Interest in being a physicist what to take?

[ptosh]

Interest in being a physicist.. what to take??

Hey I'm in a dilemma right now so I really need help. I want to study physics in the future and be able to write my own research papers. But I also want to get a settled job first to keep my options open in the future. I won't take engineering physics because it will close down my options later. So I have put electrical engineering as my first preference in IIT Bombay, and I plan to do a minor in physics when I get there. Just in case I don't get elec, should I go for mechanical engineering or computer science?? People tell me take cs cause its highly in demand . But cs has no physics in it. I really love physics so I thought of mecanical engineering. I'm very confused. What should I do?? Please help.

 

[WormBanshee]

Well, it depends on what you plan to do. If you minor in physics, then you'll still be able to do a lot of physics. And there is a TINY bit of overlap between CS and physics. CS generally requires Linear Algebra, which is great (really most math you can take is good for physics).
It comes down mostly to what you want to do, and which you like more. You can take an intro to both and then decide. I haven't taken any sort of engineering-specific classes, but I've taken physics and CS classes, and I can say that both take a fair amount of problem solving. So...I guess my best advice is to take an intro to both and see what you like more.
If you plan to go back to an undergraduate program to finish physics, then you could do either, but if you want to go from a job to then graduate school in Physics, then it might be better to do mechanical engineering, because that would probably give you a better physics background.
You could always do both haha.