Undergrad Definition and 870 Threads

I go to a smaller, teaching university, and do not have much opportunity for research at my own school. I do have one professor doing actual research and have been working with him for several semesters now. I also have had 2 REU's. To summarize my experience: 1. 2 REU's with the same...

Hi This is my first science subject ever, and I am having difficulties so I would love to have all the help I can get please. My assignment is about Lewis structures and empirical formula for the following Homework Statement 1.potassium iodine, 2. calcium flouride, (these two are...

I don't know if the US has programs like that but we have them here at ANU (Aust) http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/4714HBENG;overview.html" http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/4660HPHB;overview.html" I'm thinking of transferring to the Science one if I can get in. Do you think it'll...

Maybe this is a no brainer but I figured I'd ask... I've heard both sides from many different people...some say universities encourage undergrad students to apply elsewhere for grad school, thus if you are going to say, UC Berkeley like me and apply there for grad school as well, it will be...

I've been looking on the net and can't seem to find any. Do any of you know about possible grants?

I am just coming into Year 13 in the UK and I need to choose which universities to apply to, at AS Level I got 5As in Maths, Further Maths, Bio, Chem and Physics so I have a free choice as far as entry requirements go with the exception of places like Oxbridge and maybe even Imperial where there...

Hi, I was wondering how many different underground research a BSc in Physics student should have completed by the time they graduate? I have 2-yrs left of just physics classes and I'm not sure if I'll be able to do any more than one that is required for my graduation, as I do have a job as...

and at what age did you complete your undergrad and grad degrees and phD if you did it? I have a feeling that after one reaches thirty one cannot progress further... since most famous researchers were still young while making their greatest discoveries... anyways, my feelings aside... I...

Hello all, I have been trying to get an undergrad research position for some time, and have now got two offers at once! They are disparate fields and I want to do them both! Reasons I want to do them both are - One is theoretical and one is experimental and I want to try both of those...

Hi all, long time reader first time poster I am in a bit of a dilemma I am a physics and math major who wants to be a mechanical research engineer. My end goal is to pursue a PhD in mechanical engineering with a specialty in energy. My problem is education is fully funded by my physics...

Something with advanced classes as well LOADS of advanced research opportunities. I actually plan on a double major of Physics and EE or Computer Science. I am from the US and I would like to eventually go for my PhD hopefully at a top grad school. Then I would either like to work at a...

I'm a high school student, and I want to learn as much as I can about physics before getting to college. It would be great if I could cover everything that the average physics undergrad student learns before going to a university. So far, I've read: Fundamentals of Physics -...

I'll be a freshman in the fall studying physics, math, and astronomy. A guy from my old HS is a master's degree student at my university, and he hooked me up with a job in an experimental particle physics lab. Basically he said that it's up to me to talk to grad students and professors and...

Hi, I am currently an Aerospace Engineering student at UT-Austin and this summer I was accepted to transfer into the Mechanical Engineering Department. Here is my problem, I have been interested in aviation since I was a 10 so the ASE degree should be perfect for me but I am afraid the ASE...

UK Physics Undergrad - does it matter which uni? I'm want to study physics at uni next year and am still trying to decide which uni is best for me to go to. I want to stay in the West or East Midlands (family reasons). 1) Does it really matter which uni I go to, as long as i get good...

I've been searching online for one of the US News reviews, but I have found nothing as of yet. Would anyone here know what are the top ten undergraduate schools in physics and know the rankings?

question as above, entering this fall, I wouldn't really want to buy one if I didnt really have the need to, btw, I am not staying on campus, i have my own place.

Hello, I'm going into an undergrad Biochemistry program next year in an 'honors college' (Basically, one of those set ups where students who have above average academic standing is given tuition, perks, etc). I'm already putting some time in a lab at the college and getting experience, and...

I'm only taken twelve hours of classes next semester and I want to focus on both astrophysics topics and a topic in condensed matter.

Hi, I'm a applied math major who has trouble deciding between Cal and UCLA. I know that Cal is slightly more rigorous. Also, Cal's graduate mathematics is ranked #2 in the nation. So I'm wondering if this equates to Cal being #2 for undergrad since there hasn't been any rankings published...

I will be graduating with a degree in Math in one year, and I plan on pursuing a PhD. I want graduate schools to consider my final two semesters when looking at my application, so I've decided to take a year off. (I'd apply for a spring semester, but most of the top schools don't allow this.)...

Hello, I'm looking to meet an undergrad design requirement, which can be done with independent study. I'll graduate in December, so I have a lot of coursework under my belt. I'll also have all summer to research and prepare. I've focused on communications and dsp, and these are the...

I am undergrad math student, aged 20 In the last 3-4 years, I feel that my intellectual capacity has waned and don't feel as smart as when I was a kid. I seem to be fine at handling abstract concepts, but I feel slow and clumsy. My problem isn't lacking ideas, its more about concentration...

So I just transferred to a local 4 year school from a community college. I met with a financial aid rep to discuss how I am going to be paying for this little venture and received some shocking information. Apparantely, you cannot work part-time and succeed in a bachelors degree program...

I have spent a great year at a local community college (in Ohio), and combined with some summer credits there and credits from high school will have virtually all of my general curriculum done and most first year/some second year stuff. My planned major is Chemical Engineering. I guess one...

I will be a freshman ChemE student next fall and I understand that it is a difficult major, but I was wondering just how difficult it was. How many hours a week did you spend studying in your undergraduate years? Were the tests for some of the courses impossibly hard(i.e. the tests were so...

I'm a third year student on track to get a BS in Mathematics and a BA in Economics. The economics was basically to make myself marketable and to prevent the college from making me graduate early. I'm really not interested in it. That's besides the point. I love almost all fields of math...

I'm really sorry if anyone thinks this is an obnoxious post, but I need advice and I'm having a hard time getting an informed, impartial opinion. So here's my situation: I eventually want to get a PhD in mathematics. I've been accepted to both the University of Chicago and Rutgers University...

I'm currently an A2 student in the UK and I've received conditional offers from all my universities already. I originally wanted to do engineering but wants to do physics now, I emailed Imperial but they said Physics is full already but I can email them again once A-level results come out. How...

From doing some research online, a number of people received some pretty decent answers to related questions here on Physics Forums. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm graduating from the University of Maryland in May with two BA's in Art History and Philosophy. Though I enjoyed the...

I have heard a lot of people say that it doesn't matter where you go to school for undergrad, but when you apply to grad school would it not have a little more merit to have good grades from a well known school rather then good grades from a place no one has really heard about? Right now, I...

Hi everyone, I'm a relative noob to the forums, but I've spent a bit of time browsing through them, and I look forward to participating. I was wondering if anyone could provide me with some advice on where I should go for my undergrad in engineering (I'm edging towards civil). I live in...

As I have been rolling though the options of what to do after undergrad I have been more and more looking for ways to take a year or two off from actual hard core school work. One of the ideas that has been proposed to me time and time again is volunteer or work for a non-profit organization for...

Let say you now have a chance to choose an advisor for undergraduate research. would you choose a junior or a senior faculty? It seems that junior faculties (esp those haven't got tenure yet) would be more "hard-working" and very research oriented, so may be more productive. But senior faculties...

Right now the University of Toronto is my first choice for undergrad in physics. I have read some posts by some people who went to U of T, Vincebs I think it was, who say that the averages are kept really low and it will be hard to get into grad school with. Is this really true? I was...

I'm a sophomore attending university and I'm wondering about undergrad research. It's currently like the 7th or 8th week out of a 15 week semester. Is it too late for me to try to get a professor/grad student to let me help research with them? Now that I've got my schedule a little more open, I...

In Fall 2008, I'm going to start studying for an undergrad in electrical engineering. I'm getting tired of doing gruntwork for my summer jobs, stuff like painting, being a salesman etc... and I was wondering whether people know about any summer jobs that are somewhat field related that I could...

Hi everyone, I just started my junior year and after getting an associate at community college, I'm now attending university for BS in Physics. Since I had only some general physics classes during my first two years in college, I am finding material in physics classes, like electric potential...

How do these two compare to a tech (Apple, ARM, RIM, Asustek, etc) company? I ask this because I lost interest in doing computer engineering however working at RIM for coop has sparked my interest again. Where would I fit coming back to this company with a physics+CE masters? Would the engineer...

Hello all, I have been a long time lurker of this forum. But now, I need some honest feedback on an issue that I have. I have wanted to become a physicist since I was very young and have always been fascinated by the subject (still am). Despite my love for physics, I have recently been...

Hi all, new guy here. I am an electrical engineering major but I have really falling in love with physics, astrophysics specifically. I would like to change my major to physics but I am really too far along in my current degree so I decided to just minor in it. I am curious what kind of chances...

I'm in my last year as an undergrad (hopefully) and I'm looking for a subject to do an "honours project" on. I actually have no ideas, but maybe someone can suggest a topic in graph theory, combinatorics or complexity?

I am curious: I will have option to take grad courses as an undergrad; the ones I would like: Mathematical Physics, Advanced E&M. I will also have the ability to take a grad math course: nonlinear partial differential equations. Keeping in mind lab experience, how good would this look if I...

Hello, I'm a 4th year physics undergrad, so I'm about to decide what to do in my undergrad thesis. I'll do pure theoretical work, but I'd like to avoid copy-paste stuff and come up wityh something quite original, however I'm not sure what topic are available, maybe someone here will help...

Hi, I'm a first year computer engineering student and the math courses that I'm taking in university has re-ignited my interest in mathematics. The calculus that I'm taking right now is slightly more advanced (although perhaps less detail oriented) than what the math majors have for their first...

Hello everyone, I have a couple of hopefully easy questions about undergraduate degrees. I am a 3.74 GPA student at my university and am currently in my 3rd year of college, on a 5 year plan. I am a double major in both Physics and Applied Mathematics. The following are my questions. 1)...

How many people out of the original number entering as a physics or physics/math undergrad (overall, not at any specific university) will: 1. Get their B.Sc.? 2. Get their Ph.D.? 3. Become a PostDoc, or stay in the academic stream in some way? 4. Become a professor? 5. Become a tenure...

I am doing a reading next semester and am trying to find a good text to work off of. I am wondering if anyone else has had a semester of Galois/field theory and what text you would suggest.

Hi, I am in the final years of mechanical engineering and I am looking to do graduate school. I find myself more interested in the theoretical/fundamental aspects of things rather than the application. So I am leaning towards doing grad school in physics. My problem is the fact that my lack...

Hello I'm thinking about creating an online group of undergrad biology/mathematics students to create projects in theoretical/mathematical biology (I'm not talking about statistics; stats are well established in biology). The fact is, there are so many opportunities to use mathematics in...