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intelwanderer
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First post. Great to be here. :)
So, I'm stuck in deciding which of these courses to take next semester. I'm a current rising sophomore at UT Austin who has just switched from EE to physics-still nervous about that decision, but that's a separate topic. I've already got Waves(the first "real" physics course, or so I've been told), and intro Modern/Quantum, my GPA is already a wreck from my first year(so I NEED to start doing better. Last year was a mess for a lot of reasons-I'm considering getting tested for bipolar disorder as just ONE example-but I'm still not confident about my mental abilities/study skills), and I want to really get involved in a lab next semester, so I think I should only pick one. Any advice?
For the physics major, complex variables is recommended, and they say I will need it for quantum mechanics(it's recommended in EE too, probably would have taken it eventually), but I'm more interested in the solid state course, and I'm not sure if I'll get to take it again if I get out. Would I be able to take quantum mechanics though without complex?
My math ground is: Linear Algebra, DiffEQ, Calculus. Nothing proof based. I talked to a math senior yesterday and he said that engineering kids struggled a lot in his class because it wasn't mainly computational. Also available are Probability and PDE's(I'm sure there are other maths, but those are the ones I know), but the former the professor's said I'd pick up in my classes, and the latter requires real analysis as a prereq, and I've gone over the basics of PDE's already from ODE class, so I don't know if it would be a wise investment to devote a whole course to it. I could be wrong though-that's why I'm asking, heh heh. It uses Brown/Churchill, which from looking at other threads seems to be standard. http://www.math.utexas.edu/academics/archives/2010f/fall10syllabi/_files/55505.pdf
I'm the type that gets the concept but will typically make a little algebra mistake here or there on a test which ends up costing me dearly. So, how would I fare in a proof-like course? Complex analysis does seem really interesting looking at it-very beautiful, and it's applied toward stuff like signals which appeals, I'm still planning on taking various engineering courses-but I don't want to get into something that's I'm utterly unprepared for. I plan on going to the math department HQ today to see what they think. Again, I wish I could take both, but that's just a risk I can't take.
I'm on good terms with the Solid State professor if that counts for anything.
So, I'm stuck in deciding which of these courses to take next semester. I'm a current rising sophomore at UT Austin who has just switched from EE to physics-still nervous about that decision, but that's a separate topic. I've already got Waves(the first "real" physics course, or so I've been told), and intro Modern/Quantum, my GPA is already a wreck from my first year(so I NEED to start doing better. Last year was a mess for a lot of reasons-I'm considering getting tested for bipolar disorder as just ONE example-but I'm still not confident about my mental abilities/study skills), and I want to really get involved in a lab next semester, so I think I should only pick one. Any advice?
For the physics major, complex variables is recommended, and they say I will need it for quantum mechanics(it's recommended in EE too, probably would have taken it eventually), but I'm more interested in the solid state course, and I'm not sure if I'll get to take it again if I get out. Would I be able to take quantum mechanics though without complex?
My math ground is: Linear Algebra, DiffEQ, Calculus. Nothing proof based. I talked to a math senior yesterday and he said that engineering kids struggled a lot in his class because it wasn't mainly computational. Also available are Probability and PDE's(I'm sure there are other maths, but those are the ones I know), but the former the professor's said I'd pick up in my classes, and the latter requires real analysis as a prereq, and I've gone over the basics of PDE's already from ODE class, so I don't know if it would be a wise investment to devote a whole course to it. I could be wrong though-that's why I'm asking, heh heh. It uses Brown/Churchill, which from looking at other threads seems to be standard. http://www.math.utexas.edu/academics/archives/2010f/fall10syllabi/_files/55505.pdf
I'm the type that gets the concept but will typically make a little algebra mistake here or there on a test which ends up costing me dearly. So, how would I fare in a proof-like course? Complex analysis does seem really interesting looking at it-very beautiful, and it's applied toward stuff like signals which appeals, I'm still planning on taking various engineering courses-but I don't want to get into something that's I'm utterly unprepared for. I plan on going to the math department HQ today to see what they think. Again, I wish I could take both, but that's just a risk I can't take.
I'm on good terms with the Solid State professor if that counts for anything.
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