Outlining the fields of astrophysics and particle

[z3hr]

I'm a senior in high school and I'm thinking about going into astronomy or astrophysics as a major. I have a 4.0 GPA and a 1350 on the SAT so I don't think I'm going to get into any upper level ivy leagues, but I was just wondering about some colleges that offer astronomy or astrophysics. A couple in particular that I was looking at are University of Florida, Boston University, Renselear Polytechnic, Rochester University, and Virginia Tech. Any information on these schools or others would be helpful, money is an issue and I'm a Florida resident so I'm not sure how many of these would be realistic options financially.

Thanks!

 

[sEsposito]

I was just wondering lately if there is distinction between Astronomy PhDs and Physics PhDs as far as job prospects go? It seems obvious to me that there are slightly less Universities here in the US that have Astronomy programs and departments than ones that have Physics departments.. Does that translate to even less of job outlook for Astronomers -- or is that negated by the fact that there are probably more Physicists than Astronomers?

How about outside of academia? Are the prospects in government or private sector better or worse for one subject or the other?

 

[jweie29nh]

My interests have been gravitating towards both particle and astrophysics. The topics facing these particular physicists has drew my attention and the fondation of these two subjects are fascinating.

The careers in which I'm planning to cross are either phenomenologists or researching astroparticles. An issue concerning me is the outlook of these jobs. Another conflicting problem includes any presentation of other particle and astrophysic jobs besides the ones mentioned earlier. I have searched through the net and found absolutely nothing.

There are two questions I hope to be answered: what is the outlook of the two jobs and if you do know some jobs please list them or provide a link.

 

[CareerSwitch]

I am a 33 year old with a BA undergraduate degree in psychology. I currently work as a medical device sales representative. This career path has enabled my ability to achieve good annual earnings (W-2 average is 140k), yet money has become unfulfilling as my true love and passion resides in astrophysics.

I realize this will sound a bit off the wall but, I would really like to return to school to study Physics. Does anyone have guidance on additional pre-requisites classes to apply into a graduate or doctoral program? Do I need a PhD to work within this field? What is a realistic job description working as a researcher in a laboratory?

All of my knowledge within astrophysics is self taught. Obviously, this doesn’t take the place of didactic courses, but perhaps it would make the return to school a bit easier.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Alex G]

Hello everyone,

I've read these forums for months now up and down and everyone is pretty awesome I must say! So I figured this cannot hurt to ask and I know it's been asked before, but as a human the situation is different for almost everyone!

Currently I'm going for an undergraduate degree in Physics at UCF (University of Central Florida) and I am at the point where I could easily branch off into engineering or multiple fields.

My reasoning for a physics degree was because I had such a great professor for Physics 1 and learned so much, however, the higher and higher the courses go the less I seem to click with, whether it be because I don't understand it or because it just seems uninteresting to me (mainly because I cannot see the application always).

I'm currently enrolled in Physics 2 w/ Calculus and Calculus 3. I have a lot of trouble following the teachers, but the Calculus is much easier to deal with (100 on the tests thus far). So yes I am pretty good at math, but I'm not heavily interested in it. Yes I love physics, but it becomes more tedious then anything else now.

My dream (like many others) is/was to become an astrophysicist, but now I question it.

To sum up what I'm truly asking (thank you for following so far and hearing the background):

1) What career paths are truly available for an astrophysicist? (this one is particularly bothersome)

2) What are the options for an engineer, specifically Mechanical, Civil, Aeronautical, and Aerospace? (Vague I know, but I lack the knowledge of true separation of what each designated field of engineering does)

3) Is it possible to still work for the money AND enjoy yourself (at least be content) with either degree? (My concept of enjoyment is not sitting in an office all day and crunching numbers, unless it's occasional, but rather to see my results in work at project viewings and hands on testings.)

This is a lot and I REALLY appreciate the help, there are still a lot of good people out there and I'm glad I found some with a common interest!

 

[KaiserBrandon]

hello friends. I am currently in my third year of my bachelors of science in honors astrophysics, and after some consideration, I have decided that I want to go into aerospace engineering. Up until recently, my plan was to eventually get a Ph.D and go into a career of research. However, I've come to the decision that I want to do something a bit more practical, yet still be involved in a space related field. Would it be beneficial to complete my final year and obtain a degree in astrophysics, and then go on to get a degree in engineering (I'd probably aim for a masters eventually), or should I just start towards engineering next year and forget about the B.Sc. (I'm pretty sure a lot of the credit for the math and physics courses I've already taken would transfer over to an engineering degree, but beginning right away next year will mean an engineering degree in a shorter amount of time, but will forfeit the astrophysics degree). Any input would be great, thanks in advance.

 

[hett_]

I am currently in high school, and after i graduate, i wish to pursue a career in either Astro-physics or Quantim-Mechanics.
i was wondering where a degree majoring in either of these areas could take me, aside from just a teaching job.
In the case of Astro-physics, I'd ideally like to work directly with NASA or another space program, what would be the chances of landing a job, and what qualifications will i need.
With Quantim-Mechanics, I'm not sure where it could take me in the slightest, but i would prefer to work hands on rather than becoming a professor.
Could you give me some guidance on what jobs I could do in these fields, and what courses ect I would need to complete.

**typo in title it should read "where will a Astro-Physics or Quantim-Mechanics DEGREE take me?"

 

[austinino12]

Hi everyone.
So my question is should I take astrophysics. For along time now since 6th grade. I have been interested in cosmology, the big bang, physics, and astronomy in general. I'm currently in 10th grade almost 11 and I realize that I should start thinking farther ahead. So I'm pretty sure that astrophysicist study the topic above. So should I take this course, and if so what's my chances of getting a job actually doing it. Because even if I like it I don't want to spen 8 years in university and not be able to do what I want to do. So thanks for reading.
Also if anyone knows I'm continplating either university of toronto or waterloo as they are the closest.
Thanks again

 

[SUDOnym]

Hello

I have just completed a BSc. in physics with astrophysics with a decent GPA (I got a First or 1.1 - but I would have just barely scraped into this bracket).

My situation is that I decided not look for a PhD position during my final year (a PhD is ultimately what I want to do) so that I could focus on course work.
Since all the application deadlines have passed for PhDs it seems very unlikely then that I will be able to secure one for this coming September/October.
What I would like to do then is get a graduate-type job that would make use of the skills I have learned during my degree.

A problem for me is that although I have got a decent GPA - the subjects that I have done the best in are somewhat detached from practical applications. eg. astrophysics, E&M, QM. I say that E&M and QM are detached from practical applications in the sense that I have learned them in a more "theoretical" way and so would find it difficult to apply my knowledge of these subjects in an engineering context... I hope that makes sense!
Further, the more practical subjects that would be very useful for getting an engineering type job such as optoelectronics, solid state physics, nanotechnology are the ones that I have done worst in - I got a C in all of these. I did quite well in my applied optics exam, scoring a low A but this is the only significant exception.

I feel I do have some points that would perhaps make me attractive to employer such as two good references who have seen a lot of me and who would both vouch that I am capable and hard working.
Another point that I would try to put a positive spin on is the fact the I have shown very large improvement with each passing year of my undergrad degree. Scoring a mid range Third in my second year, a mid range 2.1 in my third year and a lower range 1.1 in my final year. The reason for my poorer performances in my earlier two years was that I transferred into physics course from mechanical engineering (... I will not bore with further details but the main point is that I never did first year of my physics course and found the transition difficult - but showed strong improvement with each year.).

So my question really is, in light of everything outlined above, could anyone provide feedback on how realistic they think it might be that I could get a decent job for the year (perhaps lab technician... or something...) before I hopefully get a PhD position.

Finally, I should say that last Summer I was chosen to do a Summer internship within the physics department of my university - I largely gained experience with general computer skills writing UNIX scripts etc. also astronomical data reduction and analysis) also, this was another demonstration that I worked hard and could produce decent work for one of my referees.

Any thoughts would be good - also any recommendations of websites and resources that may advertise the type of jobs that may interest may would also be great!

 

[Bluskyz]

I currently am a high school student who is interested in pursuing a career in astrophysics/astrodynamics (anything to do with bodies in space and their movements, celestial mechanics I guess). I was wondering what courses/classes should I take in high school and college to pursue this career. I would also like to the know the basic concepts that I would need to know. Right now, I know a little bit of calculus and physics which I assume are a must. Recently, I got a book called The Fundamentals of Astrodynamics by Bate, White and Mueller. I understand quite a bit of the book but I'm not that strong with vectors and vector calculus. So if you guys could tell me what classes I should take and what concepts I should master, that would be great. :) Thanks for your help.

 

[ElectricC]

For a while, I thought Theoretical Particle Physics would be a great career. Though, it is, I later learned it's a field that I would NOT be good at. I still wanted to get into Physics though, it has always interested me :). I need some help though. I've already researched about Astrophysics, and it looks great! Recently though, Plasma Physics came to mind. It looks interesting but I may have the wrong idea for it. So I have a few questions.

-What is Plasma Physics?
-What do Plasma Physicists do?
-Where do Plasma Physicists work?
-If YOU had to choose between Plasma Physics or Astrophysics for a career, which would you choose and why?

Thanks :D