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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 se

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 rejected me (a recruiter said I had too many degrees (???)). I did end up working at a National Lab, which was an amazing experience. Side note: The American Physical Society(APS) publishes undergrad physics employment data[0] that my peers and I used to look at to feel good about our non-grad school prospects after BS. After my degree I realized it is biased at best, misleading at worst. Currently I am doing an interdisciplinary (read flexible) masters program in computational science. It allows me to take both CS and physics grad classes and do research in physics labs too. Now I plan on pursuing research in machine learning applied to super big data hairy physics problems. I am gonna apply to PhD programs again (fields are fuzzy: physics, CS, ML, data science). Would I do it again? Hell yeah. Started out as physics and then CS seemed interesting. Both gave me valuable skills: Good understanding of data structures, HPC, prototyping is helpful with physics problems, and I am not afraid of math in grad ML classes because of physics. Would I recommend it to others? Not really unless you are extremely passionate about both (took me about 2 years to feel that) or are a genius and confident in your abilities (I am not). I am still anxious about the future, and where will I fit. If you have a passing interest in physics, do CS with a physics minor to satisfy that itch or pursue an interdisciplinary program[1] so you are not stranded employment wise. Set on being a physicist? Take some CS classes (data structures, simulation, numerical analysis, HPC, algorithms etc.) People of HN, if you have a similar background/work in a similar field, I would love to pick your brain about your path and research/career options. [0] https://www.aps.org/careers/statistics/index.cfm https://www.aps.org/careers/statistics/index.cfm [1] https://www.siam.org/Students-Education/Resources/For-Undergraduate-Students/Detail/graduate-and-undergraduate-programs-in-computational-science https://www.siam.org/Students-Education/Resources/For-Underg...

mettamage 8y ago
I didn't read the artidcle yet, but I experience the same issues. Computer science + business minor as a bachelor Psychology (honours) as 2nd bachelor Game studies master Computer science research master My fields of interest: computer science, psychology and business. For the rest, your comment is almost identical, to some extent even the math parth (as psych. is quite statistics heavy compared to CS).
avinium 8y ago
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.

mettamage 8y ago

I didn't read the artidcle yet, but I experience the same issues. Computer science + business minor as a bachelor Psychology (honours) as 2nd bachelor Game studies master Computer science research master My fields of interest: computer science, psychology and business. For the rest, your comment is almost identical, to some extent even the math parth (as psych. is quite statistics heavy compared to CS).

avinium 8y ago

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.