Recent content by qualgorithm

I suspect Amherst has a respected undergrad physics program (I went to a very similar institution), but you will likely need something in the range of A- to A average to be competitive at top grad programs. Fortunately ultimately those grades are really only essential in upper level physics...

I only looked at West Coast schools when applying with an interest in quantum information theory last year, so this probably won't be that helpful to you. This information is also highly dependent upon whether you want to do theory or experiment. For theory, the top school (anywhere) is...

I'm just starting grad school in a not-so-cheap part of California and the standard range is perhaps $600-$900 for shared housing. Sure, if you want to rent a brand new 2 bedroom place in an exceedingly convenient location you might be running 2.5k, but your number really is ridiculous.

I'd rather not put the school I went to on here, as it would reveal my identity rather quickly. But I'll send you a private message. Would the D really be completely dropped from your record? I'm sure it would be dropped from your official GPA, but I suspect your transcript would still show...

I honestly don't see why any school that doesn't admit you based on a formula would prefer that you retake classes. If that's the last Spanish class you took, okay, then it may be a deficiency. But it would be much better to take a more advanced class and do well than to take the same class over...

I'm pretty sure the NSF wanted my General GRE scores for their graduate research fellowship.

You don't need a B.A. in Mathematics to do high energy physics. Sure, it never hurts to take more math classes, but most of what you need you can get from a physics perspective. You don't need much more math than that for your physics degree. Useful additions from the math department might...

If you haven't heard back in a timely fashion, you should ask about your status. Many REUs don't bother to send out rejections.

Uh... since you don't sound like an academic, it will probably be an uphill struggle to get published in the first place. In that case, getting credible academics to sign on to your paper as co-authors would probably make that substantially easier, and mean that people will pay more attention to...

Joe - Both Chicago and Princeton have stellar reputations in physics. I can't speak to the quality of physics education, but I don't think you could go wrong on those grounds. I would go to the place where you would be most comfortable overall.

In my experience, it has not been okay to use advanced features of graphing calculators on college tests. When you're doing your homework any tools are okay (though you're generally still expected to show work) but I've found computer programs like Mathematica to be far more capable and useful...

Try ContourPlot, Plot3D, etc. Mathematica has plenty of built in documentation. I don't think this is the proper forum for this sort of question.

If you know a low-powered PC will suit your needs, the details of good values and performance are pretty universal, so this sort of question would probably be better placed on a forum that specializes in computers. I recommend http://notebookreview.com, especially their discussion forums (see...

I will testify to the virtues of learning to surf at an REU as well.

Quantum computing uses the physics of quantum mechanics to perform calculations. You might check Wikipedia for a summary. The math of quantum mechanics is predominantly linear algebra. Depending on the focus and applications explored, there may likely be an emphasis on group theory as well. Of...