Can't decide my courseee

Hey there @Qxi.xli

Completely understand your worry.
I study civil engineering and I am currently doing my placement, it's consulting based so would usually be in the office. In the office I'm at there is a fair amount of women, not 50:50, but I'd say theres a good 35%. I know that's sounds like a small number but once you have at least a good few women that are quite approachable then you don't really feel like a minority there. Everyone in general are all quite friendly so you don't feel left out in that sense.
I know if I was based on site, then it would be a very different situation, but it's only after one girl comes and breaks the norm that others will follow. Hopefully in the future we have more women in the engineering sector and I do have hope that it will change.

In my class at uni there were 10 girls 45 boys which is around 55 people, which is small compared to other courses. Nonetheless, it meant we all knew each other by name, and we could count on each other for help.

Regardless of gender, if the people you work with are very friendly and understanding, then I'd say that's a big win

If you you're planning to go the engineering route, do you know which sector do you want to go into?

All the best,
Anna Civil Eng

I seriously can't decide between a physics and a engineering degree😭. At this point I'm so confused and I wish someone could just make the descision for me😭. I've done so much research and I've just gotten more confusedd.
Is one easier than the other? I feel like physics may be harder?
You know people say you should chose a subject you have a passion for, I don't know whether that's physics or Engineering for me lol.
Even after I decide between the two, I don't know whether I'd be doing a a general engineering degree or something like mechanical engineering. The same with Physics (idk if I'd do something like astrophysics..).

Anyways I don't know what this thread is, it probably doesn't make any sense. 😔

I seriously can't decide between a physics and a engineering degree😭. At this point I'm so confused and I wish someone could just make the descision for me😭. I've done so much research and I've just gotten more confusedd.
Is one easier than the other? I feel like physics may be harder?
You know people say you should chose a subject you have a passion for, I don't know whether that's physics or Engineering for me lol.
Even after I decide between the two, I don't know whether I'd be doing a a general engineering degree or something like mechanical engineering. The same with Physics (idk if I'd do something like astrophysics..).

Anyways I don't know what this thread is, it probably doesn't make any sense. 😔

Hey @Qxi.xli

It can be difficult to choose which course is best when you have an interest in two areas. I am not sure what universities you are planning on applying to but here at Hull, we have an 'Ask A Student' platform where you can speak to students. We have two students studying Engineering (one Mechanical and one Chemical) and a student who has been studying Physics for the past four years. You may like to take the opportunity and speak to them about their experiences of studying the courses and see if that helps you get a better idea of what each course is like? You can find the page HERE. Very best of luck in deciding

Megan
University of Hull

On the physics side, any physics degree is going to be largely the same in terms of core content, whether the degree is in "physics", "theoretical physics", "astrophysics" etc. That's because to be any kind of physicist you really need to cover all the same essential material in mechanics, EM, QM, thermodynamics and statistical physics, solid state/condensed matter physics, some astrophysics, etc. So you don't need to be too concerned with whether the eventual degree says "astrophysics" or "physics" because a lot of it is going to be the same anyway; usually those with more specific degree titles just make what would normally be certain optional modules into core modules instead (for astrophysics, in astrophysics topics for example). Theoretical physics courses sometimes are slightly different in that they may reduce the amount of lab work you do to add in extra mathematical modules and "theoretical physics" modules (which are usually just extensions of what you would study otherwise and often available as options anyway).

For engineering it should be noted that a) engineering itself is very, very different from physics and b) the different engineering disciplines can often be very different from each other, unlike the different "variants" of physics. There is a world of difference between a chemical engineering degree and an EE course. In terms of differences from physics, a lot of the material in a physics course just won't be covered in an engineering course; it would be extremely uncommon to learn any quantum mechanics beyond oblique references in semiconductor electronics or materials science type modules. You probably wouldn't do any statistical mechanics "proper" except in a chemical engineering degree or perhaps some materials science courses either, although thermodynamics is pretty standard in many engineering disciplines. You won't be likely to do any kind of EM wave content outside of an EE course and probably little work on electricity and magnetism in general otherwise outside of materials science as well as EE.

Additionally the nature of how they teach otherwise seemingly "shared" topics will be a bit different; the physics perspective will generally be a bit more "fundamental" and less applied, focusing more on general cases and the theoretical underpinnings rather than specific applications or solutions. For example, you would probably learn about maxwells equations in general in a physics course and learn the full derivation of them, but in an EE course you may just be introduced to the equations and then focus on applying them to particular problems (e.g. coax cables). Likewise while in physics you would probably approach mechanics from a much more generalised perspective, focusing on idealised point particles and modelling things as frictionless spheres and so on, in an engineering course you would probably be focusing more on particular problems and realising that you can't actually make those kinds of assumptions in those types of problems. There is also engineering design (which is not product design and does not focus on aesthetic elements, but on applying engineering sciences to design some actually functional system, rather than just a purely theoretical model of one) which is of course not present in a physics course at all.

That said there are some engineering courses which may be "closer" to physics than others; generally EE and materials science have more overlap with the core physics topics, and sometimes these courses may be used as a background to go on to do a masters degree in physics (I believe both Imperial and UCL physics MSc courses accept a background in EE, and I think one or the other also considers people with a materials science background). The rare nuclear engineering also has a lot of overlap with physics, unsurprisingly. There are a couple of degrees in the UK in "engineering physics" I believe as well (I think Loughborough offers one).

It may also be possible in some unis to take optional modules in physics while on an engineering degree, although usually engineering degrees have very limited opportunities to take optional modules at all due to needing to cover a large amount of background to meet the requirements for accreditation, and also often those accreditation requirements limit how many optional modules someone on the degree can take outside of engineering. Generally speaking though, it's easier to go from a physics degree to a career in engineering, than to go from an engineering degree to an academic career (i.e. PhD onwards) in physics.

Hello @Qxi.xli!

I fully empathize with you in this situation - in college I was in a similar situation of being torn between chemical engineering and physics (which eventually led to me doing theoretical physics... quite a difference from engineering!). At the time of choosing my degree, I wasn't sure I had more passion for one or the other either.

In terms of difficulty, it's not so clean-cut to say what is and isn't easy at University level - it depends on your skill sets as there are many different aspects to each course (ie coding, labs, group projects and how maths is taught differentiates by course). Maybe it's worth evaluating your current strengths and looking at what a typical engineering/physics student studies? (Then again I don't think difficulty should be the key factor in deciding between the two... University is tough regardless!)

The way I decided to pursue Physics was by taking part in as many taster sessions/workshops as possible. I understand this is tough given the circumstances, but I know the IOP have organized many online events (including a 'women in physics' event) so I'd recommend keeping an eye out. Alongside this, I recommend looking into physics/engineering topics beyond A-Level and seeing if anything sparks your interest, maybe reading books or articles or watching online lectures. By doing this, I realized that I was more interested in physics/mathematical concepts than current engineering ones and this was a massive factor in my decision

And don't worry too much about the specific flavour of engineering/physics you choose yet! Many Universities are flexible, so you could join the more 'general' course then swap courses in the year after, if needs be.

Best of luck with your application!
-Faye