perfect grades and having a successful career in physics.
  • #1
bryarcanium
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I get crushes on ideas.

I know this about myself. I can be very impulsive. My latest crush has been the concept of going back to school for physics. (Where going back = getting a second undergraduate degree, and then pursuing grad school. My first degree was in Anthropology, which I picked because I like to write but didn't want to end up as an English teacher.)

This forum has been a great resource while I go about examining the idea to see if it's actually feasible; lots of encouraging posts. However, I am not asking for encouragement. I want to know what the pitfalls are, both in pursing the academic path I laid about above, and in building a career in physics. Why do people wash out? What were your friends saying, just before they switched careers? What are the major downsides, the things you have to slog through, or the things that you don't mind but that you've seen crush other people?

Thanks for all this. I've read many of the posts here that outline the benefits; I hope you don't mind showing me the costs.
 
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  • #2
So you're asking what the downsides of studying physics are?
 
  • #3
A crush on physics can be enough to sustain you through reading layman-level books ("A Brief History of Time " e.g.) or to get through an introductory class. But it probably won't be enough to get you through the years of long, difficult homework sets and lab write-ups. True love and determination are needed for that.

I think a lot of people wash out because the classes, especially upper division, are so different from the books/movies/documentaries that they were infatuated with as kids or young adults.
 
  • #4
Lab reports. Argh!

They are not difficult but tedious. Much of the time spent on a lab report is wasted on organization, proper grammar, neatness, etc.
 
  • #5
lisab said:
A crush on physics can be enough to sustain you through reading layman-level books ("A Brief History of Time " e.g.) or to get through an introductory class. But it probably won't be enough to get you through the years of long, difficult homework sets and lab write-ups. True love and determination are needed for that.

What makes the determination worth it, for you?
 
  • #6
Phyisab**** said:
So you're asking what the downsides of studying physics are?

Both studying Physics, and pursuing any of its career paths.
 
  • #7
I'm about to graduate with my B.S., I don't know about careers in physics. I can however answer why I often think to myself "man do I hate physics".

*WARNING: These are only the negative feelings I have towards physics. I have plenty of positive feelings too, but you said you've seen enough of those.*

I have an obsession with getting perfect grades, which for me is nearly unattainable. I spend ridiculous amounts of time studying physics. There is always more to do, and rarely do you spend enough time on a single topic to really understand it deeply. You can work ridiculously hard only to have everything come crashing down during a single exam. The feeling of working yourself to the bone and basically being punched in the face by an exam is not enjoyable in the least.

Long after the interest in the problem at hand has worn off, you will have to push yourself to keep going, and going. Often you will be assigned problems which are nearly unsolvable given the information you have. Some professors will give you real help if you go to them, other will just make you feel like an idiot who doesn't know how to do a little bit of work. The whole time, try to ignore that all these problems have already been solved and really have no bearing on anything.

Physics makes me antisocial because I feel like I am hurting myself if I spend time doing things other than physics. Most of my high school friends who are working as cooks or waitresses think I have it easy and always say "I wish I was as smart as you". If I was that smart I wouldn't have to spend every waking hour doing physics.

Most physics professors are aloof, impersonal, and socially inept. The focus on physics is really learning how to teach yourself. The only thing school does is provide a punishment if you ever decide to slow down. I feel like crap all the time because I'm tired and no matter how hard I work, it never really feels like it's good enough. Undergraduate physics is really only aimed at preparing you to do a PhD. The focus on employability is non-existant compared to what I see engineering majors do. The marketability of an undergraduate degree is hugely overstated if you go to any department web page and click the tab that says "why study physics?"
 
  • #8
Phyisab**** said:
I'm about to graduate with my B.S., I don't know about careers in physics. I can however answer why I often think to myself "man do I hate physics".

*WARNING: These are only the negative feelings I have towards physics. I have plenty of positive feelings too, but you said you've seen enough of those.*

I have an obsession with getting perfect grades, which for me is nearly unattainable. I spend ridiculous amounts of time studying physics. There is always more to do, and rarely do you spend enough time on a single topic to really understand it deeply. You can work ridiculously hard only to have everything come crashing down during a single exam. The feeling of working yourself to the bone and basically being punched in the face by an exam is not enjoyable in the least.

Long after the interest in the problem at hand has worn off, you will have to push yourself to keep going, and going. Often you will be assigned problems which are nearly unsolvable given the information you have. Some professors will give you real help if you go to them, other will just make you feel like an idiot who doesn't know how to do a little bit of work. The whole time, try to ignore that all these problems have already been solved and really have no bearing on anything.

Physics makes me antisocial because I feel like I am hurting myself if I spend time doing things other than physics. Most of my high school friends who are working as cooks or waitresses think I have it easy and always say "I wish I was as smart as you". If I was that smart I wouldn't have to spend every waking hour doing physics.

Most physics professors are aloof, impersonal, and socially inept. The focus on physics is really learning how to teach yourself. The only thing school does is provide a punishment if you ever decide to slow down. I feel like crap all the time because I'm tired and no matter how hard I work, it never really feels like it's good enough. Undergraduate physics is really only aimed at preparing you to do a PhD. The focus on employability is non-existant compared to what I see engineering majors do. The marketability of an undergraduate degree is hugely overstated if you go to any department web page and click the tab that says "why study physics?"

+1

Wow that post brought back a lot of undergrad memories :frown:!

To the OP: If you read Phyisab****'s post and think, "Oh I think I'd really like that kind of challenge, I'm tottally up for it!" then physics might be for you. If you read it and think "Damn, why would anyone willingly go through that?" then you might want to reconsider.
 
  • #9
Phyisab****, thank you for that post. I hope you start to feel better very soon, brother/sister/(both?).

Let me just say, electrical engineering, here I come! Probably just as difficult but I get a job at the end of the process...
 
  • #10
bryarcanium said:
However, I am not asking for encouragement. I want to know what the pitfalls are, both in pursing the academic path I laid about above, and in building a career in physics.

Among the larger pitfalls is having unrealistic goals without understanding that they are unrealistic. The other is not knowing what your goals are. What exactly do you mean by a "career in physics"? If a "career in physics" means being a tenured professor at a major research university, then you should know that the odds of that happening are something akin to be a major league baseball player.

Also, I think that getting a Ph.D. for the sake of a "career in physics" is a very unwise thing to do. You should get a Ph.D. in physics for the sake of getting a Ph.D. in physics so that if you get the Ph.D. and you end up selling shoes for the rest of your life, you know that you got the Ph.D.

Obsession with "top schools" is another pitfall. Physics is hard. Brutally hard, and your first goal is just to get in *anywhere*.

My big advice to you is to stop thinking of physics as a "career". If you think physics as a "career", you'll be subject to economic forces that are totally out of your control. For me, physics is more of an "obsession" than a "career."

Why do people wash out?

Basic arithmetic.

One hundred applicants. Ten places. That means that ninety people aren't going to make it.

Once you make it, then the process starts all over again.

The population of the United States is 310 million. The number of full time equivalent faculty positions in 10,000 FTE. The number of new openings for theoretical particle physicists last year was about 10. The US produces about 1000 Ph.D.'s each year.

Do not think of physics as a career. It just won't work as a career.

I think of physics as an obsession and an adventure.
 
  • #11
Phyisab**** said:
I have an obsession with getting perfect grades, which for me is nearly unattainable.

At some point I stopped caring about grades. Something that works for me is to set goals that are totally crazy, that I know are totally crazy. Once you know that your goal is insane and unattainable, then not attaining it is fine, and you get some stuff done in the meantime.

The feeling of working yourself to the bone and basically being punched in the face by an exam is not enjoyable in the least.

I've actually learned to enjoy getting punched in the face. In grad school, you are going to get punched in the face so many times, that you aren't going to survive unless you either tolerate or actually enjoy the experience. Something that has helped me a lot is that I've become an intellectual masochist.

Part of the reason I've learned to be so masochistic, is that someone slams you in the face, and after that, they give you bandages, are generally nice, and then they punch you again. After a while, you get a crazy warm feeling when someone just knocks you silly.

Physics makes me antisocial because I feel like I am hurting myself if I spend time doing things other than physics. Most of my high school friends who are working as cooks or waitresses think I have it easy and always say "I wish I was as smart as you". If I was that smart I wouldn't have to spend every waking hour doing physics.

I've had to deal with this myself, and I just hate being smart. That's why I look for situations where I'm the idiot in the room.

I feel like crap all the time because I'm tired and no matter how hard I work, it never really feels like it's good enough.

Again, the masochism comes in. I'm tired, dead tired. No matter how hard I work, it's not good enough. I'm always doing something wrong, and I can always do something better. COOL!

I should point out that I'm 40. I've been working like a dog for the last twenty years. I'll be working like a dog for the next thirty. I think that's great. There is always another mountain, always another challenge, always something that I'm bleeding incompetent at.

Part of the reason that I am what I am is that I've had a difficult personal life, and just working on a math problem until I'm dead tired gets rid of the pain.

Undergraduate physics is really only aimed at preparing you to do a PhD. The focus on employability is non-existant compared to what I see engineering majors do. The marketability of an undergraduate degree is hugely overstated if you go to any department web page and click the tab that says "why study physics?"

There's even worse news.

It's actually not hard to find work with a physics Ph.D., but there is a *HUGE* catch. The catch is that the reason employers pay large amounts of money to physics Ph.D.'s is that they are looking for mathematical masochists. My employer knows that they can dump a ton of equations on me, give me unrealistic deadlines, and I'll be able to get work done, and even enjoy the challenge.

That's why it's a terrible idea to think of physics as a career.
 
  • #12
Mathnomalous said:
Let me just say, electrical engineering, here I come! Probably just as difficult but I get a job at the end of the process...

The good news is that physics Ph.D.'s have no problem getting jobs. I've never had much of a problem getting work.

The bad news is that I get paid large amounts of money because I'm a mathematical masochist. I enjoy my job because every day, I come to work, and find out what a total idiot I am. It's cool.

Also, someone needs to explain to me this bizarre obsession that people have with "career".
 
  • #13
Mathnomalous said:
Phyisab****, thank you for that post. I hope you start to feel better very soon, brother/sister/(both?).

Let me just say, electrical engineering, here I come! Probably just as difficult but I get a job at the end of the process...


I'm graduating in 36 days thank god! But I am also planning to get an M.S. in EE. I know exactly where the jobs are when your degree says the magic word "engineer". I've found that everything makes so much more sense when I'm working on a real problem, and at the same time, actually getting paid for it.
 
  • #14
To clarify, "career in Physics" would be better phrased as "people with Physics MS or PHDs who try to have jobs."

I'm getting a sense of the kinds of things one can do with the degrees from scanning the forums. I realize the definition above is rather broad, but I am trying to get as many horror stories as I can, so feel free to respond with whatever your experiences have been.

Thank you, by the way. Reality checks are useful, and occasionally inspiring.
 
  • #15
Phyisab**** said:
I'm about to graduate with my B.S., I don't know about careers in physics. I can however answer why I often think to myself "man do I hate physics".

*WARNING: These are only the negative feelings I have towards physics. I have plenty of positive feelings too, but you said you've seen enough of those.*

I have an obsession with getting perfect grades, which for me is nearly unattainable. I spend ridiculous amounts of time studying physics. There is always more to do, and rarely do you spend enough time on a single topic to really understand it deeply. You can work ridiculously hard only to have everything come crashing down during a single exam. The feeling of working yourself to the bone and basically being punched in the face by an exam is not enjoyable in the least.

Long after the interest in the problem at hand has worn off, you will have to push yourself to keep going, and going. Often you will be assigned problems which are nearly unsolvable given the information you have. Some professors will give you real help if you go to them, other will just make you feel like an idiot who doesn't know how to do a little bit of work. The whole time, try to ignore that all these problems have already been solved and really have no bearing on anything.

Physics makes me antisocial because I feel like I am hurting myself if I spend time doing things other than physics. Most of my high school friends who are working as cooks or waitresses think I have it easy and always say "I wish I was as smart as you". If I was that smart I wouldn't have to spend every waking hour doing physics.

Most physics professors are aloof, impersonal, and socially inept. The focus on physics is really learning how to teach yourself. The only thing school does is provide a punishment if you ever decide to slow down. I feel like crap all the time because I'm tired and no matter how hard I work, it never really feels like it's good enough. Undergraduate physics is really only aimed at preparing you to do a PhD. The focus on employability is non-existant compared to what I see engineering majors do. The marketability of an undergraduate degree is hugely overstated if you go to any department web page and click the tab that says "why study physics?"

Wow, that actually makes me want to do better now. Except my problems are with Chemistry, I hate it so much
 
  • #16
While physilab and twofish gave excellent answers to your question, I have some things to add that I think may be worthwhile.

I'm a math major doing a combined BA/MA program. I know you asked about physics, but there are certain similarities.

For me, math is a major part of my life. It's not a "crush", nor is it a means to a career. I honestly have no idea where it will take me; I hope to an academic position, but I'm certainly not counting on it. Maybe I'll end up working as a cryptanalyst, maybe a "quant", maybe something totally unexpected... The point is that the only thing I know for sure is that I love reading and doing mathematics.

This sounds like a very intimate affair, and believe me it, it is. But like all things, there are some "down times". Usually before or right after an exam. It's constant pressure leading up to the exam. And no matter how hard I study or how many hours I put in -- and on an regular week I'm doing at least 40 hours of math. Most of the time a lot more -- I still go into nearly every exam knowing that I know a vast majority of the material, and make a stupid mistake at best. The most frustrating part is knowing that you know close to 100% of the material and than receiving a 90 or some other non perfect grade. The only way to combat this is to realize that it's going to happen for a long time. Basically accept it. Not the fact that you're not receiving a perfect score, but the fact that there is always a better set of solutions and/or proofs than the ones that you've provided. It's at that point that I realize again why I study mathematics, if ever there is a doubt. It's part challenge, part thrill and part creativeness. The way I see it, these three things embody my study of mathematics fairly well. The exams, homework, and general competitiveness is the challenge. The thrill of discovery is always there, mostly during independent work. And the creativeness and beauty is perhaps the most driving force, for me.

I wish I could explain it better to people, I really do. It's unimaginably hard to do -- nearly akin to asking someone to describe love (or pure hate, or happiness). I would say that physicists have similar feelings. Just be careful before you take on something that you regard as a crush, while other people regard it as a way of life.

In regards to your "crushes"; it seems to me that self deception is the most dangerous thing that man may face in this world.

It is not my intention to discourage or encourage you one way or another. I simply wish to give you an insight into my world view.. This is how it is for me in academia. It may effect you, it may not.
 

1. What are some common pitfalls of pursuing a career in physics?

Some common pitfalls of pursuing a career in physics include the high level of competition in the field, the long and demanding hours of research and study, the difficulty in securing funding for projects, and the potential for not finding a job after completing a degree.

2. How can I avoid these pitfalls?

To avoid these pitfalls, it is important to thoroughly research the field of physics and understand the challenges and demands it presents. Networking and building connections with professionals in the field can also help in securing job opportunities and funding. Additionally, gaining experience through internships and research projects can make you a more competitive candidate in the job market.

3. Is it worth pursuing a career in physics despite the potential pitfalls?

Ultimately, the decision to pursue a career in physics depends on your passion and dedication to the subject. While there may be challenges and uncertainties, a career in physics can also be highly rewarding and fulfilling for those who are truly passionate about the subject and willing to put in the hard work and dedication.

4. What skills are necessary for success in a physics career?

In addition to a strong foundation in mathematics and science, successful physicists also possess critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the ability to analyze and interpret data, and strong communication and teamwork skills. Time-management and organizational skills are also important for managing the demands of research and study in the field.

5. Are there other career options for those with a physics background?

Yes, there are many other career options for those with a background in physics. Some of these include engineering, data science, finance, and technology. A physics degree provides a strong foundation in problem-solving and analytical skills that can be applied to a variety of industries and fields.

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