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Physics vs Biology Major

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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
I really can't decide. Both deal with some pretty interesting concepts, and I'm having a hard time deciding which I'd actually want to go all the way with.

The one thing holding me back with biology, is after having a family thats a doctor, there is no way I want to get involved in the healthcare industry, and I'm not completely sure what else you can to with a biology degree. Ideally I'd live like Darwin's life, travel around on a boat and thinking about reefs and eventually discovering evolution or some break through.

The reason Physics is interesting are all the weird far out concepts like black holes, quantum mechanics, thinking about space, really Neil deGrasse Tyson is the one that really turned me on to all that stuff a couple of years ago. I did alright in math in high school (took calc. 1 and got a B, if that means anything), its do able and I generally understand it, but its not exactly "fun" or something I'd really enjoy doing in my free time or, I'm not sure how I feel about being wrapped up in it for the rest of my life.
Apr 5 2014 4:36PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
how old are you?

and how advanced is your knowledge level in each area?
Apr 5 2014 4:39PM
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
I'm 20, I had been an engineering major, decided it wasn't for me, dropped out of school, and now I'm trying to figure out what to actually major in. These were on the top of the list of things I'm interested in, and are actually employable.
Apr 5 2014 4:45PM
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shocker611
Posts: 2599 - Karma: 423
I would recommend doing some sort of applied physics. A lot more jobs in that area than in bio and a lot less competition for those jobs. You will have some difficulty in finding jobs coming out with a biology degree unless you do some kind of more applied graduate degree.
Apr 5 2014 4:45PM
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cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,681
You want physics (or really math), followed by a PHD in math or finance and go into investment banking to get really rich so you can then afford to travel around on a boat thinking about reefs and (re)discovering some breakthrough.

Very few people get paid to float around on a boat thinking about reefs. To do that you really need money. The path between math and money does not go through science.
Apr 5 2014 5:02PM
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.Hugo.
Posts: 17360 - Karma: 28,488
Im bout to graduate with an aquatic biology degree. If you have any questions feel free to pm me
Apr 5 2014 5:21PM
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vailsux.com
Posts: 1769 - Karma: 440
If you want to work up close with nature go with biology. If you want to work with hardcore machinery and make big bucks go with physics or engineering.

Go with what you love.
Apr 5 2014 6:06PM
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Obi-Wan-Jenobi
Posts: 951 - Karma: 119
You underestimate the Physics degree, unless you love physics, I mean like Charlie Sheen cocaine, America and guns, Canada and hockey love physics you wont enjoy a physics degree. The things you talked about black holes etc are a very very small portion of an undergrad physics degree. Once you hit Grad school youll have a lot more freedom to study exactly what you want. But prepare yourself if you want to do physics.
Apr 5 2014 6:06PM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,510
You think the only thing you can do with a bio degree is be a doctor?
Apr 5 2014 6:09PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
lol. there are no big bucks here, my man. The salary has a high basement, low ceiling.
Apr 5 2014 6:12PM
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shocker611
Posts: 2599 - Karma: 423
In terms of consistent job prospects.... he's not that far off
Apr 5 2014 6:38PM
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skier58284
Posts: 1705 - Karma: 5,366
Physics. So much more you can do with it. Learn about the nature of reality at a fundamental level, develop new technology, etc. Biology limits you to what? Looking at evolution patterns in plants and animals? Sure, it's kinda interesting, but there is so much more to physics. And it's objective, about universal patterns, it has nothing to do with Earth which is only one of septillions of planets in the Universe.
Apr 5 2014 6:41PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13125 - Karma: 19,222
That is a hard one. This one has to come down to money vs social contribution.

Biology is where the money lies. Pharmaceuticals are super profitable. A business that lies in the saving lives department make tons of cash...people are ready to pay big money to live. Bio is also a chemistry field. If you are doing really good in that subject, you might have a easier time.

Physics can be divided into 3 categories. The very small, the very large or the application. The 2 first are where the discoveries are happening. There are so many discoveries every day, you cant get bored! Engineering is a good field that never gets old. For the next branch of your live, however, get ready to kiss ass for research grants.
Apr 5 2014 6:43PM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 926
For biology you have to really think about what subdiscipline you would want to pursue - it varies between universities but generally your options are along the lines of botany, biochemistry, cellular and molecular, ecology and evolution, and zoology. Environmental science will also give you an option to complete a biology focus and some schools offer forestry. There tends to be a split between lab biology and field biology, although most field work will still have a lab component.

Jobs are varied, but tend to be competitive and require more than an undergraduate degree. Additionally you're likely to have to work temporary and contract positions for awhile. Look into things like environmental consulting, environmental monitoring, resource/land-use management, fisheries management, environmental remediation etc - they will take you far from the medical fields but don't expect high pay. You can also stay in academia and continue to do research and hopefully discover awesome new things but the days of tropical journeys on the Beagle are long past and it isn't for most people.
Apr 5 2014 6:54PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
Bio is always fun. I might suggest astrophysics. Its all the deep space black hole relativity stuff. Not too much of the messy quantum shit.
Apr 5 2014 7:30PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9223 - Karma: 5,435
Do astrobiology. Profit. Just do physics if you're good at math. You don't need to be a doctor with a bio major, you can do research. Just do lots of biochemistry.
Apr 5 2014 7:49PM
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YouAllSuck
Posts: 632 - Karma: 1,177
Go Physics and make discoveries about dark matter and dark energy.
Apr 5 2014 9:43PM
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Miomo
Posts: 4302 - Karma: 14,135
Biophysics
Apr 5 2014 10:27PM
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appa
Posts: 2249 - Karma: 1,739
you sound like me.

i ditched mechanical engineering, now i'm doing geology and math. gonna start some biology courses this summer, though. physics i think would definitely be more math intensive. both are very cool subjects to think about. take a course or two in both subjects and make a judgement call from there.
Apr 5 2014 10:38PM
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Mingg
Posts: 13993 - Karma: 49,693
There's a lot you can do in bio without going into healthcare. I'm going for biomedical and there's a lot of different kinds of research (viral, genetic, ecological). If you go into a more ecological path you could work for state parks or something like that. Or you could be a bio teacher haha definitely not something I would want to do but you never know lol
Apr 6 2014 1:20AM
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act.resist
Posts: 8875 - Karma: 513
If you have the mind of a biologist, i applaud you. Biology incorporates every aspect of science and requires you to have an a developed memory of many different terms and functions, an understanding of chemistry, physics, and statistic based math and the ability to understand biological functions on a level that is so much different than any other subject.

/end smart ass response

Biology is hard as fuck but so is physics so do what youre good at
Apr 6 2014 1:56AM
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corona
Posts: 12811 - Karma: 32,916
you don't know what biology is.
Apr 6 2014 3:33PM
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charmander
Posts: 10636 - Karma: 373
im working on a wildlife biology degree, not really for the money. i'll end up with an OK job. should get a masters degree, but i probably wont.
Apr 6 2014 4:16PM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
You should not do a biology or a physics major for the money. Your first year will be more or less the same no matter which one you choose.

Take the real physics and calculus courses (not the dumbed-down one if your school offers it for bio/social sciences), also take first-year biology. See what you like more. Physics and biology undergraduate degrees are very different. Also you could double major, biophysics and medical physics could be quite interesting.

Neither biology or physics is a degree that will give you much "practical" knowledge. At least not practical outside of academia.
Apr 6 2014 4:33PM
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Bombogenesis
Posts: 1985 - Karma: 4,022
I would have loved to have done physics but my math wasn't THAT good. I think it's super interesting!!
Apr 6 2014 4:35PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
sorry but if he already dropped out of engineering because it wasnt for him, applied physics will not be for him. theyre basically the same thing when you boil it down. (at least mech engg is)

OP clearly the answer is biophysics.
Apr 6 2014 4:48PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
I was big into physics in hs but did bio (eeb) in college. The concepts you have to grasp in physics are much deeper than what you will learn in college bio or even med school. Tooting your own horn about biology is kinda lame, because bio is really simple. The things in bio that are actually deep, (are we alive, do we have free will) are questions that are actually answered by physics, things you wont learn in college bio or even med school as many doctors ive met will attest.

So yeah bio is cool and interesting but doesnt have shit on physics
Apr 6 2014 5:53PM
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act.resist
Posts: 8875 - Karma: 513
im a simple minded fool who failed college bio at one of the stupidest schools in my state.
Apr 6 2014 5:58PM
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shocker611
Posts: 2599 - Karma: 423
Oh shit yeah I missed that. Do biology, it will be much easier
Apr 6 2014 6:44PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
All im saying is bio is a very specific science. There is alot to learn (evolution has created some gnarly shit) but you really dont learn the kind of shit in bio that you learn in physics. Im a bio major too, remember. But i did it because it was easy, as many people do. Like geology, oceanography, and even chemistry, as a science bio is really just an application of physics.
Apr 6 2014 9:45PM
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
So the reason I was looking into these, is because they are STEM majors, and I had heard those are the most practical. However, after looking into it, the whole STEM thing seems to sort of be a myth, and a Biology doesn't really set you up any better than say, an English degree. So, if I were to choose something like that, I'd really I need to be doing it because its something I love, which I'm not really sure either of those are, just things I be interested in knowing more about.

One thing that interests me is maybe double majoring in Journalism or some other sort of writing major, along with biology, physics, or something else and hopefully land a job at a science (or non-science) based magazine or website and have a good back up, because even though I'm not a very good writer, that would be a more "labor of love" sort of deal, as I've never really liked working in labs and doing that grind, but I love reading crap online and listening to interesting and funny podcasts.

Back to square one.
Apr 6 2014 9:56PM
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integralmgmt
Posts: 476 - Karma: 921
Its a lot of school, but probably the way to go if you want to float on a boat. Really high burnout rate in investment banking though, I feel like it could drain everything out of you pretty quickly.
Apr 6 2014 9:56PM
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S.M.G
Posts: 446 - Karma: 1,450
whichever one doesn't require organic chem cause i heard that one pees right in your butt
Apr 6 2014 10:00PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
Orgo is a fail out course. Its fine when the teacher lets the difficulty of the concepts do the weeding out but lame when the teacher just uses trick questions and stupid trivia
Apr 6 2014 10:25PM
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act.resist
Posts: 8875 - Karma: 513
I understand that physics is some next level shit because it encompasses a lot more than earth, everything... but i disagree that biology is specific, our world is extremely complex. Everyone understands concepts differently. You seem to be able to understand biology. Is a physisist an idiot for not being able to grasp biological functions? Well i guess we'd have to ask one...
Apr 6 2014 10:42PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
Any reasonably proficient physicist will easily be able to understand any biological concept, save the hard problem of consciousness which still hasnt been solved by the geniuses of our time
Apr 6 2014 10:51PM
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act.resist
Posts: 8875 - Karma: 513
Im skeptical, but whatever.
Apr 6 2014 10:57PM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 926
Honestly, journalism isn't much easier to break into as a money-making field so I wouldn't count on it as a safety.
Apr 6 2014 11:55PM
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SnorkBoard
Posts: 311 - Karma: 821
no no I meant the science related thing as a back up haha
Apr 7 2014 12:08AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
well, what kind of job are thinking about when you graduate? this is something you need to think about. sales? marketing? IT? what?

you realize that making it as a writer is akin to making it as a baseball player, right? really fucking difficult.
Apr 7 2014 12:23AM
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Wallisch_pl
Posts: 5260 - Karma: 1,022
Physics/astrophysics, imo, but why are you asking people? it's all based on opinion and what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you're only interested in money it really goes either way.
Apr 7 2014 8:50AM
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cheaaaaaa
Posts: 830 - Karma: 630
Don't forget the whole point of this is to get a job in the end.... so i always recommend to ppl to search "what jobs can i get with a biology major" and the same for physics and just see what kinda job descriptions, associated lifestyle, and salary that you think would be fitting/realistic for you.
Apr 7 2014 2:38PM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
Of course biology is, in principle, an application of physics. However biological processes are extremely complicated. Basically this forces a biologist to think in a fundamentally different way than a physicist. The only issue I have with biologists is that many of them are completely mathematically ignorant. Right now we let biologists get away with a dumbed down calculus class, and a dumbed down statistics course, then when they get to grad school, we tell them how to plug their data into R, they have no idea what the fuck they are doing.

There has been research that showed math-intensive biology papers get less citations. Potentially important discoveries in biology are probably being ignored, because the biologists are too lazy to learn mathematics. Thankfully mathematical biology is a growing field, and hopefully with our generation, the biology community will stop shunning mathematics.
Apr 7 2014 3:22PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9223 - Karma: 5,435
This is true. You especially need to know statistics. Even though lots of bio things get their own weird statistics like cell migration assays. And there's lots of other weird ways to quantify live/dead assays. Some things are just too hard to get numbers behind also. Western blots I do aren't really initially numerically calculated.

But yes, get good at math it's important.
Apr 7 2014 3:32PM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 926
I think it depends on where the program is - I've been told that ours is 'too quantitative' and as a result companies prefer to hire from schools that focus on stuff other than math. We take the standard calculus and linear algebra, start using r for stats programming in second year and use it in every class to follow, and learn a decent amount about population modeling and spatial statistics. Unfortunately these skills are near useless in any job a bachelors degree will get you.
We're obviously nowhere near as mathematical as a physics degree but for those who aren't pursuing research I wouldn't say this is a problem. Computational biology is cool but it isn't all there is.
Apr 7 2014 5:09PM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
is 4 calculus courses one linear algebra really enough that companies wont hire you? Some of the biologists I know got to take a couple electives like "history of biology". To me it would make more sense to make them take more math than waste their time doing that.

That being said, computational biology is not the only field of biology where a strong background in elementary mathematics is important. Math is not just about "computing" or "calculating" things, and a lot of people do not understand that.

For example, as a physics undergraduate, you will take two or three courses which basically are about these for formulas

Click for larger image

the amount of information contained in those formulas is immense. They basically describe all of classical electromagnetism. A computational physicist could use them to create very complex models, but the physical principles have been boiled down (from hundreds of years of theory/experiment) to these equations.

Apr 7 2014 5:45PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
I was good at math in hs smoking everything thru ab calc. Did bio at uni. Yeah more math in bio would help but wouldnt be as much fun as like astrophysics math.
Better to focus on the big picture and big questions. Consciousness is going to be mathematically meaningless and unquantifiable.
Apr 7 2014 6:04PM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
why not? what is "astrophysics math"?
Apr 7 2014 6:29PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
Dude....
Apr 7 2014 6:44PM
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Dirac
Posts: 1304 - Karma: 335
not a stupid question. What is the difference between "math" and "astrophysics math"? maybe like where we put the 2π in our Fourier transforms, or if we are happy using the dirac delta function haha.

Click for larger image
Apr 7 2014 6:50PM
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acualywasdolan
Posts: 1172 - Karma: -747
Stop showboating. I realize youre good at math
Apr 7 2014 7:06PM
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