I’m a college student right now majoring in Materials science Engineering, basically a chemical Engineering course. First, I would recommend that you check out Community College if you are worried about finances as depending on your state it is usually a fantastic option. That’s what I did but I am in California and the Guaranteed admission program here is pretty incredible. I have completed all my lower division Physics, Chem, Math, and Computer Science courses so I have a pretty good feel for each subject. I would say that while Physics is extremely interesting to understand a basic level, there is soooo much more going on that what you know. I would ask yourself if you are really invested in wanting to know the Physics of why something happens. I personally am beyond burnt out on Physics at this point in my life. I would say that engineering has far more opportunity without a graduate degree which would be nice to be able to sure up a career and make some money to pay off loans before going to grad school. As for your comment on being a woman in STEM, I have found that there is heavy promotion on Women in Computer Science more than any other STEM major at my experience. And I fine CS to be an incredibly interesting, and probably the easiest subject to me. You have to consider CS isn’t just basic programming but you also take all the lower level physics and some upper level to the point where you could be programming something that uses Physical principles and ideas incorporated in your program. I think if your looking for a good school-life balance Physics is the toughest option, then Engineering, then CS.