Is Pursuing a Dual-Degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering Beneficial?

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Hello everyone,

I am currently a first year student at Tulane University and am contemplating whether to pursue A) a dual-degree program or B) a more traditional undergraduate route in order to obtain at least a bachelors degree before applying to graduate school (or maybe medical school). Here are the details of each scenario:


A) I'll study Physics for 3 years at Tulane University then matriculate to Johns Hopkins University for 2 years to study Electrical Engineering and in the end I will have two degrees, one from each school

Pros: Physics background, $50k scholar/year at Tulane -- JHU financial aid is undetermined at this point, legacy at Tulane/JHU in case I want to apply to their medical schools

Cons: An additional year longer than traditional 4 years spent for undergraduate education, perhaps more expensive because of the additional year (I still have to pay ~$8k/year for room and board)


(Note: this isn't a transfer, it's the dual-degree program that allows me to move

This is the curriculum: http://www.physics.tulane.edu/StudentsPhysDualA.shtml )




B) Transfer to University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering and major only in electrical engineering

Pros: Still a good education in electrical engineering, I'm a Texas resident so it will likely be cheap, I will finish within 4 years, connections to UT medical schools if I decide to apply to medical school, I believe their engineering school is more well known

Cons: Having to transfer out of the thus-far guaranteed dual-degree program


I suppose that my main question is:

Will it benefit me to obtain the additional physics degree in regards to applying to graduate / medical school and will it make me more marketable when I eventually seek a job?

Note: I am very interested in both physics and electrical engineering, I just am not sure if it is a good investment both financially and time-wise

 

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Will it benefit me to obtain the additional physics degree in regards to applying to graduate / medical school and will it make me more marketable when I eventually seek a job?

If you are applying to medical school- probably not. Medical schools care about three things: grades, the MCAT, and the interview. The physics section of the MCAT is more or less a complete joke, and by majoring in physics (in a 3-year program, no less) you will not have time to take courses in the more meaty areas of the MCAT (organic chemistry, for example).

For graduate school, maybe. It depends on what you want to do in graduate school. If you want to do engineering, you should probably just get the engineering degree. I think getting two bachelor's degree is a waste of time and money at this point.

For a job, if you want to do EE you should just concentrate on EE (similar for physics).