I'm sort of at a crossroads in my life. I'll be graduating next May ('07) from a well-known American public university with a B.S. in Physics and a liberal arts honors B.A. I have a good GPA (>3.50) but no extracurriculars of substance. I will have good work experience upon graduation, including 2 years of undergraduate research (optical plasma spectroscopy, undergrad thesis), a semester of research in Germany, and a semester of tutoring math/physics/CS.
I plan to work for 2ish years after graduation, paying off loans and saving money, and then head to grad school. Moneywise, I have very little interest in material posessions, but I'd like to be financially comfortable. I'll have a large debt load after school. My parents have made quite a few sacrifices to put me through school, and I'd like to make sure they're comfortable in their old age.
Now here comes the problem: I have absolutely no idea what sort of career/grad school I want to pursue. I love physics, but to be a real physicist, I'd need a PhD, and, for reasons that I won't go into, that's not the path I want to take. I think I've narrowed it down to three options: some sort of engineering, mathematical finance, or law. Let me break it down.
Engineering
Engineering is very appealing because I like working in the lab. I like to get my hands dirty and solve problems. If I understand it correctly, a Master's in Engineering is a useful degree. There's an extra problem here, though, in that I wouldn't know what kind of engineering to go into. Electrical/Computer, Civil, Architectural, and Mechanical are all interesting to me. I hope to take a couple introductory courses in a few of those this coming year to see which ones I like. I'm also concerned about my perception that many engineers run into a "ceiling" in terms of advancement and pay. I know some people move up into management/sales, but that's not for me - people skills/salesmanship is not one of my strengths. Also, my 4 years of liberal arts work would be all for naught.
Mathematical Finance
I get recruiting stuff pretty often from banks, etc., on the physics career email listserv. I've always found the world of finance fascinating, especially the mechanics of how the stock market works, though I'll admit I don't know much about it at this point. I'm not a genius, but I'm pretty good at math. I like to program a bit, too. I've met or heard of a couple physics guys who have gone on to do modeling of this type. Supposedly you can make some decent money. I've heard a lot of talk from business majors that junior investment bankers, etc., work grueling hours and get burnt out very quickly, but I'm not 100% sure thats the kind of work that these places are looking for math/physics majors for. I know of several universities that offer a master's in Mathematical Finance.
Law
Specifically, patent/IP law. The professor that I work for actually suggested this to me. It's true that I could make good use of both of my degrees, maybe still get into the technical stuff a bit. My main concern here is that I've alternately been told that it's very boring or that it's terrible hours for entry-level people.
I guess the main thing that I'm looking for is anyone in any of these three fields to give me a rough idea of the working conditions, hours, pay scale, advancement opportunities, nature of the work, etc. Any suggestions of something I've overlooked would be great, too.
Sorry for the long post. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
Cliff's
1) "early life" crisis about what I want to do going forward
2) engineering, finance, or patent law are my options
3) I don't really know much about these fields
I plan to work for 2ish years after graduation, paying off loans and saving money, and then head to grad school. Moneywise, I have very little interest in material posessions, but I'd like to be financially comfortable. I'll have a large debt load after school. My parents have made quite a few sacrifices to put me through school, and I'd like to make sure they're comfortable in their old age.
Now here comes the problem: I have absolutely no idea what sort of career/grad school I want to pursue. I love physics, but to be a real physicist, I'd need a PhD, and, for reasons that I won't go into, that's not the path I want to take. I think I've narrowed it down to three options: some sort of engineering, mathematical finance, or law. Let me break it down.
Engineering
Engineering is very appealing because I like working in the lab. I like to get my hands dirty and solve problems. If I understand it correctly, a Master's in Engineering is a useful degree. There's an extra problem here, though, in that I wouldn't know what kind of engineering to go into. Electrical/Computer, Civil, Architectural, and Mechanical are all interesting to me. I hope to take a couple introductory courses in a few of those this coming year to see which ones I like. I'm also concerned about my perception that many engineers run into a "ceiling" in terms of advancement and pay. I know some people move up into management/sales, but that's not for me - people skills/salesmanship is not one of my strengths. Also, my 4 years of liberal arts work would be all for naught.
Mathematical Finance
I get recruiting stuff pretty often from banks, etc., on the physics career email listserv. I've always found the world of finance fascinating, especially the mechanics of how the stock market works, though I'll admit I don't know much about it at this point. I'm not a genius, but I'm pretty good at math. I like to program a bit, too. I've met or heard of a couple physics guys who have gone on to do modeling of this type. Supposedly you can make some decent money. I've heard a lot of talk from business majors that junior investment bankers, etc., work grueling hours and get burnt out very quickly, but I'm not 100% sure thats the kind of work that these places are looking for math/physics majors for. I know of several universities that offer a master's in Mathematical Finance.
Law
Specifically, patent/IP law. The professor that I work for actually suggested this to me. It's true that I could make good use of both of my degrees, maybe still get into the technical stuff a bit. My main concern here is that I've alternately been told that it's very boring or that it's terrible hours for entry-level people.
I guess the main thing that I'm looking for is anyone in any of these three fields to give me a rough idea of the working conditions, hours, pay scale, advancement opportunities, nature of the work, etc. Any suggestions of something I've overlooked would be great, too.
Sorry for the long post. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
Cliff's
1) "early life" crisis about what I want to do going forward
2) engineering, finance, or patent law are my options
3) I don't really know much about these fields