Double major in physics and engineering physics?

[PhysicalAnomaly]

Yes, yes obviously labels don't do people justice. But you have to use them for quantitative and qualitative purposes. For example, when discussing job prospects. And practical purposes too. You can't possibly say... this is so and so and he works as a ... as a... I don't know how to label it. Perhaps what can be done is for a clear and precise definition with a wide enough scope to be stated at the beginning of each discussion according to the needs of the one who started the thread. You can't run away from the age-old problem forever. You have to come to a compromise.

 

[Laura1013]

I wasn't planning to respond to this thread anymore, but it appears we have a fundamental misunderstanding of basic communications surrounding societal labels.

All of us use labels everyday to describe ourselves and those we come in contact with. Labels are not mutually exclusive. If someone is a "student", he/she can also be a human, a son/daughter, a brother/sister, an American, a [insert favorite band] fan, an artist, etc. We are what we consider ourselves to be. For example, an American who has been living in Europe for years and has completely integrated into a new society and gained new citizenship can still be an American (as well as a European).

Labels differ depending on each person's understanding of them, just as every word differs, even when clear-cut definitions are given. The color blue can be perceived slightly different for each person, with large overlap so that everyone mostly agrees. If you say, "I am 'x' label, and those who aren't the same as me aren't really x, even if they call themselves x," you're going to be wrong most of the time. Pop your bubble and open your eyes.

When one gains a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate in physics and decides not to continue with further formal education, one either gains a job as a physicist, switches fields, or remains unemployed. In the majority of the cases, a job that utilizes physics knowledge and skills is not going to have the specific label "physicist." Shockingly, a person with the job label "engineer" can consider him/herself to be a physicist as well as an engineer! Even more shockingly, a physics professor can be a physicist, a teacher, a mentor, a mother/father, a volunteer, an athlete, a scuba diver, and a race car driver! The band Queen's guitarist is an astrophysicist as well as a musician and rock star. Imagine that!

Tying this nicely back erotomania's original question, it almost doesn't matter what label your degree is. Almost. The knowledge and skill sets you learn in college/university and work experience, as well as the way you learn to think, contribute to your identity. Others' perceptions of your identity based on your degree label also influence what direction you head. In the big picture, you have the majority of the control over what you do and where you end up. Don't let others' ideas of what's proper hold you back from realizing that your education and career path is much wider than some would lead you to believe.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Long Post

You still haven't answered my question.

Person with an Engineering Degree is doing something that a person with a Physics Degree is doing. Say working on bridges or something. Is the Engineer a Physicist, or is neither a Physicist in this case?

 

[Laura1013]

You still haven't answered my question.

Person with an Engineering Degree is doing something that a person with a Physics Degree is doing. Say working on bridges or something. Is the Engineer a Physicist, or is neither a Physicist in this case?

See the above statement:

Shockingly, a person with the job label "engineer" can consider him/herself to be a physicist as well as an engineer!

 

[Poop-Loops]

My bus driver is a physicist. He has to know how much to accelerate the bus so as to not hit something and how far away he can break so as to not hit something.

 

[PhysicalAnomaly]

ROFLMAO!

Now, that's just being pedantic!

 

[Locrian]

Something worth noting here is that while we all (well, most of us) make reasonable judgments on what a label entails and what to call people, I've found in personal experience (and this is actually well known among job hunters) that most recruiters can't.

Many recruiters and human resource departments have only rudimentary knowledge of what their candidates will actually be doing, and because of this they can make little to no reasonable judgment over whether a candidate with a different sounding degree could equally fill the role.

If their little list says "Electrical Engineer", you may be hard pressed to get passed them with an Engineering Physics degree.

Proper networking of course can solve this problem.

 

[Manchot]

So, for the sake of expediency I'll just pretend that the last 30 posts didn't happen. Anyway, at my undergrad institution (UIUC), engineering physics was considered by many to be the "real" physics degree, while LAS (i.e., regular) physics was considered to be easier to get. As a result, most people wanting to continue in physics would do engineering physics. Now, that might be particular to UIUC, and it might not be. Either way, I'd try to ask someone if that is the case.

 

[Poop-Loops]

ROFLMAO!

Now, that's just being pedantic!

On purpose. Where is the line drawn?

Something worth noting here is that while we all (well, most of us) make reasonable judgments on what a label entails and what to call people, I've found in personal experience (and this is actually well known among job hunters) that most recruiters can't.

Many recruiters and human resource departments have only rudimentary knowledge of what their candidates will actually be doing, and because of this they can make little to no reasonable judgment over whether a candidate with a different sounding degree could equally fill the role.

If their little list says "Electrical Engineer", you may be hard pressed to get passed them with an Engineering Physics degree.

Proper networking of course can solve this problem.

The person I mentioned who has a Master's in Physics and works at my university as a software/comp sci person said that it's more important to tell the recruiter what your skills are. If it says "Electrical Engineering degree required" and you have a physics degree, go anyway, and just explain what you can do. I've already learned a lot of EE stuff, and only taken 2 classes so far and worked over the summer. I can't claim an EE degree, but by the time I graduate next year I'll know a lot more.