The work is wider than chip design
Device architecture matters, but so do lithography, deposition, etching, metrology, packaging, equipment reliability and the software that controls a fabrication line.
Different degrees enter differently
Physics supports device and measurement thinking; materials science supports interfaces and reliability; engineering supports equipment and process integration; computing supports design tools and automation.
A semiconductor fab is a high-precision learning system.
Show evidence of disciplined problem-solving
Projects involving experiments, statistics, electronics, control or root-cause analysis can all demonstrate relevant habits, even without cleanroom access.
Understand the manufacturing loop
Semiconductor teams repeatedly move between a target, a process step, measurements and a decision. A yield engineer may trace why devices fail, while an equipment engineer improves the stability of the tool that performs the process. Design, manufacturing and test exchange evidence continuously.
That loop explains why statistics, materials behaviour, electronics, software and precise documentation all matter. Few early-career engineers own an entire chip; they improve one part of a tightly connected system.
Build relevant evidence at university
A fabrication facility is not required for a credible starting portfolio. You can analyse noisy measurement data, automate a repeatable test, model heat or transport, document a controlled experiment or investigate the causes of variation in a process.
Make the constraints visible in your write-up: what could be measured, what changed, how you checked the result and what you would do next. That discipline resembles the work more closely than a polished result without a traceable method.