What are the most common career paths for members of PF?

[Omega_6]

lol.. Going on a tengent ah? let's just say i ****ing hated it even more than high school

I don't think he is going on a tangent necessarily. I think he wants to know if you are actually taking any courses that may be at least a bit challenging.

By the way, I am a freshman double majoring in physics and electrical engineering (type of engineering may change though).

 

[kant]

It is ridiculous. What am i going there for? to take art class?

 

[Omega_6]

It is ridiculous. What am i going there for? to take art class?

It was just a simple question...no need to get defensive or anything.

 

[gravenewworld]

Education: BS in Chemistry & Mathematics, Minor in economics


Current occupation: I am now officially a Medicinal Chemist for a bio pharm. company.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I am finishing my B.S. in Cognitive Science. It's a couple of years away. I'm very happy with my current profession working for an IT dept. I have been in the workforce for 20 years, and I am now seeking my degree solely for my personal satisfaction and knowledge.

 

[scorpa]

I am finishing my B.S. in Cognitive Science. It's a couple of years away. I'm very happy with my current profession working for an IT dept. I have been in the workforce for 20 years, and I am now seeking my degree solely for my personal satisfaction and knowledge.

What does a degree in cognitive science entail? Stupid question I know but my univeristy doesn't have a program with that name. Is it like psych?

 

[scarecrow]

I received my B.S. in Chemistry and I am currently a PhD. graduate student.

I want to first teach high school and then work in academia as a professor.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

Will pursue some type of physical anthropology, I'm interested in primatology right now - conservation, evolution, behavior of non-human primates.

 

[bomba923]

Currently, I'm a high school student. However, I would like to major in:
-Mathematics
-physics
-chemistry (both organic & inorganic, for a career in medicinal research <-> drug development)
-computer science (w/electrical engineering)

No college/university, though, would likely allow concurrent pursuit of more than two majors...
(my top two choices are mathematics and physics)

(P.S: I'm quite interested in philosophy...but IIRC, philosophy majors don't exactly...earn...much, in terms of salary)

 

[loseyourname]

Screw that. I just finished a philosophy degree and am working on finishing an english degree. I've nearly finished minors in biology and chemistry, but have no plans to actually complete those. I doubt I'll go to grad school. If anything, law school, possibly the military.

While it's true that you're not likely to make a whole lot of money as a philosopher (unless you're a celebrity like Dennett), you'll make as much as any other university professor (except for the highly paid ones, like business and med school professors). If you specialize in something esoteric like medieval scholasticism or American philosophy, you might actually find yourself in demand.

Besides, you don't have to go into philosophy as a career. Heck, a damn lot of the richest men in the world don't even have degrees at all. If it's money you want, money you can make regardless of what you study.

 

[Kalimaa23]

I'm currently in the last phases of doing a Master in Theoretical Physics, doing a thesis on String Theory derived corrections on the Einstein equations.

After that, who knows. I'm hoping to start a PhD, it will depend on wether I can find funding or not.

 

[SpaceTiger]

What specific careers (Experimental Physicist, Mechanical Engineer,...) the members of PF have/going to have?

Miscellaneous.

 

[Math Is Hard]

What does a degree in cognitive science entail? Stupid question I know but my univeristy doesn't have a program with that name. Is it like psych?

No, not a stupid question at all. It's still a pretty rare major. It is a type of psychology major here, but it has a lot of overlap with other disciplines such as computer science, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, and anthropology. The focus of the major is on both natural and artificial intellence systems and how they process information. While I think the AI classes will be interesting (and no doubt challenging!), I'm really looking forward to studying animal cognition. I've always been fascinated by stories of "smart" animals like http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm" .

 

[scorpa]

No, not a stupid question at all. It's still a pretty rare major. It is a type of psychology major here, but it has a lot of overlap with other disciplines such as computer science, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, and anthropology. The focus of the major is on both natural and artificial intellence systems and how they process information. While I think the AI classes will be interesting (and no doubt challenging!), I'm really looking forward to studying animal cognition. I've always been fascinated by stories of "smart" animals like http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm" .

Thanks for the explanation, that sounds like it would be very interesting!

 

[Zantra]

I am actually talking courses at the near by college in my junior year in high school. So what? What is the reality.

The reality is that you will be going from a school with less than 2000 students to one with 10's of thousands of students, and from one where you may be one of the smartest in the school to a school full of intelligent people who, while they may be not quite as intelligent, can surpass you with the effort you won't bring. So you'll now be competing against lots of very intelligent kids who can potentially make you look very stupid if you go in with the wrong attitude.

Also, unless you literally have a photographic memory, you WILL have to study in college. If you don't, you will fail- badly. The amount of information you have to assimilate will at least triple compared to high school.

But I eagery look forward to you telling me how easy college is after the end of first year. Best of luck

 

[Pyrrhus]

Whoa, all you are aiming really high or have a lot of degrees. I think after i get my BSc Civil Engineering, i will go for a M Eng or MSc. So far i am leaning to Structural Engineering, but i am not really sure, i liked Hydraulics and Geotechnical, too. No idea. Maybe two or three Masters .

 

[goavs4]

I'm an aerospace engineer with a B.S. and M.S. , emphasis in astronautical engineering. I work in my field in various areas, primarily with software simulations involving robotics and also guidance, navigation and control systems for space vehicles. I have also some experience in hardware systems involving robotics and hadrware/software integration with avionics systems used for GN&C. I've thought about going for my PhD however I am far enough along into my career that I think I just might hold off on that for awhile. I currently work for a company that contracts to the government.

 

[BobG]

I work as an orbital analyst, primarily responsible for training any new orbital analysts we get (a degree in Astrodynamics is good, but just about any math or physics based degree works; its an operations job, not a design job - plus, hiring people with more general degrees is cheaper and makes my job a little more secure). I've had some type of job working with satellites for over 20 years, with a lot of experience designing training programs for satellite systems.

I'm slowly working my way towards an Electrical Engineering degree a couple classes at a time. The EE classes mainly provide something hard and time consuming, but a EE degree with security clearances could wind up paying surprisingly well.

 

[Anttech]

Telecoms and Network Engineer. And I didnt learn jack from University that was applicable to my current job or life in general. I am certified to the hilt by Industry leaders (Avaya Cisco Microsoft) learning and preparing for these exams were more helpful in allowing me to progress my technical skills than any degree would have including Bsc ICT. I was looking at doing a Msc in ICT or a related field, but there wasnt anything on the curriculem that I hadnt already had experience with and I felt it would have been a waste of time. The dissertation did seem interesting tho, basically hacking up an RFC routing protocol and attempting to make a better one, which would have been very interesting.

Perhaps I will reevalulate this at a later date and do a Msc, but we will see. I have never understood why Universities won't give better ICT (Information and communication technology) courses that are actually applicable to current technologies and ideals. Maybe one of the problems is that the technology is changing so much they can't keep up..

 

[rocketboy]

In september will be a student in Engineering Science at UofToronto. In my 3rd year I plan on specializing in Aerospace.

In the future, I hope to work for NASA, whether as an engineer or as my ultimate ambition... an astronaut. (hence the name rocketboy )

 

[rocketboy]

I'm an aerospace engineer with a B.S. and M.S. , emphasis in astronautical engineering. I work in my field in various areas, primarily with software simulations involving robotics and also guidance, navigation and control systems for space vehicles. I have also some experience in hardware systems involving robotics and hadrware/software integration with avionics systems used for GN&C. I've thought about going for my PhD however I am far enough along into my career that I think I just might hold off on that for awhile. I currently work for a company that contracts to the government.

What kind of work do you do for the company? What kind of projects are you working on? I'm interested because Aerospace is what I plan to specialize in.

 

[goavs4]

What kind of work do you do for the company? What kind of projects are you working on? I'm interested because Aerospace is what I plan to specialize in.

I work on software simulations (analysis and flight software) used across the community at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. These simulations are used for analysis, requirements definitions, hardware/software/avionics integration, mission planning, hardware-in-the-loop/pilot-in-the-loop integration and crew training, mission operations, pretty much the broad spectrum of engineering design, analysis and planning. I've worked on various projects in the past all over the center spanning robotics and aeroscience and flight mechanics disciplines. Currently I am involved in the next big push: Exploration. I am part of the CEV flight dynamics team working from the NASA side of things to develop detailed simulations for requirements analysis (and later literally spanning all phases and aspects of flight including flight software testing and eventually integrated hardware/vehicle in the loop testing) for the CEV vehicle consisting of the CM, SM, and LAS. We will be evaluating, providing instruction to, and defining requirements for the prime contractor once one has been selected to build the vehicles concerning the GN&C and related systems. We also incorporate CLV (Crew Launch Vehicle) models and dynamics into our sims. Although we are not the home center for CLV, obviously as flight dynamics we are involved in whole vehicle modeling including outer mold lines, aerodynamic data, separation effects, etc... etc... In fact I am in the process right now of hiring on with NASA at JSC so this new work will be my only work for the foreseeable future. It's my dream job (short of actually becoming an astronaut), the reason I went to school and got these fancy schmancy degrees, and of course with the outline of the plan right now I would like nothing better than to look back in 2025 I know I was one of those that has helped put a man on Mars. Like I said my background is an M.S. in aerospace. I did not do a thesis, but worked in a special dual-degree program that allowed me to do a non-thesis program but also start work on a masters as an undergraduate. My masters emphasis was where you would expect, astrodynamics, and I also worked on external projects that involved robotics for space applications and small satellite design. So it sounds like I am now doing what you will want to be working on in a few years once you graduate. Are you a US citizen? If so, my first order of advice is if you want to work for NASA straight out of school, especially if you eventually want to apply for astronaut selection, try to get into the JSC co-op program. It might mean some extra time in school but the opportunities it affords are worth it. I was not a co-op but it's the A#1 way to get in good with NASA and to be known even BEFORE you hit the starting gate. http://coop.jsc.nasa.gov/index.html Again, you have to be a US citizen to be a co-op due to government restrictions.

 

[Ronnin]

I see that there arn't that may Business majors amongst this fine cround. I feel left out here.