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If I major in Physics, what career choices are available to me?

I'm planning to major in Physics and while I'm not terribly passionate about it, I was wondering what career paths branch out from Physics. #mathematics #physics

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Ld’s Answer

Hi Lizeth! Good for you in considering Physics! I am a retired Naval Officer and aircraft navigator. Although my BA is in English, I had to study a lot of physics and engineering in the course of my military career. If you're good at math, and have an interest in Physics, I'd say, "go for it." In any undergraduate major, you will learn how to approach problems and think through them; it's just a matter of how you do it that differs from one major to the next. Physics, being math-heavy, will allow you a sense of understanding of the "language" of the universe (I think Neil DeGrasse Tyson said that!). It could be a gateway for you to pursue professional astronomy, "experimental physics" (where you design an experiment that tests whether a hypothesis or theory seems to be valid or not), or "theoretical" physics (where you try to understand the nature of the universe itself). Job prospects, from what I understand, could range from positions in electrical power/energy, green energy, etc, to medical technology, and possibly to consumer goods such as smart device development. Really, I think you're limited by your imagination (like I said, I was an English major and flew jets in the Navy)! Look on websites like "Indeed.com" and see what job requirements are listed for things that interest you.

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Alexis’s Answer

Physics is not my area of expertise, but upon looking at the degree on ASU's website some of the careers are:
Astronomer, nuclear engineer, physicist, nanosystems engineer, computer scientist, high school teacher, professor.

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Steve’s Answer

Spend the early years in college with the required courses like English, Math, History and leave room for "survey courses" that meet once a week for small credit and make an overview of one field of study. You may find a subject that gives you that "passion" when it is not too late to change majors. Physics is not the path to riches, is interesting to a select few and has limited appeal outside of academia. If you want to work in Industry, be an Engineer.

Steve recommends the following next steps:

Check out Architecture. A survey course on that subject fascinated me, but too late. Still, Astronomy was my "passion" from the start - there was no choice involved with that.
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