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A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

physicstoday.scitation.org

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Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#121

Post by elamje »

repsilat wrote: post #110
elamje wrote: post #95

This should be nuanced with the fact that a Master's degree in the US is much different than Europe. Typically, in Europe, STEM fields do a "Masters" but it's really equivalent to junior and senior level coursework in the US. This was the case for me as an exchange CS student in Sweden at KTH, and it seemed that all of my Euro friends that were getting masters in their respective country just treat a Masters in STEM…

For a countervailing viewpoint, I got a Masters in CS from Georgia Tech, and it was just coursework at the level of my 3rd and 4th years of undergrad in New Zealand. Bit of a let-down.

In person or online?

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#122

Post by gautamdivgi »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #99
oneepic wrote: post #41

I've also heard the opposite, that it leads to absolutely nothing and you are kind of treated like a PhD dropout, at least in the US. Just be careful, I guess, and get plenty of advice from real people who took that path (successfully or not). Oh, and a bachelor's in engineering physics seems to lead to nothing as well. Have had quite a few friends go to career fairs and every company rep lost interest as soon as the…

That hasn’t been my experience. I have M.S. in physics at a shitty school and went into industry. (I didn’t fail anything, and actually had a 4.0 gpa, just didn’t want to spend more time in school). Eventually switched from material science to data science. Currently an ML research scientist at AWS. It’s been a fun journey. No one gave a shit about what I did or didn’t do in college. It might matter to HR people, whi…

That's close to what I was about to post as well. In fact I believe physics grads would also be a decent fit in HFT either as quants or SWE dealing with quants.

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#123

Post by vturner »

kwoff wrote: post #51
oneepic wrote: post #41

I've also heard the opposite, that it leads to absolutely nothing and you are kind of treated like a PhD dropout, at least in the US. Just be careful, I guess, and get plenty of advice from real people who took that path (successfully or not). Oh, and a bachelor's in engineering physics seems to lead to nothing as well. Have had quite a few friends go to career fairs and every company rep lost interest as soon as the…

When I was an undergrad, a classmate told me a Master's in Physics was a "kiss of death". I did stop with a Master's (didn't even go to the graduation ceremony, since it felt like dropping out), though financially I'm good since I went into the web world (started around the bubble's peak). I kinda buy that it helped develop my analytical thinking skills, though in the long run I'm not sure that mattered. Recently I'm…

Have an undergraduate in physics and masters in applied math. It's odd how development and the occasional bit of analysis is not too fulfilling. Maybe it's the lack of intellectual challenge?

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#124

Post by bermanoid »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #99
oneepic wrote: post #41

I've also heard the opposite, that it leads to absolutely nothing and you are kind of treated like a PhD dropout, at least in the US. Just be careful, I guess, and get plenty of advice from real people who took that path (successfully or not). Oh, and a bachelor's in engineering physics seems to lead to nothing as well. Have had quite a few friends go to career fairs and every company rep lost interest as soon as the…

That hasn’t been my experience. I have M.S. in physics at a shitty school and went into industry. (I didn’t fail anything, and actually had a 4.0 gpa, just didn’t want to spend more time in school). Eventually switched from material science to data science. Currently an ML research scientist at AWS. It’s been a fun journey. No one gave a shit about what I did or didn’t do in college. It might matter to HR people, whi…

I think you're covered by the parent's "besides learning to code" caveat. That's a real smooth career transition, I did it as well as a ton of friends who had the same background. ML is a particularly good fit because physics majors just LOL at the "difficult" math that trips everyone else up.

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#125

Post by Avshalom »

klrr wrote: post #52
oneepic wrote: post #41

I've also heard the opposite, that it leads to absolutely nothing and you are kind of treated like a PhD dropout, at least in the US. Just be careful, I guess, and get plenty of advice from real people who took that path (successfully or not). Oh, and a bachelor's in engineering physics seems to lead to nothing as well. Have had quite a few friends go to career fairs and every company rep lost interest as soon as the…

Interesting, in Scandinavia Engineering Physics is quite prestigious and many graduates end up as SWEs. In fact many researchers across Sweden hold Engineering Physics degrees in CS and other disciplines outside physics.

Is ending up as a SWE prestigious?

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#126

Post by mark_l_watson »

Physics is a great general purpose education. I have a BS in Physics, from the early 1970s, and while I have always worked in some form of software development or research role, Physics was a great start.

In current times, a BS degree is probably not as useful, so spending a little extra time to get a MS makes sense.

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#127

Post by agentofoblivion »

selimthegrim wrote: post #104
agentofoblivion wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hasn’t been my experience. I have M.S. in physics at a shitty school and went into industry. (I didn’t fail anything, and actually had a 4.0 gpa, just didn’t want to spend more time in school). Eventually switched from material science to data science. Currently an ML research scientist at AWS. It’s been a fun journey. No one gave a shit about what I did or didn’t do in college. It might matter to HR people, whi…

Would be interested to hear what you do and don’t like about your job and what skills you learned from your degree

I can’t actually think of anything I don’t like about my current job. The main thing I’ve learned from physics is being comfortable with mathematics and the confidence to work through tough technical stuff that I don’t understand. I think the math basics and grit can take you a long way.

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#128

Post by agentofoblivion »

hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #102
agentofoblivion wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hasn’t been my experience. I have M.S. in physics at a shitty school and went into industry. (I didn’t fail anything, and actually had a 4.0 gpa, just didn’t want to spend more time in school). Eventually switched from material science to data science. Currently an ML research scientist at AWS. It’s been a fun journey. No one gave a shit about what I did or didn’t do in college. It might matter to HR people, whi…

Any tips for getting into Amazon's research arm? I'm in the market, as it were.

Research Scientists are mainly just data scientist in that we’re building models for the business, not just for papers. But we do try to push the boundary and contribute academically. The Data Scientist job family is similar, but lower technical bar and heavier on SQL/basic analysis.

To get into RS position, just know your ML/stats basics well and be proficient in SQL. Nothing super hard about getting an RS role.

Re: A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

#129

Post by repsilat »

elamje wrote: post #121
repsilat wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a countervailing viewpoint, I got a Masters in CS from Georgia Tech, and it was just coursework at the level of my 3rd and 4th years of undergrad in New Zealand. Bit of a let-down.

In person or online?

Online. Could have something to do with it.

Some classes were very good, but on the whole I think of it mostly as a cheap thumb on the H-1B scales. (Not true on the whole, though -- students of the online program are statistically far more likely to be American citizens than their on-campus counterparts.)

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