Quitting physics/math academically

[ice109]

so I'm a senior math + physics major. I'm done with the physics degree this semester and finishing up the math degree next year. but I'm done, I'm almost completely resolved to not go to grad school so i'll probably just keep up with the math and physics as a hobby.

i'm done because I'm sick of devoting long hours to something that essentially has no bearing on anything and never will. I'm also sick of being stagnant socially. i used to be an introvert and so math/physics was conducive to that but in my time at college I've become more extroverted and I've realized i greatly enjoy people and the more existential things in life.

but being in academia has exposed me to a lot of smart and creative people and they are kind of like the best of both worlds. so my question what i can do with my life ( occupation/vocation/job/etc ) that will allow me to interact with relatively intelligent people?

just throw some ideas out there.

 

[Pythagorean]

hrm, I hear grad school is a good place for that.

 

[Pythagorean]

no, but, seriously. I switched to engineering for my masters for this kind of reasoning:

i'm done because I'm sick of devoting long hours to something that essentially has no bearing on anything and never will.

(by the way, this reasoning is wrong logically, but I understand and can relate with the emotional feeling that causes it.)

 

[ice109]

no, but, seriously. I switched to engineering for my masters for this kind of reasoning:



(by the way, this reasoning is wrong logically, but I understand and can relate with the emotional feeling that causes it.)

i meant more so in the helping people type way and even beyond that we all know that 90% of the stuff that gets published will never see the light of day.

 

[arunma]

Contrary to popular opinions, grad students do have social lives. For the most part I work an eight hour day, and I'm a physics grad student. The first year of grad school is tough, especially before you've passed your qualifier. But after that it's not so bad. Yes, there are times when I have to stay late in the office, but this is also true in industry jobs. So if this is all that's keeping you out of grad school, I'd say you should still consider it.

If you want out of academia though, I guess engineering is the place to go. Engineers are smart...at least I assume so. Since you've got a year left, you should start looking for jobs immediately. You've got to send out a lot of applications, and it takes a long time. I guess the other thing you could do is go to grad school for two years, get a masters, and teach community college (here the intelligent people would be your fellow teachers, and maybe the more interested students.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. My personal experience is that unless you go to grad school, physics isn't as employable a major as they tell you.

 

[ice109]

you've missed the point. i don't want a physics/math/engineering job. i want a regular job where the people i interact with aren't bricks. this might be the wrong place to be asking...

 

[arunma]

Well, typically physicists, mathematicians, and engineers are intelligent, and you said you wanted to interact with intelligent people. With physics and math degrees, there's not much else you can do (I know, because those were my majors in college too). I guess you could try finance. But without a PhD, and with the current economic issues, that might be a problem. Other than that, I can't think of much else that you could do.

 

[rootX]

i want a regular job where the people i interact with aren't bricks. .

Bricks: people without emotions

 

[Dr.D]

Just what kind of people did you want to interact with?

 

[Santa1]

you've missed the point. i don't want a physics/math/engineering job. i want a regular job where the people i interact with aren't bricks.

Don't move to Norway =D

 

[arunma]

Also, physicists aren't bricks. Not that I'm saying I particularly enjoy hanging out with my fellow physicists, but they definitely aren't emotionless.

 

[waht]

People are very diverse, you can't expect to go to one place and resonate with everyone.

 

[rootX]

I think you should consider social studies (Economics/Global /Politics/Global religions/cultures).

 

[Astronuc]

but being in academia has exposed me to a lot of smart and creative people and they are kind of like the best of both worlds. so my question what i can do with my life ( occupation/vocation/job/etc ) that will allow me to interact with relatively intelligent people?

just throw some ideas out there.

Hang out at PF. Rumor has it that there are smart people here.


One can apply mathematics and physics in many jobs while interacting with people. Engineering is a job in which one can apply math and physics, and interact as a colleague or supervisor. There are interesting jobs in sustainable development.

What kind of interaction does one wish?

Besides working 5 days/wk (Mon - Fri), one could spend weekends meeting interesting people.

 

[ice109]

Hang out at PF. Rumor has it that there are smart poeple here.


One can apply mathematics and physics in many jobs while interacting with people. Engineering is a job in which one can apply math and physics, and interact as a colleague or supervisor. There are interesting jobs in sustainable development.

What kind of interaction does one wish?

Besides working 5 days/wk (Mon - Fri), one could spend weekends meeting interesting people.

yea online forums are ok but person to person interaction would be better.

btw i didn't mean physicists are bricks, even though they have qualities that make them brick like, i meant i'd prefer to hang out with people that aren't as dumb as bricks.

basically i'd like a job with variety - where I'm outside sometimes being active, inside sometimes studying, sometimes talking with people of both sexes, sometimes being by myself.

it's not enough for me to partition my life into the work week and the weekend. 2 days isn't enough time to be alive.

 

[Dr.D]

It looks to me like you are imagining barriers that do not exist and demanding guarantees in life that are not available to anyone. We all have to make our choices and live with them. If you think this is not the life for you, then by all means, look elsewhere.

 

[Focus]

You could go teach in a high school.

 

[rootX]

yea online forums are ok but person to person interaction would be better.

btw i didn't mean physicists are bricks, even though they have qualities that make them brick like, i meant i'd prefer to hang out with people that aren't as dumb as bricks.

basically i'd like a job with variety - where I'm outside sometimes being active, inside sometimes studying, sometimes talking with people of both sexes, sometimes being by myself.

My current employer worked as a consultant before. A really cool job and challenging! You go around the world, meet different people .

 

[ice109]

It looks to me like you are imagining barriers that do not exist and demanding guarantees in life that are not available to anyone. We all have to make our choices and live with them. If you think this is not the life for you, then by all means, look elsewhere.

i am. i already said it in the first post: i quit, actively looking elsewhere.

My current employer worked as a consultant before. A really cool job and challenging! You go around the world, meet different people .

consultant for what?

 

[lisab]

so I'm a senior math + physics major. I'm done with the physics degree this semester and finishing up the math degree next year. but I'm done, I'm almost completely resolved to not go to grad school so i'll probably just keep up with the math and physics as a hobby.

i'm done because I'm sick of devoting long hours to something that essentially has no bearing on anything and never will. I'm also sick of being stagnant socially. i used to be an introvert and so math/physics was conducive to that but in my time at college I've become more extroverted and I've realized i greatly enjoy people and the more existential things in life.

but being in academia has exposed me to a lot of smart and creative people and they are kind of like the best of both worlds. so my question what i can do with my life ( occupation/vocation/job/etc ) that will allow me to interact with relatively intelligent people?

just throw some ideas out there.

Ice, the emotional tone of your post sounds very familiar to me. I could have written it, the last year or two that I was finishing my degree. I was so fed up with the poverty, the blunted social life, and the long hours spent studying that I didn't even go to my graduation...I had just had it, was totally sick and tired of school.

A career in technical sales might suit you...you'd be interacting with relatively intelligent people. Very sociable people tend to do well in sales.

 

[ice109]

Ice, the emotional tone of your post sounds very familiar to me. I could have written it, the last year or two that I was finishing my degree. I was so fed up with the poverty, the blunted social life, and the long hours spent studying that I didn't even go to my graduation...I had just had it, was totally sick and tired of school.

A career in technical sales might suit you...you'd be interacting with relatively intelligent people. Very sociable people tend to do well in sales.

sales isn't my thing. i was a waiter for a long time and i know that's not the kind of thing id want to do.

 

[Proton Soup]

yea online forums are ok but person to person interaction would be better.

btw i didn't mean physicists are bricks, even though they have qualities that make them brick like, i meant i'd prefer to hang out with people that aren't as dumb as bricks.

basically i'd like a job with variety - where I'm outside sometimes being active, inside sometimes studying, sometimes talking with people of both sexes, sometimes being by myself.

it's not enough for me to partition my life into the work week and the weekend. 2 days isn't enough time to be alive.

maybe some type of field engineer, where you actually need some technician type skills and go out servicing stuff. it isn't likely to be the most intellectual pursuit, but it gives a little of both and, most importantly, you don't get cubed.

if cubing appears to be a likely outcome, i highly suggest you hold out for somewhere that you'd get a window, or a location where there's a lot of sun/surf/other activities. even if it means lower pay. there was a little saying i heard from some older guys early on that i didn't understand until much later: "we're mushrooms. they keep us in the dark and feed us bull****" this is especially true in the winter as the days get shorter. you get up to the office before the sun, and by the time you leave it's gone again. soon this becomes a miserable existence.

 

[arunma]

You could go teach in a high school.

No, he said he wanted to interact with smart people.

 

[Jack21222]

You could take up a trade, like electrician.

 

[Cyrus]

Ice, the emotional tone of your post sounds very familiar to me. I could have written it, the last year or two that I was finishing my degree. I was so fed up with the poverty, the blunted social life, and the long hours spent studying that I didn't even go to my graduation...I had just had it, was totally sick and tired of school.

A career in technical sales might suit you...you'd be interacting with relatively intelligent people. Very sociable people tend to do well in sales.

Me too! I mega loathed my last year and a half of college. It was day after day of pain and suffering with little to no sleep. My first semester of grad school was pretty rough too, but now I'm really enjoying things.

 

[lisab]

Me too! I mega loathed my last year and a half of college. It was day after day of pain and suffering with little to no sleep. My first semester of grad school was pretty rough too, but now I'm really enjoying things.

Yeah, by that point it's all such a drag. Sucks the life out of you, really. Not a good time to make serious, big-time, life-changing decisions, I suppose.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

basically i'd like a job with variety - where I'm outside sometimes being active, inside sometimes studying, sometimes talking with people of both sexes, sometimes being by myself.

Construction management
Technical trainer - train people on-site to use specific equipment [found in many fields].
Commercial consultant for energy conservation. Advise companies on how to save energy.
Join the technical staff at a major science museum
Hollywood special effects artist
State or National Park Ranger [never met one who didn't like their job]
Get into politics
Join the priesthood

 

[Loren Booda]

Since I got my Masters in physics (whose concentration in one subject I really loved!), I have been working mostly in the social sciences. More women there, less salary, and more direct in helping people with needs. I have worked as a grade school substitute teacher, at a nature center, at a nursing home and in the mental health field - all with accolades. I still love physics as a hobby (many here think of me as eccentric), just not as a field disconnected from emotion.

At what point academically do most physicists decide their vocation for certain?

 

[Howers]

i meant more so in the helping people type way and even beyond that we all know that 90% of the stuff that gets published will never see the light of day.

physics and math has potential to help people, though it may not be in your lifetime. imagine where we would be without magnets and all their properties. having said that, i understand where you are coming from. life is finite, and not everyone is dedicated enough to overcome human nature and immediate gratification. our economy simply is structured to support many physicists, only the very very good ones. this sort of reasoning is exactly why i got out of science and into business. you can try switching into a business major if you don't mind the extra schooling, or go after an mba. the health fields are also a possibility provided you have the grades.