Prospects of a physics "expert" without a degree.

I apologize for the bad title. I did not know what to put. Also, English isn’t my best language as well. If clarification is needed, I will provide it.

So, anyways. I was wondering how much prospects I would have for finding any physics related job if I didn’t have a degree. I am saying this because currently I am enrolled in a university and do not like how the physics program at my university is run. Actually, in fact, I am not a fan of taking courses in college in general. I believe that the last 3 semesters I could have been more skilled and had a more enjoyable time learning physics (and all other subjects such as math, gen eds, etc.) if I was self taught. There are many physics resources (books, online notes, courses, lectures, videos, etc.) for my use.

I believe that if I keep continuing in a university, I do not think I will come out of it with the skills and knowledge I had hoped for and it will not be a good experience on top of that.

What should I do. Finish up the semester, quit college, self study and later start a career and find a job. Or continue finish up this semester and continue 2 more years in college.

Addition: Changing universities is definitely an option but may not be the best costwise. Right now I live in Illinois and I attend a university that is about several miles away from where I live. So, I decided to stay home to not pay the expensive housing costs. In addition, I got a scholarship to this university which pays a little over 50% of my tuition every year. Basically, my cost for education is low compared to most other college students.

Also, the university I attend is in the middle of the scale of universities so to speak.

Well, it probably depends on what you actually want to do in physics. If you are looking beyond being a lab helper, it probably matters how extraordinarily brilliant you are, and how much you are able to support yourself until your native brilliance comes up with something so striking that a lack of formal education won’t be a big deal.

For most mortals, however, physics is not a field in which skipping the credentials is likely to be a viable path. For most people to work in physics beyond a support level takes a PhD. To get into most PhD programs requires having taken specific physics classes, taken the physics GRE (which is based on those classes) and done research (which is more difficult to get if you aren’t in college). And to actually get a PhD you are tested in the 4 main areas of physics regardless of which one you are most interested in.

I think many physics majors would agree that browsing among physics online materials is more fun than actually doing a class, but I don’t see how you would get an advanced level job by skipping the steps and building blocks.

You can, of course, learn from “many physics resources (books, online notes, courses, lectures, videos, etc,” but, if you aim to have a job in it, I can’t see that working out. Employers are not likely to believe in self-taught physicists. The standard coursework makes you believable to employers.

By all means supplement what is presented in class with other resources that you find useful.

Don’t quit school. Figure a way to complete your degree. Else you’ll be spending a lot of time flipping burgers without a good paying job.

Which does combine both translational and rotational Newtonian mechanics along with a healthy dose of thermodynamics.

So all burger flippers are frustrated wannabe physicists? :wink:

@iceblitzed

You will not come out of college with the requisite skills to do a job; nearly nobody comes out with those skills, which is why the vast majority of entry-level jobs have a training element to them. Physics and related jobs are not exceptions.

The value you get from university study is a) structured learning that culminates in the award of a degree, which can be seen by potential employers as external validation that you have, in fact, learned something, and b) varied learning - a bachelor’s degree requires general education courses, which wind up quite important in the working world.

A personal example: I don’t directly use my degree for anything, BUT what I learned has been tremendously helpful - a philosophy course in ethics has helped me make decisions in some sticky situations; a political science course requiring advanced analysis has helped me to identify unique ways to handle business issues; an economics course has helped me make smart long-term personal finance decisions.

The point is that the value of university study and obtaining a bachelor’s degree is greater with regard to how you grow personally than how you grow professionally. Deciding not to get that degree will likely hamstring you in the future - jobs related to physics typically require a bachelor’s degree at minimum, with the better jobs requiring a master’s degree or even a doctorate.

Since career is important to you, take a look at your school’s career surveys, and figure out what people do with their degrees. If people in your major often work in fields unrelated to your interests (or have significant difficulty finding full time employment), it may make sense to explore a transfer; if they work in the fields you want to work in, then the program you are in would appear to be useful to you in the long run.

I don’t think you can even get a job as a helper in a physics lab without an undergrad degree. It is quite competitive.