Choosing between Theoretical and Applied Physics

[ClaireBear1596]

Hi all,

I'm going into my third year of university and up until this point I have been studying a little of everything in physics(my degree is a bachelors in Physics), for my third year however we have to select a stream of physics to focus on and I am stuck between Theoretical and Applied physics. I was going to go for theoretical because I really enjoy maths and we get to study interesting subjects in maths like electromagnetism and partial deferential equations. These won't be available to me though if I study applied physics which isn't ideal. However one subject I cannot do if I pick Theoretical is Electronics, which is something I am very interested in and I think it is a very practical subject to study.
I really don't know what to do here. I have been enjoying everything I've been studying in both areas so far, I was thinking Theoretical would be best for me but Applied just feels like it maybe more practical, and I really want to study Electronics. My degree is an undergraduate degree though so maybe it doesn't make a huge difference in the long run. The following are the list of subjects I would be studying if I picked one or the other:

Theoretical:
-Computational Physics
-Electromagnetism
-Mathematical Methods I
-Partial Differential Equations
-Quantum Physics
-Wave Optics
-Fluid Mechanics
-Mathematical Methods II
-Modelling II
-Nuclear and Particle Physics
-Properties of Materials
-Thermal Physics

Applied:
-Computational Physics
-Electronics
-Mathematical Methods I
-Quantum Physics
-Wave Optics
-choice between: Modelling I&II, Physics of the Environment I&II, or Applied Statistics I&II
-Mathematical Methods II
-Nuclear and Particle Physics

Any advice welcome, thanks for reading.
Claire

 

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