BS in Physics: Debate on Career

[analogdesign]

Seriously, dude, you don't have to be a jerk about it. We're all giving you our time for free here and we're just trying to help.

 

[VoloD]

I apologize Analog, I didnt mean to come off rudely but had to get a point across. Honestly, I know that my issue boils down to three choices :

1) Apply for MS EE at a lower tier school with my limited research experience and see what happens
--again, there are a few schools that I do have a chance of getting into.
2) Apply for another BS, this time in EE at another "lower-standard institution" (since I feel that my I can't really grasp the concepts effectively (A's , B's) at my current university)
3) Simply pick another career path I want to pursue (besides education) and move on. (make another thread for questions related to this)

These are the only practical choices that I have. And I know what must do to progress in life, and I know that only I can motivate myself out of my depression.

And for those of you who may be naysayers about low gpa = you won't get into any graduate school. The schools I am applying to have general reputations for taking people at 2.5 and possibly lower, so there you have it.

 

[analogdesign]

Given those three I agree with your order. Your best cost/benefit is probably option 1, and really try your best to learn your stuff.

 

[MarneMath]

Stop giving inaccurate information. You need about a 2.8 to get into OCS and if you get high enough line scores on the ASVAB and qualify for the nuke program, you need at least a 3.5 or higher to qualify for reactor engineering which he wouldn't qualify for anyway because they require a degree in mechanical, nuclear or electrical engineering. Since when has there been a reduction in forces for navy nukes? Last time I went into see what they offered, the minute I said I was studying nuclear engineering the nuke program is all they wanted to talk about.

*sigh*
Maybe you should stop giving inaccurate information. When was the last time since RDOF that you seen an officer in OCS with a Gpa less than 3.25? What the cut off score is and what is actually accepted by the board are two different things. Secondly math is accepted for Navy Nuke Program provided such candidate has first year physics. Unlike you, I haven't just talked about the military, I spent nearly a decade in it.

Edit:
I submitted to early.

Anyway, I don't want you to think I don't completely understand how you feel. I was kicked out of my first school, which was a top 10 school, due to my GPA. I failed nearly every quarter I was there. I spent the years of my life in the Infantry and when I was forced retired, I went back to school and got all A's at a low no ranked school. I did well enough and got my Masters at a so called Southern Ivy, and now working on my PhD at probably a top 50 overall or top 25 if you look at my field ranking. Either way, I bring this up for two reasons.

1)There is always hope for people who wish to endure. You might be able to do well in your Masters and convince employers to hire you. Who knows. However, if you think simply going to school and getting that degree will be all you need you have completely misread this economy. You need to get your Masters and find internships, work for peanut and prove to the business community that you are a better employee than student, which isn't that rare to find.

2)Lastly, I mention the above, because I find people don't change without a reason or being forced to change. Unless you seriously make to improve your status as a student, you will flounder and just scrape by at a low tier graduate school, which proves nothing to no one. If you are serious at being a graduate student, and getting a masters degree, then your ability should be such that you can take any freshman class in your field and pass it regardless of university. What I'm trying to get at is, you need to determine why you struggle at EE, even if your school makes it hard, I promise Georgia Tech makes it harder but somehow someone makes it with an A there. While, I don't believe grades are everything, I do believe they do reveal work ethic and ability to comprehend information quickly.

 

[VoloD]

Thank You MarneMath. I definitely apologize about the comment on you always having the "perfect career life" in an earlier post. Yes your right, struggle/heartbreak/disappointment, etc. all have a way of changing people, even if only slightly. I do believe that my current institution makes it hard for my academic abilities, but that still does not change the fact that I need to work that much harder at another university to prove that I can handle whatever they throw at me concerning EE. I do not deny the importance of grades, in fact I wish I could improve my GPA more before I graduate.

As for "working for peanuts", I don't mind getting a small time job while in school or even after I complete my bachelors in order to build my experience as a worker. I do have strong work ethic, and my drive to pursue my dream of being an engineer is enough for me find the strength to face challenges on the job. Finding interns is pretty hard and honestly I don't know how to best go about finding them given my current situation, but Ill manage because I have too. Again thanks.

 

[mal4mac]

It would be great to get a lab tech position with a BS in physics.

I once applied for a lab tech position in really beautiful part of the world, doing really interesting things, but I was told I was over qualified.

"The money will not be good enough for you they said."

Telling them I loved beautiful countryside, and loved the idea of having total control of a small observatory didn't help; neither did having a truly superb chief technician from a big university as competition. (Probably the real reason they rejected me, while trying not to puncture my supposed BS pride...)

But if you do "badly" in your BS (e.g., get a "third" as they say the UK") then surely a lab technician post "somewhere" has to be an option. Stress to the interviewers that you found the mathematics difficult, but loved doing the lab work (if it's true!)

I've always liked what I've seen of working as a lab technician. At school they were all behind the scenes and didn't have to do "child minding", just mess around with cool apparatus. At university, still no child minding, and they become expert at some particular technical areas so no one could touch them if they took an "easy" attitude to the job.

"I'll sort, your computer when I've finished my coffee break, young man... Oops sorry its 5p.m., see you tomorrow...", is the typical kind of comment. No pressure, no stress, great life.

With a reasonably OK BS, you can aim for "computer officer" posts, in the UK at least,... "posh" technicians posts with a bit more money - similar pay scale to lecturers. You might have to pretend a bit more interest in the students, and you'll be first over the top in bad situations (think Lieutenant Blackadder rather than Private Baldrick in WWI...)

All these "anything for an easy life jobs" aren't great for the $$$ oriented of course :)

 

[VoloD]

My acceptance letter

This is the acceptance letter that I mentioned would be posted for those you who said it was not possible. I am particulary looking at you StatGuy2000 and Choppy. I am going to improvise my study habits considerably and put everything into being better in mastering the material.

This is not a show of arrogance, but proof of my resolve.

 

[mpresic]

Congratulations VoloD. Best of Luck at Southern University. EE is a great field. Although my doctoral degree is in physics; I tend to do most of my work these days in Controls and Estimation Theory. I even do a fair amount of programming microcontrollers. I also had a good day. A new job.

I know I suggested military applications (nuclear program or government labs). I think government hiring is getting better and this may be a good option in a few years. I'm sure they will need EE's.

 

[StatGuy2000]

This is the acceptance letter that I mentioned would be posted for those you who said it was not possible. I am particulary looking at you StatGuy2000 and Choppy. I am going to improvise my study habits considerably and put everything into being better in mastering the material.

This is not a show of arrogance, but proof of my resolve.

Hi VoloD. I should clarify that in my post in this thread, I didn't specifically say that it was impossible for you to get into a graduate program with the GPA you had quoted (I'm not sure what your final GPA was), just much more difficult in comparison to others, and I had tried to provide some constructive advice on how you can go about improving your grades.

At any rate, I want to offer my congratulations to your being accepted to a graduate program at Southern University. I wish you all the best in your studies.

 

[Choppy]

This is the acceptance letter that I mentioned would be posted for those you who said it was not possible. I am particulary looking at you StatGuy2000 and Choppy. I am going to improvise my study habits considerably and put everything into being better in mastering the material.

This is not a show of arrogance, but proof of my resolve.

I never told you getting into graduate school wasn't possible. The point of my post had nothing to do with you getting in or not getting in. The point was that it appears that you were struggling in your final years as an undergrad and that perhaps you should think about what would happen if you did get accepted. That doesn't mean that I think you'll fail in your MSc program. But I do think you'll have just as hard a time, if not a harder time than you have so far, and the question then becomes: is that really what you want to do with your life for the next two years or so?

 

[VoloD]

You are correct Choppy. I have spoken with SU and they have said that they suggest I take "foundation courses" in EE at their school in order to be prepared. I am okay with this since Ill get to re-learn needed information and that it gives me the chance to utilize more effective study techniques than when I first started college. I realize from my advanced classes in Physics (senior and graduate electives) that I need to allocate plenty of time to practicing problems in both homework problems and unassigned book/online materials in order to be prepared. I let a proffessor with an abrasive approach to teaching stop me, and no matter what I did to improve, it was never enough for his standard. The worse part is that its not IVY league school, so his arrogance is unfounded and passing him means little in the grand scheme of things. Also, I never realized how important being an engineer was to me professionally and personally. This became more obvious as I did research under a Physicist, work on my personal research project, and did online job searches. (though to be fair, there are engineering graduates at my school who struggle to find work in part cause of the schools non-existent intern and co-op policy). I refuse to be simply what my instituition labels me because I am more than that. And now that I have a chance to prove that, if I have to go to another school so be it. It won't be easy, but I know what I must do and I won't take this chance for granted nor let anyone else stop me anymore. I heed your concern, which is why I will take things very seriously with my education from now on.