Help on Majors and Graduate Degrees as an Engineering Student

[JurassicJack]

I am a high school graduate planning to enter the Gator Engineering Program at Santa Fe. In the program I'll be transferred from Santa Fe to the University of Florida after 2 years. I am very excited for the program but I am restricted by only being able to major in a select few majors.

The majors are: Computer Science, Digital art Sciences, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Nuclear Engineering.

For the program I can switch between these majors but when I transfer to UF it is not a guarantee I will be able to switch out of the major outside of the listed above. I am relatively undecided on what I want to major but I plan to switch around and find what I like.

I do know that I really like physics though, and other areas of science. My family is not the most knowledgeable on college and I am one of the few who is planning to get a higher level degree such as a masters or PhD.

Most of this stuff is unknown to me about how switching majors and I don't know how easy the process would be of getting a bachelors degree in engineering and then a masters in a more physics based major or if that is a feasible plan at all.
So I suppose my main questions are if I do get one of these degrees how easy would it be to get a masters in a more physics based major such as Astrophysics and which one of these majors would give me the most flexibility in getting a masters in a different subject after I graduate. Even though I can switch like I said, I am a Nuclear Engineering major right now

 

[Vanadium 50]

1. To be a research physicist, a masters isn't enough. You need a doctorate. If you are just interested in learning for its own sake, do you need a degree?

2. You will be competing for slots in grad school with people who have a BS in physics. So you want to have as close to the same preparation as they do. That means taking as many of the core upper-division classes as you can (classical mechanics, stat mech, QM and E&M). This may not be compatible with your schedule.

3. You will probably take a class with a name like "nuclear measurements laboratory" or similar. You need to ace it, and you need the prof to write you a very strong letter. This is the closest thing to grad school life you will encounter, and as such it will attract a lot of attention in the applications process.

 

[CrysPhys]

...

I do know that I really like physics though, and other areas of science. My family is not the most knowledgeable on college and I am one of the few who is planning to get a higher level degree such as a masters or PhD.

Most of this stuff is unknown to me about how switching majors and I don't know how easy the process would be of getting a bachelors degree in engineering and then a masters in a more physics based major or if that is a feasible plan at all.
So I suppose my main questions are if I do get one of these degrees how easy would it be to get a masters in a more physics based major such as Astrophysics and which one of these majors would give me the most flexibility in getting a masters in a different subject after I graduate. Even though I can switch like I said, I am a Nuclear Engineering major right now

If your desired end goal is a degree in physics or other areas of science, why are you hopping on to an engineering program whose path leads to a different end goal ... and whose path might not allow you to readily detour to your desired end goal?

 

[gwnorth]

"Switching" majors in engineering is generally not that easy to do. While the first year tends to be very general (calculus, linear algebra, physics, chemistry, programming etc.) beyond that, the course sequences tend to be very proscribed and the courses will be very specific to the individual stream. Once you get into the core courses of your stream switching will require you to backtrack and pick up additional courses potentially adding additional time required to graduate.