Recent content by Galois314

Thank you! I'm excited. I'm sure it will be a challenging environment, but I feel I am up to it.

. I haven't given thought to a career in industry yet. In addition to pure math, I'm interested in QFT, general relativity, beyond standard model, etc. I.e. not exactly the kinds of things people in industry are focused on. Once I start college, I may discover that I love other aspects of...

Thank you all for your great advice! The decision making process was definitely very hard, but at the end of the day, I cleared my mind and thought about it and it was clear to me that I wanted to pick Caltech. I sent in my acceptance this evening. So I take my first step towards becoming a...

Wow, thanks to all of you for some great inputs. I've been giving it a lot of thought. I still have all day tomorow and Monday to stew on it, of course, but I am leaning towards going with my heart and picking Caltech. I feel privileged to have been offered admission at one of the top STEM...

I'm down to choosing between Caltech and Reed College. I am going to study mathematics and physics. My goal is to go to grad school and then into research/academia. I am not interested in engineering or getting a job after my undergraduate education. I had UC Berkeley in the mix, but I decided...

Thanks! I visited Caltech last fall and really liked the campus and the houses. Berkeley was beautiful but huge and busy. I am a bit shy and reserved and I don't want to get lost in the crowd - everyone seems to suggest that Berkeley is sink-or-swim. You've got to be a go-getter and pushy to...

Well, I was awarded the Regents and Chancellor's Scholarship at Berkeley - just got the news today. It's their highest scholarship - $30K per year. It cuts my college costs in half as I am out of state. So, from a financial standpoint, Berkeley is definitely much less expensive. I just have to...

I know that magnets produce magnetic fields (due to internal currents within the magnet). I also know that magnetic fields cannot do work on particles. Given that, here is an apparent paradox I cannot fully understand: Consider a strong magnet and let us imagine bringing a small iron object...

Thanks, Dr. Courtney! The costs are pretty similar for an out of state student, although Berkeley may be a bit less overall. I haven't checked cost of living for Berkeley versus Pasadena. I do have an interview early next month for a fellowship at Berkeley. If I get it, then that may help...

I am a 12th grader and I got an email from UC Berkeley today that I have been accepted there. A month ago, I was also accepted at Caltech. I'm still waiting to hear from MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. I want to study Mathematics, but I also interested in theoretical physics a lot, so I...

I read in several places that if, for example, a point particle exhibits uniform circular motion about the z-axis within an osculating plane not equal to the x,y plane, then the angular velocity still points along the z-axis, even though the angular momentum does not (it precesses about the...

Thanks for that note! I am looking forward to working with others who at a higher level than me. I have always heard that the atmosphere is not competitive, so the interaction can only help, I think. One good thing is that I will have a college-level course on analysis and one on linear...

I too have a lot of fun with any new book I receive. For Christmas, my dad got me the entire 3 volume set of The Theoretical Minimum series by Leonard Susskind - I can't put them down! I also got David Griffith's "Intro to Electrodynamics" and I have made my way through about 3/4 of the book...

I will be starting college in fall, studying mathematics and physics. I've been accepted at Caltech and waiting to hear from MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and UC Berkeley. I need to make a final decision by May. I hope to read and learn from all the physicists here!

Thanks! Yes, I grabbed my dad's copy of Apostol. Luckily he doesn't throw anything away. It's the first edition from when he was in school, but I figure it will be ok. Because of my course on analysis, I am not having the kind of shock factor that he said he had when he first opened it lol...