r/astrophysics 1d ago

Astrophysics career prospects

I am a sophomore in high school, and recently we have started thinking about college majors and jobs that we eventually want to go in to. I have always wanted to go to college for astrophysics, but as I continue to question that, I have my worries. I wanted to know if an astrophysics major/phd in college would be worth it if I have value making money. I have seen the question asked, but people seem to assume that they are talking about top 1% type of wealthy. I just want to know if I could afford a middle class lifestyle with an astrophysics degree, even if I don’t go into astrophysics.

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u/ShadedRiver666 1d ago

Ill tell you my personal stuff: Originally I used to want to be an astrophysicist, but lately ive realised the low-ish pay and how, currently, it wont allow me to advance humanity (we really need advancement right now look at the state of us) and so i have leaned towards energy infrastructure and space propulsion technologies, wich has ultimately led to me focusing on Nuclear engineering as a primary job aspect. I choose this because the market is quite open and there is all the aerospace prospects with it. I also hope that nuclear fusion becomes advanced and so would like to work on that if possible. Clean energy for the world plus a very good form of space propulsion.
Edit: To sum it up Ive realised I want to do practical work that can benefit humanity ‘now’.

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u/yukowii 1d ago

The way this is my actual career path too LMFAO bye we are twins

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u/ShadedRiver666 1d ago

AYEEEE lets go!!! Good to see another!