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A physics master’s degree opens doors to myriad careers

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

#131

Post by hooloovoo_zoo »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #128
hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Gotcha, thanks.

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

#132

Post by avinium »

occamschainsaw wrote: post #81

I don't agree with this article. I did my undergrad with a Physics & CS double major. It was painful, 9 semesters of maximum allowed courseload. While people seemed to be impressed, I always felt like an imposter, knowing less CS than the CS students and less physics than the physics students. Couldn't maintain a great GPA either. Applied to 8 PhD programs, got rejected by all of them. Most of the CS companies also r…

For what it's worth, you're almost exactly the type of person I would look to hire.

From my (albeit small) sample size, pure Physics majors have incredible intellectual chops, but aren't necessarily interested in hacking or building systems.

Pure CS majors usually love the latter, but don't always have the mathematical sophistication for more heavy duty (ML) work.

Someone who offers the best of both worlds is very desirable.

Obviously this doesn't apply across the board - there are countless people who fit the mould in the CS camp, the Physics camp, or without degree whatsoever. I'm just saying that if I had to go through 100 CVs, the simple fact that you're a Physics/CS major is enough to shoot you to the top of the list.

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

#133

Post by robertAngst »

bermanoid wrote: post #124
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…

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.

I feel like any bachelors degree in the sciences should have you capable of doing any math needed.

I am quite concerned that Doctors in the medical field have limited to no understanding of statistics. IMO, stats should be second nature to anyone with 200 level math courses.

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

#134

Post by robertAngst »

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.

But then you are an Engineer.

I love engineering, but physics is often theoretical to the point that its useless for macro application.

I imagine an Engineering Physics is an Engineer.

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

#135

Post by robertAngst »

mjfl wrote: post #96
bloomer wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Data science is one of the few fields where a physics degree does have at least some comparative advantage. In any engineering field, a hiring manager with a choice between an engineering graduate and a physics graduate is always going to choose the engineering graduate because they have specific training in the field. Part of the myth propagated by physics departments is that learning to solve a bunch of general pro…

The real myth is that schools actually prepare you for specific problems on the job, as you have asserted. I have helped hire people before and I would say that schools do very little good specialized training. Almost everything learned in engineering school is going to be at best tangential to the problems actually experienced in industry, to the point where there is little difference between an engineering degree a…

Do physics students have to learn about electrical components?

In Chemical Engineering, I had to take 2 electrical classes and I learned what math I needed and what components exist.

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

#136

Post by robertAngst »

Y_Y wrote: post #4

I didn't do my physics PhD expecting it would lead to a job. Which is good because it hasn't.

I am very happy I choose to work on my own projects than peruse a PhD.

Anecdotes like yours from my peers were very helpful in making this decision.

Not to mention, both teachers seemed like they wanted me to pay to do their work.

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

#137

Post by PopeDotNinja »

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…

Keep in mind that career fairs are attended by people looking for a very specific kind of hire and/or they're just looking to get you to visit their careers website. A Google engineering recruiter at a Stanford career fair isn't there to chat an English major who is excited about the computer science for liberal arts majors course they took. They're basically not interested in talking to anyone, as because standing there all day saying "tell me about yourself" and answer "what does you company do?" is mind numbingly boring once you've done it a few times. If you're working at a career fair, the only thing you're looking forward to is an after hours happy hour.

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

#138

Post by elamje »

repsilat wrote: post #129
elamje wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.)

I tend to think online programs, even from great schools like Georgia Tech or John Hopkins, are definitely easier than on campus. Typically on campus will attract students that did very well in undergrad and are on their way to a PhD, where as online has no option to continue for a PhD.

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

#139

Post by throwaway2019Z »

walshemj wrote: post #73
throwaway2019Z wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"So you think a CS chitty is automatically the best possible career in development no wonder you used a throwaway handle. I would have said having a good grounding in physics or engineering can be a plus having to work from first principals rather than using memorised algo's for w=example." Then you should have said that rather than whatever it is that you just typed. I make a new throwaway every month so I don't get…

So I am dyslexic sue me. And your excuse for a throwaway account is "not readily believable"

Nice work. Completely ignore the most relevant part of the comment.

Great job contributing a negative amount of value to the discussion then following up with a childish "sue me."

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

#140

Post by analog31 »

codesushi42 wrote: post #120
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…

Unsubstantiated hearsay. How does a Master's imply you are a PhD dropout? Plenty of people go with the expectation of only Master's to begin with. Heck, this distinction is even made when you enroll in the Master's program in Stanford CS instead of the PhD program. They are treated as different tracks that you can't move between.

When I was a physics undergrad student, I remember being told by advisors that a Master's was considered to be a booby prize. We were told that grad programs would only consider students who indicated an interest in a PhD.

One possible reason is that grad student funding was limited, and they didn't want to waste it on students who weren't going to contribute to research. All physics grad students were fully funded. I'm not sure this is true today.

So far as I could tell, this was strictly limited to physics. My graduate program was almost exclusively PhD students, and the terminal Master's was used as an escape hatch. On the other hand, those students did just fine in the job market, so it could be just a peculiarity of the academic culture that is not reflected outside of the academe.

Working in industry after my degree, I encountered people with Masters in physics, who were doing just fine, and they did not strike me as inferior -- they just didn't want to stay for a PhD.

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