Programs Second Degree in Physics: Benefits for EE Career?

[aliaze1]

Hi everyone,

So I am a college junior in Electrical Engineering. After getting my B.S. in Electrical Engineering, I plan on getting a master's degree in Nuclear Engineering.

What came to my mind the other day is that I could get a second B.S. in Physics with the addition of the following courses:

Quantum Physics/Atomic Theory
Mechanics and Relativity (i hear this is a difficult subject)
Electronic Circuits
Light
Classical Physics lab or Modern Physics lab
Electromagnetic fields (I am exempt from this because I am an EE student)

Any opinion on this? I am planning on getting my M.S. at the same school, so could I work on my M.S. and also take these courses on the side? (I plan to take one as an undergrad, and perhaps the others would be as described above, perhaps one per semester). My main concern is, would this necessarily do much for my career as an engineer? I guess part of the reason I want to do it (aside from interest), is the fact that it is so close.

 

[aliaze1]

aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh typo in the title!

 

[Defennder]

Quantum Physics/Atomic Theory
Mechanics and Relativity (i hear this is a difficult subject)
Electronic Circuits
Light
Classical Physics lab or Modern Physics lab
Electromagnetic fields (I am exempt from this because I am an EE student)

This is extremely odd. Which EE bachelor's course wouldn't have these 2 courses as compulsory classes?

 

[cristo]

How can you get a second degree by only taking 6 courses? Are you saying that you can take courses which count for both degrees? That's rather sneaky, isn't it?

 

[Coto]

Not really, I did the same with math degree after a physics degree, though they required 30 credits (i.e. 10 classes) for the after degree. Since I had done extra math classes throughout my degree, I only required 6 more.

 

[Coto]

It is interesting though, for a physics degree, they usually require 2 QM courses (on top of say an introduction to modern physics course) and classical mechanics and special relativity are normally two separate courses.

Why would you need a course on electronic circuits coming from EE? You should be able to design those things with your eyes closed no?

 

[Locrian]

My opinion: not worth your time.

This has less to do with the value of a physics degree, and more to do with how little value an additional physics degree would be.

 

[Coto]

I agree with Locrian, though a class in QM and atomic theory would be an asset. These are easier to obtain without going through the process of getting a 2nd degree.

 

[aliaze1]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I decided as you all stated, that it isn't worth much to have a physics degree in addition to EE. I do plan on taking a Quantum Mechanics course soon, as I plan to study Nuclear Engineering in graduate school. Even if that doesn't work out, QM is good stuff.

Defennder - these are listed in the physics department, not under EE, so they have a more physics approach to them, as opposed to EE. Similarly, the Physics dept has a "Condensed Matter Physics" class, which is very similar to "Solid State Electronics"