Computational physics job prospects?

[CyberShot]

Is a computational physics major a good compromise for someone who is not sure if they'd like to go deeper into physics, or start working for scientific or software companies?I ask because I live in the Bay area, and with Silicon Valley here, would a B.S. in applied physics sound like a good merge (as in job opportunities/good pay) between computer science and physics?

How are the job prospects like? Is it just as bad as for regular physics B.S. grads? Are high paying software/scientific companies hiring applied/computational physics B.S grads?

Thanks.

 

[cgk]

You have to make yourself valuable to a potential company. If you can prove that you can solve /really hard/ computational problems (and maybe even know some good software development practices), you'll be well off. Computational physics is a good place to do that.

Also you'll be able to go deeper into pure physics that way. In my opinion, having the abilities to develop software for *testing* ones ideas (and doing it fast) is one of the greatest assets one can have as a theoretical physicist. Mainly because there are so many scientists who lack that ability.