Kettering University

Date: May 16 2005
Major: Physics (This Major's Salary over time)
For anyone that wants to be a engineering scientist/researcher: The Applied Physics program at this point is more of an Engineering Physics program. However, the Physics department will be splitting the program into 2 different degrees: Applied Physics and Engineering Physics. The current program is probably more akin to what an engineering degree would be from a theoretical based program (ie. Carnegie Mellon or CalTech) but is not scientifically and mathemathically based enough to be a true Applied Physics program that will place you in good standing for a pure science grad school. And since you still must have a co-op in industry or a lab, your complete education will still lean towards industry and engineering.

However, if you ever plan on going to get a higher degree in engineering (not science) our Applied Physics program will prepare you much better for that type of grad degree than the Mechanical Engineering program. Mostly because our Mechanical Engineering program will prepare you for most real world engineering jobs. But in reality, our ME graduates are not prepared for any type of research engineering or any engineering that requires math.

The Applied Physics program still gives you more understanding of why things work to the point that you can "engineer" (or actually design and describe a system) better than your coworkers.