<p>So the deal is I love the fairy tale idea of becoming an Astrophysicist and doing research on all the crazy ideas that I get in regards to the night sky I fell in love with as a child. But to be practical jobs are scarce and with a Nasa getting a large amount of it’s budget cut (and possibly more in the future) Astrophysics may not be the greatest career field. But i still do want to pursue my PhD, so is it possible/ is it wise to maybe start with getting a Bs in Physics, then teaching HS (which i may end up falling in love with) and going to school part time to get my masters, then PhD? Or is it possible to get a PhD as a part time student period?</p>
<p>Many good PhD programs in the sciences do not take part time students, that is why they pay a stipend, so you can focus on the PhD.</p>
<p>Why are you thinking of just going part time?</p>
<p>The first part of your plan, getting a physics degree, is a good one. Once you have completed your Junior year, you can reassess and determine if high school teaching is the right thing for you or if you have a passion for astrophysics and want to get a Ph.D. If the latter, just go for it full time right away. Having a Ph.D. does not preclude teaching high school, in fact some of the best teachers in my community have Ph.D.'s</p>
<p>I would suggest going to school and getting a BS in Physics, and doing a second major in Comp. Sci., Math, or Mat. Sci& Eng, or any field of Engineering (I wish I would have done this). I say pick do the double major, especially in the Engineering fields, because a lot of the course work overlaps with the Physics classes. Also, it will help you to diversify your job choices after graduation. The biggest thing abut going to graduate school is research experience. You won’t be able to do actual “research” as a HS teacher, as opposed to an Engineer or Comp. Scientist doing actual research for a company as an employee. Contrary to popular belief, Physicist do get hired at the BS level by many companies who do engineering type work (GE, Lockheed, etc.). I feel that this is the best option. Working in industry will help you distill your research interest, and focus in on your chosen field. I say do this for no more than three years, because if you manage to get a job out of college as an engineer, or physicist you are going to make a good amount of money (speaking from experience). I was pulling down $60K with a BS degree, and forgot all about graduate/professional school until my job morphed into a hellish nightmare of epic proportions.</p>
<p>I would even say most good PhD programs, and almost all of the top ones, will not permit you to do a PhD part-time. It’s an all-consuming experience. Even full-time students have difficulty.</p>
<p>But you can do an MS part-time. In fact, if you end up teaching physics your school may pay for the MS.</p>
<p>The only people I know that do a PhD “part time” are those who are funded by a company and spend roughly 25% of their time in corporate labs instead of those run by the school.</p>