Bachelor's in Astrophysics Career Prospects

[zsyed94]

Hi all,

I'm a third year astrophysics major, having transferred to my current school from community college. Long story short, my dream job was to be a professor in the field (difficult enough as is), but I've found my physical/mental health won't survive all that schooling, and I want to consider alternatives to grad school.

With just an undergraduate degree, what can I do that is related or closely related to the field? I was thinking of the engineering safety net, specifically aerospace engineering, but I'd also like to know what's out there in terms of science education (outside of teaching high school).
Thanks in advance.

 

[Vanadium 50]

If you are looking at a career in engineering, at this stage of your educational program, you should switch to engineering.

 

[zsyed94]

If you are looking at a career in engineering, at this stage of your educational program, you should switch to engineering.

The closest my school offers to aerospace is robotics, which isn't too exciting. I'm still passionate about astro, I'm just finding that I'm not as cut out for it as I need to be.
I suppose a better question for my situation is, if I don't pursue grad school right after my undergraduate degree, what can I do in the interim that allows me to work at something that will give me experience relevant or somewhat relevant to the field, such that I can try for grad school later?

 

[ModusPwnd]

You could do some programming and/or big data stuff. That is the kind of thing many astrophysicists do for their research.