Is 36 midlife? If it is, please lie to me and say no anyway.
The spouse and I are considering quitting our jobs, selling our house, and moving many, many miles away to a city I hate - just so he can go back to uni for the degree in physics he wanted instead of the one in engineering he did to please his parents. He spends most of his free time on his physics hobbies anyway, so having it pay money (do jobs in physics do that these days?) would be somewhat of an improvement.
(louveciennes , Volvospotter, Tue 7 May 2013, 23:58, 10 replies)

Studying physics is one thing
Working in physics is another and it is not so much like working in engineering as working in accounting.
You can tell your spouse I said so.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Wed 8 May 2013, 0:59, closed)

MGT has a degree in physics and has been on the dole forever.
Tell your pet mong to not be so stupid. Also, look what happened when TRL did that.
( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Wed 8 May 2013, 8:06, closed)

Also, employers are generally unwilling to hire folk with three-year gaps in their CVs.

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Wed 8 May 2013, 19:52, closed)

Hmmm.
There are a billion people who wish they could jack it all in and go and study the thing they always wanted to study, or to restore old cars, or open a restaurant.

All good, except for the jacking it all in part.

What I do know about physics (generalising here) is that you'll struggle to get a decent start at 36. If you're not straight out of school and into it, you're not considered to be dedicated enough. Research grants are hard to come by, they'll go to the people who have 15 years experience, or the hungry 22 year olds.

My stepfather was a dentist, he had a nurse who had a physics degree. She took a year off after she graduated to see the world, and when she came back couldn't find anybody willing to employ her.

Can't say this applies to everybody, but I'd rather be a 36 year old engineer with a job, and a shed full of physics stuff to play with in my own time, than a 40 year old recent graduate with no job.
(username failed moderation, Wed 8 May 2013, 8:27, closed)

You should totally impoverish and inconvenience yourself
for a qualification that he's too old to get any use out of.
Get yourself knocked up, that'll put the kibosh on his plans.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 8 May 2013, 9:06, closed)

Fucking hell Claire Rayner, you're good!

( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Wed 8 May 2013, 9:39, closed)

He might consider teaching physics, there's always a demand for that.
If you're in Britain, after doing the degree, he could look at physics/mathematics PGCE courses. Previous experience in engineering is helpful. There are bursaries of up to £20,000.

Or he could run like the wind from the very idea of teaching.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Wed 8 May 2013, 10:45, closed)

Academia and teaching are pretty much the only jobs you'll be qualified to do in Britain with a physics degree.
There are more opportunities on the continent, particularly Germany or Switzerland - but if you want to work on the continent, you'll also have to study on the continent.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Wed 8 May 2013, 19:44, closed)

that last part isn't true at all, chap.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 9 May 2013, 11:48, closed)

He'll be fine.
He's only 36, and has plenty of time to meet someone else.
( cs1ca, Wed 8 May 2013, 18:14, closed)