CMU vs U Mich Honors

SISIS
Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:33:07 +0000

feel the force… you couldn’t be more wrong by saying that a major in physics is useless in the real world.

Physics can prepare you for jobs in technology, industry ,or anything that uses numbers and logic. My friend who is a professor of physics at Urbana Champaign has a friend that he got his doctorates with that is making big money on wall street. Businesses like to hire someone that can work well with numbers and use them to solve problems. And its true that unlike engineering you dont have a clear cut career path (you don’t necessarily become 1 thing). A physics degree is more versatile then a straight cut degree like engineering, but you have to sell yourself.

It’s all about what you really like to do. I’m going to double major because I’m pretty sure I don’t want to become a research scientist or professor and another straight cut major would be greatly accented by a major in physics.
Just my 2 cents but some facts r below.

In the placement news I received from CMU, ppl who majored in physics got these jobs

FactSet research systems / softwar eng.
Instinet/ Jr. Core developer
Management investment + financial engineering programer
Lockheed martin systems eng.
various engineering jobs for IBM, Whizbang ,Compaq
tons of research labs, university’s etc

This is right out of the physics packet from CMU.

30% go to grad school for physics

20% go to grad school for some other field

50% get a job

of that 50%

70% industry
9% teaching
7%military
6% college employment
5% civilian gov
3% business