to physics graduates

alias25

did everyone get A grades/top grades in class etc in physics in high school or 6th form ie pre-university most of the time?

inha

No.

messagebelongenough!

alias25

so it's ok that im getting A/B grades..
and want to do physics at uni?

inha

Most definetly. Physics at university level is very different from what it is in HS and HS grades aren't too good of an indicator of how well one will do at the next level.

Zarathustra

I hope not. I never had a physics or calculus course in high school, and I failed two courses, one of them being an algebra course (which I eventually retook). I pulled out of high school with a GPA of something like a 2.4. Now I'm working on a B.S. in physics and I'm acing both my math and physics courses.

Higher grades will get you into more prestigious colleges, nonetheless.

Moonbear

Heck no! They taught us calculus-based physics in high school, but I was still taking Trig at the time (don't ask me who came up with that course sequence ). Physics made a whole heck of a lot more sense in college after I already had the proper math courses under my belt to understand how to derive equations and properly use them.

Mulder

so you can get better than an 'A' now?

alias25

?? no A is the highest grades possible, but im not very confident with my ability, i do well in class but in exams i panic and get grades below my potential. got AABC for AS with B in physics(messed up the prac) an C in maths i will be resitting maths and physics modules and im predicted an A for physics and B for maths.

G01

I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't go into physics because I thought it was easy. Its Challenging, thats one of the reasons I love studying it. The other being I like knowing how everything works and how the universe functions. Its enlightening. If you feel like this then you'd be great in physics, at least I think so.

vanesch

I'd say that to have an indication about your ability to do physics at university, don't look at your high school *physics* grades, but at your highschool *math* grades...

alias25

wel i guess im bummered then,i dropped biology now which i got an A in wrote my personal statement everythings set for me to apply for phys, i guess im just gunna have to stuggle through the 3 years, because i love physics but my maths grades arnt good.

Grogs

It's not too late! If the UK Universities are set up similarly to the U.S. ones, it will be about 3 Semesters before you get to the physics courses with the really tough math (In the US Universities, the first 2-3 Semesters are usually just core courses that everyone has to take.) Go back over the math you've had so far and make sure it's *rock-solid.* When you get into your physics courses, make sure you understand all the math involved as you go along.

Most textbooks are really bad at compressing about 10 steps in solving a problem down to 'it should be obvious that solving equation (1) yields equation (2). If it's *not* obvious how they got from (1) to (2), try and figure it out. If you can't, ask your professor or a fellow student to show you. This will seem like a pain, but it will pay off down the road.

alias25

*cries* my parents are zero supportive