@Brainonska511
I plan on getting a PhD in Applied Physics which leans toward Engineering.
Because in the future I want to join humanitarian groups and help create buildings/power-plants/agriculture in poor parts of the world.
And as I said before, I need to get a Bachelors in CE or CS so I can get a well paying Telecommute job.
I want to be a Physicist.....I just said that.
I also want to do some Engineering work which is why I plan on majoring in Applied Physics.
Sigh, between this and the last thread it seems like good advice from more than a few people who have gone through grad school are not getting through.
First, why are you worrying about grad schools now? You have a lot of work to get through before you're ready for that discussion really.
Second, you say you're going to CC to get a CIS AA to transfer to a Cal State school (SDSU) in CE or CS. Have you talked with your CC Transfer department and gotten a clear list of requirements for transferring in those majors? Your CC will have a list of required courses that need to be completed, and those courses are likely to include some not in the CIS degree. Especially CE which is going to require different(more) math and science courses.
You want to complete those courses at the CC. First because transfer without those courses is much harder, and you're more likely to get rejected. But second, and more important, the CC will better enable you to succeed in those courses, at your CC courses in Linear Algebra and Differential Equations are going to have 20-30 people at the first class, dropping to 10 within the first couple weeks, you will get a lot of personal access to the instructor to help you understand. At a big university like SDSU those courses will have 200-300 students, and you will get 1 hour/week in discussion time with a grad student TA who really doesn't want to be there.
Next, this has come up before - do NOT plan on working a night job going to grad school in Physics, or Engineering. It is not a reasonable plan. To go to grad school in those fields you need to get a paid position in the department; Fellowship, Research Assistant, and/or Teaching Assistant. These positions will pay your tuition as well as a small stipend to live on. It's been said earlier in this thread, but if the offer for grad school doesn't include funding for at least the first year through one of these means - then it's the same as being denied. As someone with his grad degrees in EE I can tell you that the workload is such that you can't afford to be distracted with outside work, and those night hours are prime time to get thesis work done.
Third - pick a direction. Planning a BS in CS or CE to go to grad school for Physics is planning for problems. One, you're a lot less likely to get accepted in a grad program for physics with those degrees, and you'll immediately be disqualified as a TA for almost all the physics courses because you don't have the background to teach them. Two, you will go into the master's coursework without the undergrad material, you will end up needing to go back and take/audit undergrad courses to get the necessary understanding to complete the grad classes, this is going to burn up time that you can't afford to spend, a PhD program has milestones that need to be reached by certain deadlines, such as completing preliminary exams and getting your MS within 2 years; hard to do when you need to make up a couple years of undergrad work before even starting the grad courses.
So, if you're really wanting to do physics, you need to start in that direction now. Go to your transfer office and get the transfer requirements for physics, or at least engineering physics, so you can plan for a BS in that field.
Finally, if going to underprivileged areas and doing engineering work is your goal, then I don't see that physics is where you want to be (unless you want to go there and teach physics.) The more useful degrees will be Structural, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering. An EE that knows power systems, or RF, can do a lot to bring electricity or internet access to areas without it. Structural engineers can help build industrial facilities needed to house power generation or factories, and infrastructure elements such as bridges to enable trade. Mechanical engineers can help put together the machinery to do useful things: cleaning water, generating power, industrial tools, etc.