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Is doing a dual degree worth it?

Any tips for someone considering a dual degree? I'm going to college for physics soon (focusing on astrophysics), and I'm thinking about getting a nuclear physics or engineering degree with it. I'm a bit worried about the workload, considering I'm working to put myself through college. Does anyone who's done a dual degree have any insight? Would you say it's worth it, or would you have done anything differently?

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Gurpreet’s Answer

Doing dual degree is good idea provided you are more interested in R&D.Sometimes during placement especially for government jobs,companies ask for bachelor or masters degree if it is not specifically mentioned that dual degree is also allowed so in that case job opportunities get restricted.Nuclear physics is very specialised field and has good prospects.
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Andrew’s Answer

Both physics and engineering degrees are very demanding. On the other hand, since physics is the foundation of engineering, you may want to purse a physics major and an engineering minor.

Basically, there is no astrophysics or nuclear physics major in undergraduate degrees. Your undergraduate courses are designed to prepare you for postgraduate degrees in various disciplines in physics such as astrophysics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics, etc.

Hence, it is advisable to concentrate your effort in getting a solid physics degree first. Options will be opened to you for postgraduate studies.

As a full disclosure, all my three degrees are in physics.
Thank you comment icon I largely agree, but the idea that there's no astro or nuclear majors at undergrad is outright wrong or at best a gross oversimplification. I know nuclear engineering is a common major option in lots of places. I'm not sure how widespread it is around the world, but certainly in the UK, a standalone astronomy or astrophysics degree is also a possible choice. You're certainly not restricted to just straight "Physics". Joseph Neilson
Thank you comment icon There is some truth to this idea under the hood however - these degrees do largely cover much the same material as a straight physics degree, and some are quite clear about that - the route I took personally was titled "Physics with Astrophysics" - a core physics degree with an astro specialisation. Others title themselves differently, but a lot of the courses are still core physics. Joseph Neilson
Thank you comment icon The system in the UK and the US may be different. Shiloh is in the US. Andrew Au
Thank you comment icon Indeed, and I acknowledge that - but even in the US, I know you can still find these as specific majors, not just as "physics". I absolutely acknowledge they're probably less common in the US than they are here, but they do exist - especially nuclear engineering (which I understand is actually quite common) Joseph Neilson
Thank you comment icon Yes, there are many subdisciplines in engineering. I was referring only to physics in my previous comment. Andrew Au
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Joseph’s Answer

I don't have personal experience with a dual degree or equivalent (I'm guessing that's what I'd refer to as joint-honours degree in my part of the world, and is elsewhere called a double-major), but your topics of interest are basically an exact match of what I did. I studied an undergrad degree in physics with an astrophysics specialisation, and then switched to the nuclear physics field with a nuclear physics/engineering Masters. That worked well for me, so I'd say you don't need to do a dual degree just to keep nuclear engineering options open to you - you can respecialise at Masters instead. Where I have seen joint-honours work well is for much less related fields - eg a science and a foreign language - which can open doors to some pretty niche roles that cover aspects of otherwise entirely unrelated fields (I've seen nuclear physics and French open a lot of doors for a contact of mine in international nuclear technical work) - but when they're as closely related as physics and nuclear engineering, there's likely less benefit as the overlap is so strong anyway.
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