Elec. Engineering + Physics Dual-Major

[div4200]

I'm thinking about dual majoring in Electrical Engineering and Physics, and have a few questions.

1. What sorts of jobs could I get with this dual-degree? Would they be special jobs that also require/use physics or just regular Electrical Engineering jobs?

2. Let's say that at some time after graduation I wanted to go to grad school for physics. Would a dual-major with Electrical Engineering hurt or help me with regards to admission? what about if I wanted to go to grad school for engineering?

3. Also, let's say that I wanted to become a high school physics teacher. Could I do that? (The way the dual-major program works at my university is that you technically only choose one of the degrees to actually get, even though it does say that you dual-majored on your transcript. I would choose the EE degree over physics.). I know that I would have to get a teacher's certificate in any case, but that would be doable if I wanted to.

Thanks in advance!

 

[fss]

1. If your EE program gives you licensure you can work as a PE.

2. Depends on your program(s). If you're compromising on your electives by double majoring (or your grades are suffering because of it) it will affect you adversely.

3. Pretty much anyone can become a teacher if they get licensed as such. That probably means a year or two of additional schooling.

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

You should really find out if you are allowed to double major at your university.

I will also advice you talk to senior students in order to find out what the course load for EE is like before you think about adding physics on top.

I am a 3rd year EE student and I know that EE is pretty demanding and even taking a minor in mathematics causes me to lose sleep.

A double major may sound great but make sure you are prepared to take it on; university is not like high-school and engineering programs, EE especially, keeps students busy.

 

[div4200]

1. If your EE program gives you licensure you can work as a PE.

2. Depends on your program(s). If you're compromising on your electives by double majoring (or your grades are suffering because of it) it will affect you adversely.

3. Pretty much anyone can become a teacher if they get licensed as such. That probably means a year or two of additional schooling.

Hey thanks! Just a few things.

1.What is a PE?

2. I'm a good student and hence will get good grades, so that's a non-issue. And yes, there are only a couple of general electives in my school's dual-major program. Why are electives important for grad school?

3. A couple of years? Really? Do you mean just getting a teacher's certification or something more? I mean, I WOULD have studied physics in college, so I couldn't imagine that it would take that much longer...

 

[div4200]

You should really find out if you are allowed to double major at your university.

I will also advice you talk to senior students in order to find out what the course load for EE is like before you think about adding physics on top.

I am a 3rd year EE student and I know that EE is pretty demanding and even taking a minor in mathematics causes me to lose sleep.

A double major may sound great but make sure you are prepared to take it on; university is not like high-school and engineering programs, EE especially, keeps students busy.

My university actually has an established EE/Physics dual-major curriculum. It wouldn't be THAT many more courses, but even then I do have a passion for this stuff so I'll (hopefully) enjoy it.

 

[fss]

Hey thanks! Just a few things.

1.What is a PE?

2. I'm a good student and hence will get good grades, so that's a non-issue. And yes, there are only a couple of general electives in my school's dual-major program. Why are electives important for grad school?

3. A couple of years? Really? Do you mean just getting a teacher's certification or something more? I mean, I WOULD have studied physics in college, so I couldn't imagine that it would take that much longer...

1. Professional Engineer

2. Because they show the desire to pursue further study in a given subject beyond "just" the requirements.

3. I guess it would depend on your state, but a lot of times you aren't allowed to just get your certification. You have to do coursework in education and then pass the certification exam.

 

[div4200]

But would a school accept my dual-major program as valid for teaching physics even though I technically wouldn't have the physics degree?

 

[fss]

But would a school accept my dual-major program as valid for teaching physics even though I technically wouldn't have the physics degree?

I don't know. Depends on the school, probably.

 

[Mindscrape]

1. You would probably just get an EE job. That's probably the job you would want without graduate education anyway. If you focused on solid-state type electronics then you might be able to get a job that merges both physics and electronics. You'd be one of those guys making the ICs at the silicon level.

2. If you have research in both physics and EE then grad schools will most likely love it. They key is to do research though because they aren't going to care about coursework from another discipline.

3. I know of a couple high school physics teachers who are actually EEs. All you have to know is general mechanics and general EM.

 

[div4200]

2. If you have research in both physics and EE then grad schools will most likely love it. They key is to do research though because they aren't going to care about coursework from another discipline.

Thanks for this answer. So a dual-major would actually be good for grad school? Also, would it allow me to later study specialize in physics or engineering in grad school?