Is it reasonable to double major in Physics and Mathematics?

[desteffy]

Its a natural double major to do. I almost did it myself, but decided I liked math a lot more so I just took a lot more math classes. Going into graduate school the physics would have been no advantage to me for what I will be doing, but if I wanted to major in something else in graduate school or get certain jobs the physics may have helped.

So basically, if you want to do it do it. If you think you should do it because you think it will make you look smarter to graduate schools or something, dont.

 

[halik]

definitely doable, usually physics major by itself has a ton of math requirements. If you're going to a community college, i wouldn't worry about the difficulty either.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: halik
definitely doable, usually physics major by itself has a ton of math requirements. If you're going to a community college, i wouldn't worry about the difficulty either.

Some community colleges are actually quite rigorous and are on par or even better than State Unis.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Some community colleges are actually quite rigorous and are on par or even better than State Unis.

Our CC is designed to be a two year version of our engineering university. The math/science classes are virtually identical. I don't know about the humanities classes, but since I'm not majoring in those, I'd rather them be easy compared to those at university.

 

[Ophir]

Why would you do Physics and Math? Seems like it'd be easier, and more productive, to just do EE.

Unless you plan on PhD, or come from a top 10 university, neither physics nor math offer great job prospects.

I also would not compare a CC (any CC) to a good state university.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Why would you do that? What are you going to do? Be a physicimathematician? 😕

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: magomago
Nothing overlaps? From what i've heard from my friend who is a physics major, physics is just math but they name things differently...since physics uses math as a tool 😉

Either way I would expect you to see a lot of overlap.

I'd go for it if I was you.
But, there won't be much overlap at that level... except perhaps the advanced calculus classes.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: So
thats ~5 clases per semester. Definitely doable.

23 classes in 4 semesters = 6 classes every term except one where you take 5. Assuming none of his classes are 4 credits that is 18 hours every term with no slack classes. Have fun. I hope you don't like going out.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Ophir
Why would you do Physics and Math? Seems like it'd be easier, and more productive, to just do EE.

Unless you plan on PhD, or come from a top 10 university, neither physics nor math offer great job prospects.

I also would not compare a CC (any CC) to a good state university.

yet another EE > that all post...wow. A physics / math combo I can see benefits in. EE's are a dime a dozen lately...most are not ending up in engineering. The problem you don't see is with Engineering you are thinking sort of inside the box. In the more spatious degrees there are no restraints. I so got out of Engineering (after designing both a fire system and also an HVAC system for a large private university here and a prestigious geriatric center. Too many tables and too much structure.

There are a lot of CC's way better for your first 2-3 years than universities. They aren't talked about as much as the degree you get at the end drives the career. I do know I had way more hands on lab work spending 3 years at a local CC than my friends got starting in a 4 year state school. They shared some labs with upper classmen and would get 'bumped'. I could spend hours in my labs and use whatever equipment I found.

 

[eLiu]

At least at my school, physics/math is one of the more common doubles. Other common ones include EE/math & EE/physics. I think some people chose whatever/economics & whatever/management as well, though I would hardly call those two difficult majors (comparatively).

As for me, I'm AeroEngy + math

edit: and it should be doable...
I'm a freshman now...I took 5 classes this semester:
east asian history (my school requires EIGHT humanities for graduation 🙁)
numerical analysis
intro to nonlinear PDEs
Scheme (dialect of LISP) programming
complex variables

 

[Armitage]

You can never have enough math.
Despite a strong math program for AE + math minor + more math in grad school, I still spend quite a bit of time conferring with our local math wonk when things get sticky.

What's kind of cool is that when engineers (and physicists I suspect) come up with an ugly bit of math, often the mathemeticians already have a solution/proof/method etc. for it as pure mathematics (ie. they didn't have a physical problem in mind.) You just have to learn to speak each others language to make the connection.

 

[eLiu]

Originally posted by: Armitage
You can never have enough math.
Despite a strong math program for AE + math minor + more math in grad school, I still spend quite a bit of time conferring with our local math wonk when things get sticky.

What's kind of cool is that when engineers (and physicists I suspect) come up with an ugly bit of math, often the mathemeticians already have a solution/proof/method etc. for it as pure mathematics (ie. they didn't have a physical problem in mind.) You just have to learn to speak each others language to make the connection.

That's not necessarily true...there are many modern problems that pure mathematics is fighting to solve, but have thus far failed. Examples that come to mind are the issues behind finding eigenvalues numerically and solving nonlinear PDEs. Both problems are essnetially not well-posed. The applied math/science world have found ways of dealing with them, but there exist no rigorous proofs of the convergence of modern eigenvalue methods or the existence/uniqueness of nonlinear PDE solutions.

More often than not, pure math is a bit disengaged from applied math. I mean the theory of differential equations is oriented around existence & uniqueness...man there are an unbelievable number of ways of proving that, but anyway...in a sense, pure math doesn't care about how to solve difeqs--the fact that the solution exists is sufficient.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Ophir
Why would you do Physics and Math? Seems like it'd be easier, and more productive, to just do EE.

Unless you plan on PhD, or come from a top 10 university, neither physics nor math offer great job prospects.

I also would not compare a CC (any CC) to a good state university.

yet another EE > that all post...wow. A physics / math combo I can see benefits in. EE's are a dime a dozen lately...most are not ending up in engineering. The problem you don't see is with Engineering you are thinking sort of inside the box. In the more spatious degrees there are no restraints. I so got out of Engineering (after designing both a fire system and also an HVAC system for a large private university here and a prestigious geriatric center. Too many tables and too much structure.

There are a lot of CC's way better for your first 2-3 years than universities. They aren't talked about as much as the degree you get at the end drives the career. I do know I had way more hands on lab work spending 3 years at a local CC than my friends got starting in a 4 year state school. They shared some labs with upper classmen and would get 'bumped'. I could spend hours in my labs and use whatever equipment I found.

I guess it depends what your doing. Not many community colleges have the kind of world class facilities that a good engineering school has. And yes, undergrads do get access to these facilities, either in classes, or through taking the initiative to get involved in various projects, etc.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: eLiu

Originally posted by: Armitage
You can never have enough math.
Despite a strong math program for AE + math minor + more math in grad school, I still spend quite a bit of time conferring with our local math wonk when things get sticky.

What's kind of cool is that when engineers (and physicists I suspect) come up with an ugly bit of math, often the mathemeticians already have a solution/proof/method etc. for it as pure mathematics (ie. they didn't have a physical problem in mind.) You just have to learn to speak each others language to make the connection.

That's not necessarily true...there are many modern problems that pure mathematics is fighting to solve, but have thus far failed. Examples that come to mind are the issues behind finding eigenvalues numerically and solving nonlinear PDEs. Both problems are essnetially not well-posed. The applied math/science world have found ways of dealing with them, but there exist no rigorous proofs of the convergence of modern eigenvalue methods or the existence/uniqueness of nonlinear PDE solutions.

More often than not, pure math is a bit disengaged from applied math. I mean the theory of differential equations is oriented around existence & uniqueness...man there are an unbelievable number of ways of proving that, but anyway...in a sense, pure math doesn't care about how to solve difeqs--the fact that the solution exists is sufficient.

sure - it's not always true. But on more then one occasion I've posed problems that had us stumped, that the math wonks looked at and said "well sure, thats just a basic 3rd order, nonlinear blah blah blah. Here's what you need to do... And occasionally, all I need is a proof as well - something like "Can you guarentee me that this system of equations is always well behaved under these circumstances" I don't neccesarily have to solve the problem outright, as much as bounding the solution.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Ophir
Why would you do Physics and Math? Seems like it'd be easier, and more productive, to just do EE.

Unless you plan on PhD, or come from a top 10 university, neither physics nor math offer great job prospects.

I also would not compare a CC (any CC) to a good state university.

EE is somewhat interesting, but it's not what I want to do. I'd like to mathematics and physics research. There's no way I'd want a CS-type job. I wouldn't mind ChemE.

I already have a career, I could easily just float around in the GIS industry, doing something that I don't really want to do, and drinking myself to death in my off time. I'm taking these classes because they interest me.

A good number of government jobs are available for mathematicians and physicists. The NSA is always looking for them, and even my job said that they'd like me to have those degrees. I'm comfortable on a meager salary and I'd rather be on the cutting edge of study than punching the clock.

 

[Ophir]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: Ophir
Why would you do Physics and Math? Seems like it'd be easier, and more productive, to just do EE.

Unless you plan on PhD, or come from a top 10 university, neither physics nor math offer great job prospects.

I also would not compare a CC (any CC) to a good state university.

EE is somewhat interesting, but it's not what I want to do. I'd like to mathematics and physics research. There's no way I'd want a CS-type job. I wouldn't mind ChemE.

I already have a career, I could easily just float around in the GIS industry, doing something that I don't really want to do, and drinking myself to death in my off time. I'm taking these classes because they interest me.

A good number of government jobs are available for mathematicians and physicists. The NSA is always looking for them, and even my job said that they'd like me to have those degrees. I'm comfortable on a meager salary and I'd rather be on the cutting edge of study than punching the clock.

Well, I've got a BS in ChemE and I can tell you it's a far cry from "cutting edge" and theoretical physics/math (unless you do something in plant optimization). That's basically why I did a semiconductor manufacturing emphasis (which went nowhere jobwise thanks to TSMC and outsourcing).

If you are seriously considering physics/math, I would strongly suggest looking into EE. It's not all circuit design. The fields of communications and the intergration of EE into Biomedical Engineering are some of the other aspects many people overlook. I'm now working toward my MS in Bioengineering, which is as cutting edge as it gets.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Ophir
Well, I've got a BS in ChemE and I can tell you it's a far cry from "cutting edge" and theoretical physics/math (unless you do something in plant optimization). That's basically why I did a semiconductor manufacturing emphasis (which went nowhere jobwise thanks to TSMC and outsourcing).

If you are seriously considering physics/math, I would strongly suggest looking into EE. It's not all circuit design. The fields of communications and the intergration of EE into Biomedical Engineering are some of the other aspects many people overlook. I'm now working toward my MS in Bioengineering, which is as cutting edge as it gets.

Well, my interest is more in particle and quantum physics. It's a narrow field, but it can only get larger in the future. Mathematically, my interest is in topology which kind of goes with the physics stuff.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: DaiShan

Originally posted by: So
thats ~5 clases per semester. Definitely doable.

23 classes in 4 semesters = 6 classes every term except one where you take 5. Assuming none of his classes are 4 credits that is 18 hours every term with no slack classes. Have fun. I hope you don't like going out.

Sorry, I put 19 originally. 😱