Programs BS Applied Physics to Engineering PhD

AI Thread Summary
A Rice University sophomore majoring in Applied Physics is exploring the possibility of transitioning to graduate school in engineering, specifically electrical or environmental engineering, after deciding against a career in pure physics. The student plans to take electrical engineering courses to strengthen their application. Concerns about competition from engineering graduates are raised, but it is noted that many graduate programs, like Boston University's LEAP program, accept students from non-engineering backgrounds. The discussion highlights that a solid foundation in math and physics from an applied physics degree can be advantageous, although additional lower-level engineering courses may be required to bridge the gap. Transitioning from a physics background to engineering at the graduate level is considered common and feasible.
misterme09
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
I'm a Rice University sophomore majoring in Applied Physics. I decided only within the past semester that I don't want to do pure physics my whole life (mainly due to the poor career choices). So I changed to applied physics.

My question now is if it is possible to go to graduate school in some type of engineering (ideally electrical or environmental). I will take a few electrical engineering courses as an undergrad for applied physics, so I hope that would help.

Also, given that it is possible, does that mean I will be facing even tougher competition coming from physics rather than engineering? Or will some graduate schools be happy to take some students with a slightly different background?

Thanks!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Boston University has a graduate engineering program for students whose undergrad was not in engineering.

http://www.bu.edu/eng/leap/
 
I don't think it's that big of a deal...you will already have had the math and the physics (and then some) that an engineer major will need, but you will have to probably spend a couple years making up lower level engineering courses. My uncle went from math undergrad to phd EE at MIT.
 
It is common.
 
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
107
Replies
4
Views
1K
Replies
8
Views
2K
Replies
16
Views
1K
Back
Top