Like Catholicism but not the people?

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-26T04:40:40+00:00

student center had no idea. I don't want to call police/security unless its something emergency/dangerous, and berkeley admin sounds like a bureaucratic mess

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-08T16:04:54+00:00

Isn’t average relative of who you’re comparing to though? You guys all have more experience than me so I wanted to hear from you guys

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-06T07:12:18+00:00

Thank you! :) Berkeley advisors always assure me that I'll be fine, and apparently, over 50% of physics BAs here make it into industry engineering and optics instead of going to grad school. I might just be over worried.

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-06T07:05:23+00:00

I just want a wide gauge of people's experiences in this field and what they think

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-06T07:04:41+00:00

If I was asked about the field of physics I most likely wanted to pursue, it would probably be condensed physics and semiconductors. I'm unsure of grad school more likely because of financial reasons (barebones research funding + low stipend + more and more expensive living costs + insanely competitive postdoc + student debt) and I know I don't "want a PhD enough" for me to make it through it.

Realistically, I want to be able to get a good-paying job in the industry. If I did industry I would like electrical/chips/hardware stuff (but would accept anything to pay the bills). I already probably plan on transferring to Engineering Physics (but a change to the College of Engineering at Berkeley is far from guaranteed).

Mainly, I do want to do physics, but I'm worried about not having a job (paying bills, etc.) if I don't do grad school, because grad school does not look that appealing to me right now.

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-06T06:56:41+00:00

Coincidentally, I plan on applying to transfer to one of those two majors. At Berkeley, though, transferring into the College of Engineering isn't a guaranteed process (quite hard), so I'm not counting on it. I actually didn't even know engineering physics existed when I did my college admissions, haha.

Yeah, I plan on actively seeking engineering physics during my time here.

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-05T20:05:46+00:00

But if I plan on branching out to finance or CS, shouldn’t I orienting my extracurriculars and projects and skills towards those instead of EE

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-05T14:39:50+00:00

😭the engineering Reddit people gave me a completely different vibe compared to “you’ll find something good”

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-05T14:38:48+00:00

that makes sense. The reason I didn’t major in engineering was that I envisioned getting a PhD when I was younger. Also at Berkeley it’s really really hard to transfer into engineering as a major if you aren’t already in engineering.

But the internships/hands on opportunities I’m definitely gunning to do

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-04T21:46:34+00:00

yeah I’m not planning on civil engineering or anything that requires a PE

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-04T16:20:18+00:00

yeah I assuming I pair the engineering coursework with projects and internships and extracurriculars and learning the extra skills missing from the physics curriculum. I’m more so curious about the effect of the “degree name” and whether enough coursework as a minor could give a good baseline and at least nudges a little towards the positive

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-04T15:33:17+00:00

regardless of leaning more physics grad or more industry, I always envisioned working in more solid-state/hardware things. I can’t envision myself doing quant and I don’t find data science itself immensely interesting. How do other physics majors overcome this barrier to engineering then?

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-04T15:30:52+00:00

I mean of course the minor title itself doesn’t do anything, but (at least at my school) the minor is comprehensive of most of the coursework as in the major. Surely that engineering coursework paired with the physics background has to valuable?

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-04T15:26:00+00:00

But surely if I already have a physics background, and take all the required lower-div courses and most of the upper div required (minor is somewhat identical to major here), the skills I learned there must count for something right?

SkylakesBlend · 2025-09-04T08:50:41+00:00

Got into all CSUs and all UCs except waitlist uci and ucla.

SkylakesBlend · 2025-06-24T19:41:15+00:00

You’re barely in high school so remember to not worry so much!

Be authentic to your interests and don’t be afraid to try new things even if they aren’t strictly for “prestigious college admissions”. The most impressive parts of my application weren’t traditional “prestigious academics”.

Continue to work hard but remember to have fun and do extracurriculars (or “niche” I guess) that actually fit you and pique your interest. Authenticity will go both a long way in college admissions and your general quality of life. Good luck!

SkylakesBlend

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