Is a Master's in Physics Valuable for an Engineering Career?

[wesley7777]

I am a electrical engineering major, about to enter my junior year. I really want to go after a master's degree with a focus on Solid State. But I have been getting interested in Condensed Matter. My question is would a Master's degree in Physics really be worth anything? I want to work in industry as an engineer/researcher and not at a university. I am just worried that getting a Master's in Physics would not be as useful as a Master's in EE. What is your opinion on this?
Thanks so much
Chris

 

[Andy Resnick]

IMO, an engineering MS is 'worth more' than a physics MS to industry. 'Worth more' may be a bad choice of words- 'more recognizable' is closer.

 

[wesley7777]

IMO, an engineering MS is 'worth more' than a physics MS to industry. 'Worth more' may be a bad choice of words- 'more recognizable' is closer.

That is kind of what i thought. I was thinking I might do Applied Physics in either solid state or nanotechnology and i think i am drawn more to the physics side than the engineering side. Anyone else have a opinion?

 

[Topher925]

I wouldn't think a MS in applied physics will get you that far either. If you really want to work in condensed matter I suggest you go for a PhD.

 

[arunma]

I know a couple of students in my department who failed the PhD qualifier and had to settle for MS degrees in condensed matter. One is about to graduate, and has no job offers yet. The other graduated almost a year ago...as far as I heard he still has no offers. I guess you may be better off with the EE MS.

 

[physics girl phd]

Note: At some institutions you can do work in condensed matter through an EE program. I knew some EE students who worked in an NSF materials research center at their institution.

My tips:
1) Find a university that has some EE faculty that do materials work.
2) Make sure the program offered requires a thesis masters so you actually do some of this work in the process of getting your degree.
3) Of course to get into any real research at all, you'd have to go the Ph.D. route.

I do concur with other posters in this thread... an EE master's would be more recognizable to employers than a physics masters.