Question Career in Astrophysics

Interstellar Planet

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I'm a sophomore in high school right now, and I'm really interested in majoring in astrophysics when I go to college. However, everything I've read about astrophysics says that the job outlook is really bad. I've read that only 1 in 4 actually get a job in astrophysics! Most have to switch to some other career.

Are any of you physicists or physics majors? Astrophysics sounds like the perfect career for me but I was very disappointed to learn about the job outlook.

Does anyone have any advice?
 

Hielor

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What would you actually want to *do* with an astrophysics degree? There are a whole lot of different jobs you could have, and deciding what you actually want to do is an important step.
 

sorindafabico

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Interstellar Planet

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What would you actually want to *do* with an astrophysics degree? There are a whole lot of different jobs you could have, and deciding what you actually want to do is an important step.

Right now I'm really interested in exoplanets. If I decide to go down that route, I think I'd like to specialize in modelling them rather than discovering them.

However, I'm interested in basically anything to do with astrophysics. I would be fine with a lot of fields if there are jobs.
 
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boogabooga

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First of all, I've never heard of a B.S. in "astrophysics." I think more likely you will be majoring in general "physics".

If you also pick up plenty of math and computer science skills, you should be good no matter what. Although, majoring in engineering will probably be the most efficient way to pick up employable skills in STEM.

Second of all, astrophysics is a research science.

Keep in mind that as with any research science, you'll need to get a Ph.D. to do anything meaningful directly in the field. You're looking at being in school for about 9 years. I have a feeling that attrition from the education process has a lot to do with the 1 in 4 figure.

Also, if a lot of the jobs are at NASA/academia, then realistically you will not only need a B.S. plus Ph.D., but a B.S. plus Ph.D. with excellent grades and references from a top school.

It is all certainly doable if you are highly motivated. Just be prepared to not have much of an outside life or any other interests for the next 9 years (especially after grad school starts). Many people that go down a similar path at some point find out that they are not as motivated as they thought that they were.
 

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Thank you for the advice. Boogabooga, you made some good points. Perhaps I should just start out in physics and see where it leads me.

This is a fine plan, I believe. After all, you're a sophomore in high school, as you said. You have plenty of time to be exposed to all sorts of things. Who knows, your real passion may lie elsewhere. :)
 

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If you're interested in just a job that pays well, I'd say stick to just Physics for a B.A. or a B.S. (I'm the B.A. route) and work towards astrophysics for a graduate degree.
 

boogabooga

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Right now I'm really interested in exoplanets. If I decide to go down that route, I think I'd like to specialize in modelling them rather than discovering them.

However, I'm interested in basically anything to do with astrophysics. I would be fine with a lot of fields if there are jobs.

Healthy outlook.

One thing that I notice is that some people have a very specific vision of what they want to be studying.

Passion is good. But, people need to keep in mind that that they will have to select research that is

1) Funded at the time that they are ready to start
2) Has openings

Sometime the most passionate dreamers...end up the most disappointed.

It's one thing for example to imagine in your head how amazing another world would be that could sustain life. It is entirely another to actually conduct a statistical analysis of transit data, or to look for the signals of chemicals in spectroscopic data...all ...day...long.
 

Interstellar Planet

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Oh, I was asking Kyle, but you posted while I was writing mine.:)

It's one thing for example to imagine in your head how amazing another world would be that could sustain life. It is entirely another to actually conduct a statistical analysis of transit data, or to look for the signals of chemicals in spectroscopic data...all ...day...long.

Anyway, that is a good point. It could get pretty boring to do tedious work like that for a long time. I just wish there was a way I could study different things from day to day.:lol: There are just so many fields in astrophysics.
 

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First of all, I've never heard of a B.S. in "astrophysics." I think more likely you will be majoring in general "physics".

Keep in mind that as with any research science, you'll need to get a Ph.D. to do anything meaningful directly in the field. You're looking at being in school for about 9 years. I have a feeling that attrition from the education process has a lot to do with the 1 in 4 figure.

I want to add a bit to this post. First, while my university does offer a bachelor's in astrophysics (it covers nearly as much as a physics BS but with astronomy-focused courses), it is probably better to pursue a BS in physics. Astrophysics is niche and employers may not understand what astrophysicists do.

Second, there is probably a lot of competition in astrophysics, like many other sciences, over grant money for research. After achieving a PhD, many scientists need to spend years as a postdoc nowadays. Scientists are often limited to a research university setting and become professors. Professors work on missions from Kepler to Curiosity.
 

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A friend of mine did a B.S. in physics and then went on to complete a M.S. in aerospace engineering. If you find physics isn't working out for you, you can always go to graduate school for engineering. Given that you'd absolutely have to go to graduate school to realistically pursue physics as a career anyway, you can use that point to evaluate if you want to stay in physics beyond your B.S. or switch before going to graduate school.
 
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