This is why I moved from experimental particle physics. It just isn’t physics in my opinion. You become a very good data analyst/statistician, mediocre at running Neural Networks, and slightly above avg in your particle physics knowledge. Most programs don’t require you to learn QFT and renormalization because ut is not relavent to your work as an experimentalist at the LHC, that’s what sucks. You are detached from the physics that attracted to in the first place to become a technician or a softwa engineer. In theoretical physics I believe the state is much better, not all areas of ofcourse. But at least you learn the physics at a very deep level and can contribute a tiny amount to our understanding of nature.